Need Advice on Apparel

[dragan2000]

Hi, My 18 year old son is new to cycling. He is already doing 50 miles rides. I want to buy him some riding apparel for Christmas. This stuff is expensive. Can anyone recommend a good website for this. He has a pair of shorts that are padded but needs cold weather gear as we in the Northeast. Tops and bottoms. Thanks

 

[vickster]

Northeast US presumably?
maybe @Gravity Aided or @rockyroller or @Nigeyy can help as they are in the States (most of us are in Europe)
Pearl Izumi are a good US brand with a wide range to suit different budgets (I have seen at outlet malls in the past although they probably have an online outlet Stateside)

 

[13 rider]

I wear a UK brand called lecol expensive but good quality . They do have a good news year sale if you can wait which makes the items still on the expensive side but affordable to me and good value for the quality

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning

Multiple layers is usually the solution to riding in the cold rather than having one layer of a super wonder material.

I can ride for a few hours in 0-5 degrees centigrade wearing two layers, two jerseys that were £10 each without any drop in body temperature when measured under the tongue.

Wearing just one of these jerseys I lost nearly 5 degrees centigrade in the same time period, that is close to the hypothermia danger level.

I would expect a dedicated base layer would improve the two jersey figure if I needed it.

You don't mention how much cost matters to you, nor if you would be annoyed if your son decides that he does not like cycling and the clothes go to waste. :-)

Bye

Ian

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I would be very wary about buying items such as cycling clothing for others, because it's a very personal thing and sizing needs to be correct too. Some brands of cycling gear are also not sized for real world people who are not skinny racers. There are plenty of tales around of people who normally wear, say, a Medium in casual clothes, finding that when they try to get expensive cycling stuff that will actually fit their body, it ends up being an L or XL!
With something like a pair of jeans or casual jumper, if you know someone's size, you've got a good chance that the garment will actually fit them. With some cycling gear, there's a very good chance it won't fit if bought sized like other clothing.

 

[rockyroller]

Northeast US presumably?
maybe @Gravity Aided or @rockyroller or @Nigeyy can help as they are in the States (most of us are in Europe)
Pearl Izumi are a good US brand with a wide range to suit different budgets (I have seen at outlet malls in the past although they probably have an online outlet Stateside)

I'm a fan of the Novara (REI) brand. good quality & REI has good sales at the end of the season. one can also find pre-owned products on eBay!

 

[rockyroller]

Northeast US presumably?
maybe @Gravity Aided or @rockyroller or @Nigeyy can help as they are in the States (most of us are in Europe)
Pearl Izumi are a good US brand with a wide range to suit different budgets (I have seen at outlet malls in the past although they probably have an online outlet Stateside)

I'm a fan of the Novara (REI) brand. good quality & REI has good sales at the end of the season. one can also find pre-owned products on eBay!

 

[Nigeyy]

It can be difficult. I'm just speaking for myself but I usually like to choose my own apparel (maybe a gift card?). I'm in agreement with what @SkipdiverJohn said about personal form and fit -and add in style as well.

Anyway, my usual online purchases have been made from the following:

Nashbar.com -sometimes bargains can be found, and they usually have some form of coupons at some point. But they can also sell some stuff that isn't the best quality. Having said that, I'm still wearing Nashbar own brand mtb shoes and shorts after 20 years....
Performancebike.com -they are owned by the same company that owns nashbar, so very similar. I tend to think of Performancebike as being just a bit more upmarket.
jensonusa.com -solid web site, have been going for quite a time. Sometimes you can get a bargain, but usually more expensive.
coloradocyclist.com -similar to Jensonusa.
amazon.com -yes, they have almost everything an online bike store would have, and at competitive prices (and usually the items are sold from the online bike stores instead of amazon anyway). I've used them but always try to use someone else if I can as they aren't great to their workers IMHO.

Where in the north east are you? I know myself and RockyRoller are in Mass.

 

[Gravity Aided]

You might also consider Louis Garneau, sold at Dicks' Sporting Goods.

 

[dragan2000]

Good morning

Multiple layers is usually the solution to riding in the cold rather than having one layer of a super wonder material.

I can ride for a few hours in 0-5 degrees centigrade wearing two layers, two jerseys that were £10 each without any drop in body temperature when measured under the tongue.

Wearing just one of these jerseys I lost nearly 5 degrees centigrade in the same time period, that is close to the hypothermia danger level.

I would expect a dedicated base layer would improve the two jersey figure if I needed it.

You don't mention how much cost matters to you, nor if you would be annoyed if your son decides that he does not like cycling and the clothes go to waste. :-)

Bye

Ian

I think he will stick with it. He road his last two years of high school with the mountain bike team but now prefers road cycling. He is a quiet guy and liked the solitude I think. I don't mind paying more if I know the clothing article will last. If it's all the same except for the price tag, I'd rather not pay top dollar for something that is going to need to be replaced after a season . Thank you for the info. Layers make sense. I run and do the same.

 

[dragan2000]

I would be very wary about buying items such as cycling clothing for others, because it's a very personal thing and sizing needs to be correct too. Some brands of cycling gear are also not sized for real world people who are not skinny racers. There are plenty of tales around of people who normally wear, say, a Medium in casual clothes, finding that when they try to get expensive cycling stuff that will actually fit their body, it ends up being an L or XL!
With something like a pair of jeans or casual jumper, if you know someone's size, you've got a good chance that the garment will actually fit them. With some cycling gear, there's a very good chance it won't fit if bought sized like other clothing.

Last night I found a pair of fleece cycling pants on Amazon. Overall they were highly rated by reviewers but many people said to pay careful attention to the sizing as the padding would end up too far forward if the size was not perfect. Interesting.

 

[dragan2000]

You might also consider Louis Garneau, sold at Dicks' Sporting Goods.

I have that store close by. I will check it out even if I can't find anything online. Thanks.

 

[dragan2000]

It can be difficult. I'm just speaking for myself but I usually like to choose my own apparel (maybe a gift card?). I'm in agreement with what @SkipdiverJohn said about personal form and fit -and add in style as well.

Anyway, my usual online purchases have been made from the following:

Nashbar.com -sometimes bargains can be found, and they usually have some form of coupons at some point. But they can also sell some stuff that isn't the best quality. Having said that, I'm still wearing Nashbar own brand mtb shoes and shorts after 20 years....
Performancebike.com -they are owned by the same company that owns nashbar, so very similar. I tend to think of Performancebike as being just a bit more upmarket.
jensonusa.com -solid web site, have been going for quite a time. Sometimes you can get a bargain, but usually more expensive.
coloradocyclist.com -similar to Jensonusa.
amazon.com -yes, they have almost everything an online bike store would have, and at competitive prices (and usually the items are sold from the online bike stores instead of amazon anyway). I've used them but always try to use someone else if I can as they aren't great to their workers IMHO.

Where in the north east are you? I know myself and RockyRoller are in Mass.

Kent, CT (Almost on the NY line)

 

[rockyroller]

Columbia makes good footwear