Cycling kit so lovely you’ll be desperate to head out on your bike on sub-zero mornings just so you can show it off. My picks include bargainous jerseys, lustworthy coordinated kit and a jacket that could well save your life. Take that, winter training!
THE BUDGET SET:
Bike newbie? A quick perusal of the various forms of lycra on offer online can make getting into road cycling seem painfully expensive. But whilst a decent bicycle won’t come cheap, you can definitely save pennies on clothing. Decathlon’s cheap and cheerful shorts, jerseys and jackets are mainly under the £20 mark – they may be no-frills functional but they do the job, and make a great spare set for when your favourites are covered in mud. Decathlon also do a ridiculously cheap and surprisingly sturdy little rucksack for £2.49 in a rainbow of colours – it’s light, sports comfortable straps and costs less than lunch. Pop a spare layer and your puncture kit in it and you’re good to go.
For more affordable options check out Leisure Lakes’ range of cycle clothing for great prices on branded kit.
Reflect360+ cycling jacket, £109.99 from Provis
This jacket is magic. During daytime hours it’s a comfortable, breathable, good-looking outer layer which is fantastically waterproof. All well and good. But at night Proviz’s Reflector360+ truly comes into its own. I have yet to witness a more exciting clothing trick than shining a light on this beauty once darkness falls. Boom, total luminescence, as you can probably tell from the blinding picture above. Okay, it isn’t really magic – the Reflector is covered in millions of highly reflective tiny glass beads which show up like a beacon in a driver’s headlights. Wear this at night and you literally glow. As someone who commutes daily on a bike in the dark, this is a no brainer. A very smart purchase for winter.
The latest offering from dhb is so pretty to look at you’ll almost be loathe to get out and hit the tarmac in it. The bright and beautiful Blok collection is a colourful pick-n-mix of shorts, bibs and outer layers in eye-catching designs, based around a + symbol, and the different pieces offer substance as well as style, too. The bib shorts are comfortable, warm and well-padded, with more coverage than most designs. The jersey is silky soft, wicking away sweat quickly, and the back pockets hold your stuff safely in place however far you’re cycling. The jacket is fleece-lined and flattering, putting up a fantastic front against driving wind. Expect many compliments – you’ll be the coolest cyclest on the Blok (sorry).
Thank you to the ever wonderful Mary Spender for taking these photos.
Hope this isn’t too rude a question but what size do you have in the bib and top (like me you don’t seem to be flat chested but are slim)? I’m finding with bibs it’s always a question of squished chest or baggy bottoms/legs. The dhb look excellent on you so I’m thinking there might be hope for me yet.
Author
Hello! No problem at all, I wear a 12/M in both and they are perfect. And definitely work well with boobs! I would totally recommend the bib especially, so comfortable. xx
Thanks so much, Sian!