ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Google it!Never heard that before, Have used them for years along with a lot of the guys i ride with, They were probably snide Chinese ones.
High quality-high cost vs lower quality-lower cost
- Thread starter djhep
- Start date
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I don't usually buy branded stuff but to some extent I've been gradually moving up the price points - particularly in cycling gear.
Good cheap stuff:
Aldi compression sleeveless base layer. Rarely go out on the bike without one. It feels like a second skin.
Altura airstream bibs. Pick them up on sale for less than £30
Good dear stuff:
Garmin 1000 - moved from a 500 recently, it works even better than I expected.
Tarmac comp - ridiculous price for a bike (not compared with many others here, but for me) its really growing on me though, particularly descending.
Good cheap stuff:
Aldi compression sleeveless base layer. Rarely go out on the bike without one. It feels like a second skin.
Altura airstream bibs. Pick them up on sale for less than £30
Good dear stuff:
Garmin 1000 - moved from a 500 recently, it works even better than I expected.
Tarmac comp - ridiculous price for a bike (not compared with many others here, but for me) its really growing on me though, particularly descending.
- Location
- Manchester
Muc off chain lube is worth paying for. Cheap half ords chain lube is rubbish at keeping the chain running smoothly.
swee'pea99
Squire
I've always bought the cheapest I thought I could get away with, and it's worked fine for me. The only tool I can think of where I've gone for 'the quality option' is a Park Tools spoke key, having knackered spokes using cheap ill-fitting ebay ones. Other than that, for spanners, screwdrivers, hammers, pliers, all the basics, I've bought cheap. Why buy professional gear, designed to survive working all week every week, when I'm only going to use it a few times a year?
classic33
Leg End Member
Add to that the fact because its now "specialist" use, can often mean the price will be icreased for this reason alone.
Think of the common size allen keys & bolts on any bike these days.
Which lube? I've been using a green-coloured Halfords oil with teflon in a pump type spray for years and really like it. It's a very tightly focused delivery, ideal for targeting the chain and the pivot points on gears / brakes. Each to his own I suppose!
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Interestingly, the best spoke key I own is an Aldi one. Accurately stamped grooves, and a very hard chrome finish. Better than my Giant version
- Location
- London
Any one in particular? There is more than one I think. If you like it but want to pay less/stock up Aldi sometimes sells it.
Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
Tools, I bought the bigger Aldi kit a few years ago, been very happy with it. Wheelbuilding stuff, I buy the better brands as I have a lot of time in it, and I don't want to waste my time. I have taken to refurbishing better bicycles and keeping them instead of selling them on. The new goes away, but the quality stays. Bigger tools like welders and grinders, I usually go to Harbor Freight, as they don't get all that much use, and I can justify a $100 dollar flux core welder pretty easily.
- Location
- Manchester
It just says Bike Hut chain lube in a black bottle.
Yes, I have stocked up on their specials deals before. I stock up anytime I see an offer on somewhere.
mustang1
Legendary Member
- Location
- London, UK
I love getting a good deal, meaning a product fit for purpose at the lowest possible price without screwing the seller.
However i nearly always buy branded stuff because whenever i use the product, i just want it to work without any faff, and if it doesn't work, i want someone else to sort the problem out with minimum fuss.
For me, i have very little time so don't want to waste it looking for items to buy and researching whether they are good or not. But for sure if I had more time, i would research stuff (which is actually quite fun) and I'm pretty sure i will do that when I've reduced my working hours.
Having said that, a product i really like is my gore windstopper jacket which was £80 when bought but now the equivalent lists for £160 (during the sales it's reduced to £120 or so). I like the Raphael stuff but lately not so much, not because the product is not good, but because I've become fatter recently and k don't wanna look like a fat investment banker on a racing bike (though it's not too bad if i remember to pull my stomach in
).
Really like some of the tools i have: a ritchey 5nm wrench is used often, parktool multitool is nice and light. I use the parktool chain cleaner the most (every week) yet i like it the least: too plasticity and makes irksome noises when in use. That's not to say other chain cleaners are better as i think they're all the same.
I really like my endura bib shorts which were around £30, they're great.
Good thread btw, op.
However i nearly always buy branded stuff because whenever i use the product, i just want it to work without any faff, and if it doesn't work, i want someone else to sort the problem out with minimum fuss.
