price difference worth it?

[Magikarp]

Erm, guys could you tell me if price difference matters or do they work out just as good?
for:
Bike pumps
Bike lights
Windstopper jackets
glasses/shades(eyewear)

it's just that I want to buy saving money... Though I dont know why but I have a tendency to buy expensive ones -.-

 

[Nebulous]

Different people have different ideas of what is cheap and what is dear.

Sometimes its about having the right tool for the job rather than the price. We have a pretty good footpump to blow up car tyres. A couple of years ago my wife bought a Halfords track pump for our mountain bikes. I grumbled about it at the time, because I thought it was unnnecessary - the foot pump was fine. Since getting my roadbike though I'm really glad I have it. It hits 120 psi very quickly and is used regularly. Now I just have to sort out a jersey pocket pump, as the cheap one I have is rubbish.

For lights I got a Smart 25 set for my roadbike. Around £30, great rear light though not entirely waterproof, good front light, but not bright enough to light up the road ahead when out of town. For my mountain bike/commuter I got a Lidl set around £10. Front light is halogen and rechargeable, rear light has leds, no flashing mode on either. Both sets do the job I want them to do - but if I could only have one I would say the Lidl set is better.

When I started cycling I thought I had entered a strange parallel world, where all the normal rules on pricing do not apply. I do not buy many clothes at all, preferring unbranded clothes - I hate displaying logos! So I cannot believe that people will spend £250 on a waterproof jacket. That is as much money as I spend in a year on all clothing. Yet somehow I've got a strange hankering after a top-end cycling waterproof. I'd really like a £100+ one, just to see if they are as good as people say they are. So I'm getting sucked into this strange new world in which I find myself.

I have a long list of cycling gear I want and an idea of the price point I would like them at. I'm prepared to scout about for bargains and build my kit up gradually though. One good thing - I've always been a nightmare for anyone who wants to buy me a present. Cycling has certainly turned that around!

 

[Magikarp]

Different people have different ideas of what is cheap and what is dear.

Sometimes its about having the right tool for the job rather than the price. We have a pretty good footpump to blow up car tyres. A couple of years ago my wife bought a Halfords track pump for our mountain bikes. I grumbled about it at the time, because I thought it was unnnecessary - the foot pump was fine. Since getting my roadbike though I'm really glad I have it. It hits 120 psi very quickly and is used regularly. Now I just have to sort out a jersey pocket pump, as the cheap one I have is rubbish.

For lights I got a Smart 25 set for my roadbike. Around £30, great rear light though not entirely waterproof, good front light, but not bright enough to light up the road ahead when out of town. For my mountain bike/commuter I got a Lidl set around £10. Front light is halogen and rechargeable, rear light has leds, no flashing mode on either. Both sets do the job I want them to do - but if I could only have one I would say the Lidl set is better.

When I started cycling I thought I had entered a strange parallel world, where all the normal rules on pricing do not apply. I do not buy many clothes at all, preferring unbranded clothes - I hate displaying logos! So I cannot believe that people will spend £250 on a waterproof jacket. That is as much money as I spend in a year on all clothing. Yet somehow I've got a strange hankering after a top-end cycling waterproof. I'd really like a £100+ one, just to see if they are as good as people say they are. So I'm getting sucked into this strange new world in which I find myself.

I have a long list of cycling gear I want and an idea of the price point I would like them at. I'm prepared to scout about for bargains and build my kit up gradually though. One good thing - I've always been a nightmare for anyone who wants to buy me a present. Cycling has certainly turned that around!

hehe. Thanks so much for the feedback. Because I'm like you, couldnt care less of the brand names and just want cheap stuff, but then when I started cycling, I worry about whether the price justifies the quality, or is it just the brand name... now I spend hours just looking at lights, on ebay, evanscycles, halfords etc etc.
Even the jacket, I just wanted to buy a £20 one, and then when I went to the store I saw this jacket "Gore Path 2" and tried it, and felt really nice, and fitting.
But I'm a poor student, so I need to budget them carefully.

 

[summerdays]

Bike pump - well we bought a cheap Lidl one a couple of years ago and it didn't last long but some of their other gear has been worth getting. Now got a track pump and one to carry around in my pannier.

Lights - well I think you need more than one set ... so you can get your first set now - a cheap set (I would recommend a Smart 1/2 watt or the others that have come out since for a good cheap rear light) and then depending on what sort of cycling you are doing look at getting a more powerful front light as you head into winter. I've got a Hope 1 at the front but I lasted a year or two before I needed it because of a change in the roads I was riding on meaning I needed something that showed me the road rather than just to show motorists I was there. It is always worth having that second set - in case the batteries go whilst you are out on the road - especially the rear light which you won't notice.

 

[zacklaws]

I judge an item on how important it is and how reliable it must be, the more so, the more I will pay for it, ie I am happy to use cheap Aldi or Lidl sunglasses and usually buy about 2 or 3 pairs at a time, but I would sooner pay for an expensive pump or multitool.

The reason being if I break my glasses, getting home on a long ride will not be affected, but if I am a long way away from home and my cheap pump falls apart or my cheap multitool bends when I need them most, then I am in dire straights.

 

[buddha]

I've done the buy cheap - buy twice (or more) thing for all the the OP's list, apart from glasses.
Lidl/Aldi ones do me fine.
BTW: Lidl have another load of cycle stuff on the 19th May BTW - including glasses. Though the price seems to have gone up a bit.

