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After a muddy ride up at Haldon yesterday I washed all my kit including the Gelert pack I use. It's a blatant knockoff of a Berghaus Bladdered, cost about £15 maybe 8 or 9 years ago (if not more)and has been my go to pack for everything from quick blasts to all day Alp epics.
It seems to be just the right size and shape for everything, doesn't weigh too much and to be honest, I will be gutted when (or if) it finally gives up the ghost.
The other one is the good old Giant XTC SX from 2006 that cost £500. I've upgraded the brakes, shock, saddle, post over the years so it's still my go to bike for the stuff I don't want to put the full suss through...and it never lets me down. I just can't justify a new hardtail while I still have it, even though it weighs a ton, I just love it's reliability!
So go on, what's the cheap bit of kit you'd miss the most, that no-one else would probably use!
Cool tool from way back in the late 80s
Aldi windproof jacket. Really light and has served me all winter - really stops the wind (and most light rain) and not really needed anything more.
Aldi winter gloves - way more effective at keeping my Reynaud's at bay than my Fox Antifreezes at about 1/3 of the price.
Various Chinese lights off of Amazon.
Aldi bib shorts, had them over a year and still going strong!
Felt a bit flush recently and ordered some Howies one's, sent them straight back, back too high, grips too tight felt awful compared to the Aldi shorts.
Horses for courses i spose 😉
[url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-m520-clipless-spd-mtb-pedals/rp-prod3759 ]Shimano M520 SPD Pedals[/url]
A bargain at £16.49!
Strong, light and cheap. All relative of course.
+1 for Aldi gloves - brilliant
Shimano Deore kit of any description. None of its pricey but it just works, and goes on, and on working
Ulvang merino socks - £8.09 for 8 pairs on eBay
Karrimor wind proof gloves - £3.99 @ store.karrimor.com
Both excellent!
My bog standard Shimano pedals. Cost about 25 quid, as a temporary measure, had them about 3 years now,
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/shimano-spd-pd-m530-pedals/aid:516034
in black, 22 quid at the moment.
M530 is just showing off! M520 is where it's at!
Got a multitool free from winstanley's when i bought my last bike. That's a must have in my commute pack.
Aldi/lidl (not sure which) crane sport cycling gillet £5 6 years ago and still fine, better than the new Santini one I bought recently :-/
Aldi/lidl (not sure which) crane sport cycling gillet
crane is aldi - imo lidl clothing is cheap crap, aldi on the other hand is exceptional for the money
Aldi gloves (x3 now) and an Aldi jacket with zip removable sleaves.
Aldi bibs, I am sorrry to report, fit terribly, Decathlon XC6 EVA foam padded ones are were it's at for value.
My Crane cycling top's my most worn riding kit, it's wearing out now though 🙁 Quite a lot of my kit is Mountain Warehouse, mind boggles when you see reviews of a £50 thermal baselayer with a "cycling cut", my £2.99 thermal base from TK Maxx is perfect apart from being white.
Oh and my carreras! 20 years of service out of a rigid Krakatoa, and my Kraken got me back into mountain biking. I don't begrudge spending more on a fork than on that entire bike, but it's good to remember these things... Might build the Kraken frame back up again, it made a great rigid.
Aldi gloves, warm jacket and waterproof jacket. All blinding bits of kit.
yep, Shimano m525 brakes. Bought about 7 years ago in a deal from CRC. They are light, they work, they don't squeal, easy to maintain. Awesome.
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Cheap-ish anyway...
enve rims
oh no wait
[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/news/enve-m-series-wheels-rims-first-look.html ]$999/rim[/url]
Popped into Aldi yesterday and they are selling off the winter cycling jackets at £6.99.
I've had my m520s for 6 years now and they've been on three bikes and done about 10,000 miles without any attention beyond spraying them with gt85 when they're rusty.
I have two more sets in the garage that I hang onto just in case but at this rate they may well outlast my legs.
alivio rear mech
shimano triple chainset inc sq taper bb
shimano cassette
shimano chain
alivio front mech
less than £70 for the lot. bargain
I see a theme here.
520 pedals, £20 and ultra reliable.
Aldi winter gloves, outperform much more expensive kit every winter.
Elite Custom bottle cages, hold bottles better than any other cage, weigh bugger all, look pro, what more do you need?
Lidl's Camelbak Hawg clone. £12! I could have bought 10 and it'd still've worked out cheaper than one original.
Alpkit gamma
Not strictly cycling, but Karrimor did a blatant rip of an Inov-8 race pack that I got for 15 quid last year. It's light, fits well and takes just about all the running kit I need for longer runs, so gets a thumbs up from me.
For cycling kit? I don't really know. My Tesco windproof gloves were awesome up until one of my dogs ate one.
Another vote for Deore brakes, great feel, reliable, cheap. What's not to like?
My Decathlon winter jersey has been going for many years now, also great value.
Tenn Espresso riding shirts. Made from some coffee ground fibre which keeps smells at bay, and has a glasses/goggle wipe inside the hem. cheap as chips at £10 each when I bought them.
Some Craft knee warmers I got for about £10 (new) on Ebay. Slight chill? just whack em on and still ride with my favourite shorts. Best buy eva.
my classifieds £15 rusty old inbred is getting some love 😀
Looking through I have to say I also have M520 pedals and Deore brakes from CRC. It would appear that all I have to do now is get Aldi kit small enough to fit me and I'm on to a winner!
MyOn One 456 frame and a gaggle of woollie bollie socks, wear a fresh pair every day and still not worn them out over 6 years on!
On one merino base layers when they are on offer (when aren't they...)
Lidl work gloves - £5.99 - better made and more comfy than my relatively expensive Altura gloves
One of my cycling mates recently told me that he had just serviced his Shimano M520's and offered to show me how, i pointed out to him that the oldest pair that i have are 7 years old, have done thousands of miles, don't need servicing yet and for the price i didn't think it was likely that i would ever service them.
Aldi gloves +1, Edinburgh Bicycle Revolution multi-tool.
Bolle countour safety glasses for cycling. Cheap. Brilliant.
£5 ebay headtorch, for the shed and £2 bike scales, surprisingly accurate.
and of course on one merino socks
+1 on Bolle glasses, most of them are brilliant
Get Bolle Contour a few days ago for the first time - very impressed, first glasses that don't steam
Another vote for Aldi tops - I ended up buying one of the skinny 'pro' jackets because the standard softshell is just so warm. It was so cold one night that my bite valve froze but the cheapo aldi top and a Helly Hansen t-shirt thing kept me plenty warm.
Just wish they'd make some 3/4 waterproof shorts.
FSA Orbit XL II headset - paid ~£20 and it's ace. Has outlasted 3 XT bottom brackets and numerous Hope bearings. Great bit of kit.
On One / SSC CNC stem - light, cheapish and pretty.
Genuine Shimano finned pads - not cheap to buy but last ages and are brilliant so great vfm.
Dirt. I know there's a lot to be said for riding on these manicured, carefully designed crushed stone trails and wooden balance beams but I prefer bog standard, cheaper than chips dirt. It's what tyres were made for.
Karrimor dry bags from sports direct. Dirt cheap, tons of different sizes and genuinely waterproof. I filled one up with bag of ice and beers one night when we were camping. Went to retrieve it the next morning and the ice had melted but all the melt water was still contained in the dry bag with no leakage.