For me, i have very little time so don't want to waste it looking for items to buy and researching whether they are good or not. But for sure if I had more time, i would research stuff (which is actually quite fun) and I'm pretty sure i will do that when I've reduced my working hours.
Having said that, a product i really like is my gore windstopper jacket which was £80 when bought but now the equivalent lists for £160 (during the sales it's reduced to £120 or so). I like the Raphael stuff but lately not so much, not because the product is not good, but because I've become fatter recently and k don't wanna look like a fat investment banker on a racing bike (though it's not too bad if i remember to pull my stomach in
).Really like some of the tools i have: a ritchey 5nm wrench is used often, parktool multitool is nice and light. I use the parktool chain cleaner the most (every week) yet i like it the least: too plasticity and makes irksome noises when in use. That's not to say other chain cleaners are better as i think they're all the same.
I really like my endura bib shorts which were around £30, they're great.
Good thread btw, op.
- Location
- London
Yes it is a good thread -i'd ditch the chain cleaner though, park or otherwise. I have the park and a few others. You have strayed onto a good example of cheaper being best. 1 litre plastic screwtop milk carton. Times 2. Shake chain around with some cheap degreaser. Job done. Very well. Far less mess.
I have the Park PCS10 stand. Great bit of kit. I got it at a great price, which equates to some of the "cheaper" stands out there, but which aren't as solid. I borrowed a mates stand before buying and soon found out why he had bought a better one.
I do find it amusing when people assume that the people who buy more expensive kit are only doing it for perceived Kudos from others though. Or when they post that the more expensive kit isn't any better than the cheaper kit, even though they haven't tried both to give an honest comparison.
I tend to read lots of reviews, good and bad, then shop around online for the best price in the best kit.
Does it make me better than others, when I buy nice kit that does the job I want, No. Does it make me happy, Yes. Do I care wat others buy, No, as long as it makes them happy too.
I do find it amusing when people assume that the people who buy more expensive kit are only doing it for perceived Kudos from others though. Or when they post that the more expensive kit isn't any better than the cheaper kit, even though they haven't tried both to give an honest comparison.
I tend to read lots of reviews, good and bad, then shop around online for the best price in the best kit.
Does it make me better than others, when I buy nice kit that does the job I want, No. Does it make me happy, Yes. Do I care wat others buy, No, as long as it makes them happy too.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Its not that expensive kit isn't (or is) better.
Its that the correlation isn't universal, with many Park tools themselves being a case in point.
And more than a few saddos do buy expensive stuff for the kudos. You've only got to look at people driveways to see the truth of that.
I'm afraid your thoughts are so generalised as to be virtually untrue at any level of the debate. If people want to buy expensive stuff because it makes them feel warm and fuzzy, then all power to them. Its when they buy such items for specious reasons and try to then retrospectively create a justification by making some comment about 'quality' that observers start to see through the bull.
There is a difference between 'quality', whatever exactly people mean by that word, and 'value'. Being expensive does not automatically confer quality upon an item any more than being cheap confers value.
Its that the correlation isn't universal, with many Park tools themselves being a case in point.
And more than a few saddos do buy expensive stuff for the kudos. You've only got to look at people driveways to see the truth of that.
I'm afraid your thoughts are so generalised as to be virtually untrue at any level of the debate. If people want to buy expensive stuff because it makes them feel warm and fuzzy, then all power to them. Its when they buy such items for specious reasons and try to then retrospectively create a justification by making some comment about 'quality' that observers start to see through the bull.
There is a difference between 'quality', whatever exactly people mean by that word, and 'value'. Being expensive does not automatically confer quality upon an item any more than being cheap confers value.
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- Location
- London
I don't think anyone said that. I think a few folk said that more expensive isn't necessarily better. That's something entirely different and very true.
I don't think anyone really criticised the quality of Park Tools either.
The issue of intended purpose is also relevant.
You'd be a bit mad for instance, in my view, to fit many expensive bike bits if you needed them for general purpose cycling.
And many no doubt finely tailored bits of cycle clothing are less than ideal for touring.
PS - some folk, not necessarily you, do buy stuff for bling points. I admit to taking a certain perverse satisfaction at someone on a bling bike abandoning a Kent ride I was leading - just before we retired to a fine fine pub - and a banker turning up on a full suss multi springed wonder for a London Brighton ride I was leading - and being mighty pleased 20 miles in that he persuaded a friend of his to ride it so that he could ride his friend's more basic affair.
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