Road Cycling - Affordable biking clothes for my new bike

Just purchased a Bianchi Talledaga Reynolds 631 the other day. I basically wanted to upgrade for my commuting to work and growth in this great sport. I currently have a few bike jerseys and a pair of biking shorts that are now to big. Since my start of commuting to work which is 28 miles round trip on bike path right to my office, I have gone from 200 pds to 165 and the shorts are to big. The bike cost me about 1200 so now Im penny pinching right now for new clothing. I just noticed the great price on the shimano shoes for 27.99 and picked a pair up. Where is a good spot to shop. thanks,

Welcome to the Forums, Nikos--you have quite a commute! No wonder you lost so much weight.

If you click on "Shop" at the top of this page, it will take you to Performance Bike's website. They often have some good specials, and Bike Nashbar (www.nashbar.com) also has specials almost all the time on clothing. Those are the two outfits that I've dealt with non-locally. Your local bike shops probably have specials too, but sometimes they're more seasonal in nature.

I hope you'll stick around and tell us about some of your commuting rides. The "Commuting" forum here is very active. Few commute as far as you do. Is that every weekday?

Im trying to bike 5 days a week. Depends on if I have meetings that require my car. I work for a city/city hall that is a year old. They had a work out room in their budget, but never went through on filling it with equipment. Well the shower room and lockers are there, but no usage. So I have the whole locker room to myself, which I can store my clothing and shower goods. Since the police station is one floor above the locker room, I can store my bike in a secure room up there. My job as a social worker requires that I drive around town on most days. I usually leave my car at work and bike back and forth and drive the car during the day. Once it cools off around here, I think I may be able to bike to visits - as long as the sweating issue is not a problem. I cant believe how addicting road biking is. I had been on and off with running for a long time - not only was it difficult day in day out, it was killing my knees. Now I dont have to worry about cutting into family time, I can get to work and home in about the time it takes me in the car with all the street lights! Love this forum, I will be using it a lot. I need to learn the basics.

Originally posted by nikos
I have gone from 200 pds to 165 and the shorts are to big.

So... Nikos, can I have your biking pants that are now too big?

I dont think you would want them, havent washed them in about 50 rides!

Originally posted by nikos
I dont think you would want them, havent washed them in about 50 rides!

Oh... well then..

Never mind.

Nikos,

Welcome to BF.

JonR mentioned one great place. If you have an REI near you they have good deals sometimes.
Here are a few other good choices:

Performance Bike (http://www.performancebike.com/)
http://www.bestbikesinc.com/index.html
http://www.longscycle.com/

Actually a new REI just moved into the area. Ill give them a looksee. Thanks for all the tips guys, really glad to have found this great forum.

Nikos,
Sierratradingpost.com has some excellent prices on name brand stuff. I am ordering a Giordana Panaria team jersey for $28.95 as we speak. They have a bunch of other stuff, too, including shorts, gloves, etc. They kind of do liquidations so they may not have much selection of size or color, but it is first quality stuff. Look under Specialty Sports Gear and Apparel. You might also do brand name (vendor) searches on any particular names. Sometimes not everything seems to show up. They have some pretty good deals on tights and stuff, which may be handy for you in a few months where you live. :D
Rainman

Congrats to you Nikos on the weight loss and welcome to the forum. I also came here when I got started riding and got lots of good advice.

I have used Performance Bike and Nashbar. I really like Performance web site and found them to be easy to deal with. Nashbar was ugly to me on the telephone and I could not get their web site to work. Would probably still try them again if I saw a deal I really wanted.