TL/DR Pic is of my new non Chinese Jersey i bought for a exorbitant amount of money, when the Chinese one left me stranded.
I am on holiday in France at the moment. Rented a bike today, and went out on a ride towards Cannes. Decided to put on my faux POC Jersey for the ride, as it was a good weight for todays weather.
Well about 20 miles into the ride I unzipped it to adjust my HRM, and the zipper failed completely. On closer inspection it used a really cheap plastic piece for alignment, and that failed. So I was now 30k from my accommodations with a broken Jersey that wouldn't zip up.
My options were to ride around the rest of the day with my stomach out, cancel this day that I have been waiting all year for, or find another Jersey at the closest LBS.
Of course the only one LBS caters to really high end Yacht people in Antibes, so their cheapest jersey was 80 Euro for something atrocious. Ended up bitting the bullet, and spending 100 Euro on one that I only kinda like, from some made in Italy brand I have never heard of called Sportful.
It is very tight, and short, but it is high quality, I am just a bit annoyed that my cheapness cost me 100 Euro on something I am lukewarm on, especially when I passed up on a bunch of Jerseys I was obsessed with to save money, ultimately costing me more in the long run.
Even the Jerseys at Cafe Du Cycliste were in the same range as this at their store in Nice.
I will certainly never be relying on Chinese kit for a big ride again after this.
by mellofello808
6 Comments
Only buy from the reputable Chinese brands. YKYW, Darvie, Spexcel etc
Which Chinese brand was it, so we can avoid it?
Sportful is a sister brand to Castelli, it is pretty nice. I think that jersey looks nice on you (although you could use a base layer). Enjoy your holiday!
I have the same model in different color scheme, bought it for 40 EUR on sale – def brand worth buying further and waiting for a proper sale
MBO has been great
Lots of reputable Chinese brands. The one you’re wearing looks good too