General Cycling Discussion - Value Brands in Cycling World?

Hello. It seems in the cycling world gears and accessories (like gloves, sunglasses, clothing) can run up to multiple hundreds if not thousands. Are there brands that make quality stuff but perhaps don't have the big-sponsor recognition and price premium?

Thanks

The brand name itself has become a commodity that is sold..
the reputaton sometines is 'soiled' by the new owner.

have you tried stuff on 1st hand in shops., and found them to fit, or not.
inspect stitching to see if those young girls sewed together well, in the factory.

that matters more than whether it has a "Swooshtika" [Mr Jim Hightower's word]
on it, or not..

Even withing a certain brnd there are low end items and high end items.

The best brands maintain the same high quality from top to end.

I don't buy "barnd," I buy "quality."

It still remains, however, that some brands are better than others. No matter how one wishes to spin you can't escape the fact some brands are higher quality.

One that I consider a value brand of accessories is avenir (http://www.avenirusa.com/). Just looking over their lights page, I see a few items that look to be identical to other brand items. I'm not sure, but this might be the company that was known as Vetta several decades back. Not totally sure about that, however.

Canari (http://www.canari.com/)makes pretty decent cycling clothing, but at a reasonable price.

Then there are the house brands from Performance and Nashbar. Some items are better than others. You need to read the user reviews to find out.

Even withing a certain brnd there are low end items and high end items.

The best brands maintain the same high quality from top to end.

I don't buy "barnd," I buy "quality."

It still remains, however, that some brands are better than others. No matter how one wishes to spin you can't escape the fact some brands are higher quality.

Certainly, but being able to tell quality is the hard part, especially for newbies. I guess the flip side to my question is: what are the overpriced brands in the cycling world (think Monster cable)?


One that I consider a value brand of accessories is avenir (http://www.avenirusa.com/). Just looking over their lights page, I see a few items that look to be identical to other brand items. I'm not sure, but this might be the company that was known as Vetta several decades back. Not totally sure about that, however.

Canari (http://www.canari.com/)makes pretty decent cycling clothing, but at a reasonable price.

Then there are the house brands from Performance and Nashbar. Some items are better than others. You need to read the user reviews to find out.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Another vote for Performance house brand. They're like Walmart for bike stuff - negotiating low prices with Chinese manufacturers. (But I draw the line at clothes, some of their cassettes, etc., are made of cheese.)

Avenir is Raleigh's accessory brand, and pretty decent stuff for the price.