Good quality/branded pumps (topeak, lezyene etc) and windstopper jackets (gore etc) do last a long time.

edit: I bought some gore jackets (from gbcycles) a few years ago at less than half price - because they were last year's version.

 

[MacB]

You can be lucky with cheaper stuff but it is luck, personally I'd go with:-

track pump - around £20-30 - the Joe Blow II is a very good pump
bike pump - £23-30 for one of the Topeak Morph range

lights - I'd go with 2 front and 2 rear - at the back the Smartflash are great and On-One have them on sale at present - at the front I'd get one light to be seen by around the £10-15 mark and then a more powerful one to allow you to see on dark roads. Sky's the limit pricewise on the latter but the Hope1 gets good reviews as do the Fenix torches coupled with a lockblock to mount them - about £60-70 for either. Or you could go mega bucks for a fancy battery system or dynamo wheel and decent LED dynamo light

jackets - here I'd not go wild, I've had expensive 'breathable' stuff for other hobbies and nothing is as breathable as is claimed, I prefer to use layers and, for an outer shell I've got an Altura Nightvision(but it's got to be cold) and a Montane Featherlight longsleeve and the gilet. The latter are just showerproof but I'd rather get wet than boil in a bag. Say about £100-150 to kit yourself out as above but your intended useage and how hot/cold you get will be an influence here.

sunglasses - cheap is fine for me - I've been using a pair I bought in Portugal for 10 euros for nearly 3 years, I did get a fancier cycling specific pair to give me a choice of lenses but they're still sitting in their case in the garage after 18 months I do get moments when I'm not wearing anything on my eyes when I think I should really put the clear lenses in and carry them with me...but it passes

 

[threebikesmcginty]

sunglasses - cheap is fine for me...I did get a fancier cycling specific pair to give me a choice of lenses but they're still sitting in their case in the garage after 18 months

Were those the PBK ones? I got a pair at the same time - haven't used them either

I like these Bolle safety glasses from ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bolle-Spider-...Goods_SportsSunglasses_SM&hash=item53d98a6c37

 

[MacB]

Were those the PBK ones? I got a pair at the same time - haven't used them either

I like these Bolle safety glasses from ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item53d98a6c37

wow, the memory man, just popped to the garage and you're right...and it pains me to say that!!!!

 

[Magikarp]

though with pumps, shouldnt I buy one that I can carry? or is it not really needed?whats so important about the value of the pump? is it just because of service life? or psi reach?


Edit: and oh yeah, erm mudguards

 

[youngoldbloke]

Basic rule - do not pay the RRP. If you shop around you can always find a discount. Personally I don't buy Rapha or Assos kit - I would rather spend the money on the bike, and I have bought some very worthwhile stuff from Lidl and Aldi in the past (including a Lidl track pump that has been superb for years - the narrow barrelled alloy one). IMO Lidl and Aldi have lost the plot recently however, sizing is crazy, design tacky - still some good items but you have to be selective. Don't buy just because it's cheap, but you do not always get what you pay for. That might have been true once upon a time, but nowadays price is based on all sorts of considerations other than quality. Decathlon is always worth a visit, especially for jerseys, shorts and other clothing. Oh - yes - you do need 2 pumps, and mudguards - depends on the bike?

 

[Magikarp]

Basic rule - do not pay the RRP. If you shop around you can always find a discount. Personally I don't buy Rapha or Assos kit - I would rather spend the money on the bike, and I have bought some very worthwhile stuff from Lidl and Aldi in the past (including a Lidl track pump that has been superb for years - the narrow barrelled alloy one). IMO Lidl and Aldi have lost the plot recently however, sizing is crazy, design tacky - still some good items but you have to be selective. Don't buy just because it's cheap, but you do not always get what you pay for. That might have been true once upon a time, but nowadays price is based on all sorts of considerations other than quality. Decathlon is always worth a visit, especially for jerseys, shorts and other clothing. Oh - yes - you do need 2 pumps, and mudguards - depends on the bike?

urban bike ~Fuji Team 3.0

 

[youngoldbloke]

urban bike ~Fuji Team 3.0

- if that is the road bike with 23 tyres, and the frame has no mudguard eyes I would recommend Roadracer Mk2 but shop around for the best deal - should be able to find them for around £20.

 

[cycleGeoff]

Tenn-outdoors jackets are the cheapest I could find... their RRP is like £50 (which is pretty good anyway) but are currently priced at under £14 at cycle-clothes.co.uk

CHEAP JACKET

That's a damn good bargain from cycle clothes... thats like a what... 70% discount? The Jacket itself is pretty comfortable, and does what it says on the tin which is keep you warm and dry. The only con is that the velcro straps down the front can be annoying to release.

I think if you want something cheap that isn't crap then places like cycle-clothes.co.uk is where you want to go... but if you have the money to spend then there's plenty of other places to get good gear.

 

[cycleGeoff]

Oh and yeah, cheap sunglasses. They break all the time, no matter what price they are and its not worth spending a lot of money on. Also, cheap bike pumps are just unreliable. So many times i've made the mistake of getting the cheaper option, then when I need it about 10 miles from home or something and I have a flat tire I find it's broken. Obviously don't go too expensive, just the not the bottom rung of the ladder so to speak.