Cycling is an expensive hobby. (If this were a podcast, I’d just stop talking for a minute. FULL STOP.)
However, I am generally able to buy my gear at vast discounts (50% and above), including helmets, shoes, jerseys, bibs. Even groupsets! These are typically new or open box and high-end. Yes, some (clothes specifically) of it may be off-season but that’s totally fine unless you think things change rapidly in 1 to 3 years.
I want the best possible stuff at the best possible prices and I will wait for deals. I am not someone with a special size either – if you’re really small or really big, your sizes tend to sell out last so you have access to more deals. I wear small in jerseys and bibs, have a large size head, and wear 9.5 and medium / large sized gloves. I basically compete with most people on gear.
Here are some purchases from 2024 and how I got them.
In general, I like to research what’s good. Sites like In the Know Cycling help me whitelist certain brands or items to remember. Price, along with brand can be a signal too. Is this the most or second most expensive shoe this well known brand makes? It’s probably pretty good.
Giro Imperial Road Cycling Shoes. Purchased for 199.97, currently retailing for 424.95 (61% off).
As of this writing, you can still get this on Amazon from a third part seller in new condition. In general, Amazon doesn’t have many high end cycling brands. When they do, products are almost always sold by third parties. If you see certain products you like listed, you can use CamelCamelCamel to bookmark and track the price history of an item. You can see if it’s ever been cheap and to notify you at certain price thresholds. I didn’t do that for these shoes. I just searched for them and noticed a good price when I went into the “other sellers on Amazon” box in the product page. I was in searching for pricing on various shoes and noticed this.
I also found these Muc-Off Tubeless Valves V2 for $15.01 that way – they retail for 34.99, 57% off. They were sold as previous returns in like-new condition by Amazon Resale, formerly Warehouse Deals. Mine weren’t even opened.
I did use CamelCamelCamel to find these Continental GP5000 S TR 28mm tires however.
This is the most popular version of these super fast tires – probably the best all around tire in the world right now. These typically sell for over $95 online and are rarely discounted, but I got alerted when a seller was selling them open box for just $45.88.
In recap for Amazon, as you learn about things you might like, random searches on the site from time to time and using CamelCamelCamel for automated price notifications are really useful. For what it’s worth, I don’t think I have ever found high end bibs and jerseys sold on Amazon.
I’ll give a few more examples, but here are some resources that are worth looking at:
The TrainerRoad thread is a great place for sharing and discussing deals.
BikeCloset is the best single store for deals. It’s the only store I’ll actually subscribe to for notifications. I have bought high end jerseys and bibs there from Castelli, Assos, Louis Garneau and other brands at 50% or more off for things retailing at $150 or more. For the discounts, you have to deal with them not having images for so many things and showing so many out of stock items. There are rarely any descriptions. They’re kind of saying here it is, go do the work online to see if this is the thing you want and the price you want to pay. But that actually appeals to me.
I have never purchased bibs or jerseys for over $100, which is the entry-level clothing price for most of these high end brands. Typically I am getting the first or second tier (Assos is really expensive) product tier at less than their entry level price.
BikeTiresDirect is solid, but its deal volume is nowhere close to BikeCloset – BikeTiresDirect is like a regular store that offers great pricing from time to time, while BikeCloset is a full on clearance outlet, like a Nordstrom Rack for high end bike gear. While there are plenty of sites that offer sales, I prefer to check them out on my own from time to time or see if someone mentions something on TrainerRoad rather than getting email blasts.
I bought these Giro Latch shoes, a flat pedal gravel shoe, for $63.38. (Retail: $149.98, 58% off)
GearLab loved this shoe as a super sticky but lightweight alternative to the Five Ten Freerider Pro, so I looked for deals. I found one through Google Shopping and it’s an example of finding deals by being flexible on style and colors. That’s not to say I’ll just dismiss style completely, but it’s not common for me to find the right product in my preferred color.
The exact same thing happened with getting this S-Works Recon Lace for $112.99 (Retail: $324.99, 65% off). Anything S-Works is the creme de la creme in Specialized’s product line.
Same story with the Giro Aries Spherical Helmet. Purchased for $148.51 as an open box item. (Retail: $299.95, 50% off)
This is the #1 helmet rated for safety by Virginia Tech and Giro’s highest end helmet. White isn’t my favorite color, but it’s also the coolest temperature color and make sense for a helmet focused on cooling.
To sum up, it’s really not that complicated. Research, tools, flexibility on brand and color/style can get you a long way with using the very best products at entry level pricing. If you’re curious about eBay, I think eBay is really good for niche items (that are rarely listed) in excellent to like new condition that are then auctioned. You can find special deals then because most people aren’t looking for those items. Things can slip through the cracks so to speak. I will save notifications on keywords for items that I am interested and simply wait.
If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them. Good luck!
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