I have Goretex for hillwalking and mountain climbing, where it could save your life. But it's too bulky to do double duty as cycling gear, and, considering the cost (my Berghaus mountain jacket was £700!) it doesn't last long enough. You can't justify it for cycling, at least not my sort of cycling where I'm never more than ten minutes from people who will offer me shelter if it suddenly starts hailing moonstones.
What I like is:
1. Running gear from Lidl. I have several pairs of running tights from Lidl that are marvellous for all kinds of weather, by weight, and last quite well, especially if you take care of the zips. I have a skullcap from Lidl that really works in all weathers. I went looking for another one today, when they came into stock, but the usual horde of early shoppers cleared the shelves.
2. Bicycling gear from Lidl. I don't buy padded pants. That's what I have Brooks saddle for; running pants work much better for me. But Lidl cycling jackets are not bad. I have several and they all work as advertised -- as someone already said, as you expect from Germans. The jackets I have are clearly made on the same production line as expensive branded stuff sold by CRC, Wiggle, etc.
3. My best cycling jacket cost €15 at a sale at Dunne's Stores about 10-12 years ago. I bought it becauses it was bright yellow, then cut vents under the styling flaps. I discovered it was made on the same production line as a famous branded jacket for £180, just without the vents, but with the flaps. I got oil on it recently, but otherwise it is still as smart as when it was new. I wish I bought three. Waterproof, windproof, breathing outer, dirt repelling, superb. One thing mine doesn't have is a long cycling tail, but I bought it a size too big, thinking to wear it over bulky sweaters, and on my bike I don't wear bulky sweaters, just a brushed cotton or plain cotton shirt because the jacket is warm enough, so it is long enough to keep my bum and the seat dry.
4. Khakis and corduroys from Marks & Spencer. I cycle in whatever I'm wearing, dressing for cycling in tights only when I intend cycling immediately on rising; it's one of the advantages of a hub gearbox and a full chain guard and block pedals that when you decide to go, you just grab your shades and your helmet and you blow through, no delays to change.
5. I bought 15 wide cut cotton business shirts at a sale specifically for cycling. They allow air circulation and are cool in summer. I bought 15 brushed cotton shirt, thick workman type, at a sale, specifically for cycling; I had to go back and buy up the shop's entire stock because my family grabbed my first batch for themselves. I'm wearing one now, that today I rode in; it doesn't smell and it doesn't stick. Both lots are so good, they've become my favourite all-purpose shirts. I find wool too warm for cycling, though I like angora longjohns (under €20 at Lidl) when it is really, really cold. But cotton in the right weight is a three-and-three-quarters season cycling material in my mild climate.
6. Cotton jackets, with or without liner according to season, from M&S, Dunne's, Heaton's (cheap department store), do pretty well as windbreakers and a spray of Nikwax over the shoulders and down the outside of the arms make them decently showerproof.
7. My emergency folding rainwear, carried on the bike, is all from Lidl and cost well under €40 altogether. The trousers are styled and have fittings for putting them on over shoes, and then to tighten the lower leg so there's no wind flap, nor spraying of water over everything.
8. One thing for cyclists at Lidl that isn't so good is their toolkits. Cheap crap. The underseat bah though is worth the price of the entire kit to carry your own, proper, multitool etc.
9. I've recently discovered that a cheap fleece (€15), which I bought at Heaton's for rubbing paint brushes to a point to save the easel from getting into a mess, is both windproof and more than slightly showerproof, and a very comfortable cycling cut too. I've bought a second one and will try it when it gets colder in the place of the lined cotton jacket.
10. In general, I just don't see the point of paying huge loadings for "cycling" brand names when the stuff I buy at inexpensive department stores (Marks & Sparks --- they're Brooks Brothers in the States, for our transatlantic cousins -- Dunne's, Heaton's) clearly comes from the same production line, is made from the same materials, and is cheap enough to trash without tears if you make a mistake (a fleece that was sticky-hot, heavy and soaked up and retained water like a facecloth -- the cats were happy to have it though; cycling trousers with unsuitable pads or easily-broken lightweight zips from Lidl, mickey mouse stuff that I laughed off, as I wouldn't laugh off a Goretex jacket that leaked -- I made them give me three in a row, and then made them give my money back).
Andre Jute
