I'm done buying Castelli
 

Man I'm PO'd. I used to wear Nalini gear until the brand started getting impossible to buy in the US. So I switched to Castelli because I liked the styling and they always had sales. The first bibs I bought were the Evoluzione's and the logo started peeling off within a month even though I always hand wash and air dry. And the material is really thin and doesn't seem durable but I chalked it off to those being the lowest priced shorts.

Last November I bought some Endurance X2 bibs, I think I paid @ $125. I really liked them. I didn't wear them long before the winter gear came out, then I started wearing them a few weeks ago. I switch them with my other bibs so I don't believe I have over 1000 miles on them. They've always been hand washed and air dried. But now................

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...psczr3mxoq.jpg

You started a thread asking about fat cyclists, now your pants are coming apart at the seams. Time to go on a diet, my friend.

I also have two Encarta jerseys, a white and black one. I only took a pic of one spot, but both have the threading coming out in multiple places. It's almost as if something got caught on the jerseys and pulled it out, but nothing has. It looks like they're just coming apart from hand washing I guess. I also have a more expensive Volata jersey, but I haven't worn it long enough for anything to go wrong with it.

It's not dirty, that's just the camera flash

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...pseinauc8k.jpg

I like Assos for bibs although I have a pair of Castelli that are great, no issues with them quite yet.. only have had them a short time.

Go Assos for the future bibs.. they seem sturdier and better put together to me than the Castelli's.

Most of my bibs are Pearl Izumi, no issues so far, and I wash them like all my other clothes. I just got a pair of Castelli from performance, and I like the pad a little better (it's a hair wider) but the fit is nowhere as good as the PI. I wear L in PI, and had to go to XXL for castelli to get the length I needed, so the legs are a little baggy in a couple of places. If they start falling apart then I certainly won't be buying any more from castelli.

I've had pretty good luck with almost all brands of shorts and bibs that I own.
My only problem is with one pair of voler bib shorts, that are becoming a bit see-through.
The chicks dig it.

I have Castelli's team bibs from 2015 and 2016, and they're all holding up pretty well. One of my four pairs (the one I've had the longest) has holes everywhere and the seams around the chamois are coming apart, but that's after >4,000 miles and repeated machine washes (they're definitely my 'beater' bibs). At least for me, Castelli's still good quality, and pretty comfortable for the price.

Rather than hand wash, I would suggest using garment bags and the hand wash setting in your washer.

Target and Walmart sell wash bags designed for ladies undergarments which work great.

The hand wash setting in the machine + garment bag is probably easier on the garment than actual hand wash. It is certainly a lot less effort.

Rapha clothing lasts forever.

My Castellis from Ali express are awesome and if they ever do fall apart I'm only out $20

Castelli has a 1 yr warranty in the US. my 2 evoluzione bibs had the seams wear the surrounding material out since they weren't flat stitched down. mine were older than 1 year but Backcountry.com honored their customer satisfaction guarantee and i exchanged them for a pair of Sugoi's and LG's of equal value. way better made and as good or better comfort.

so see what you can do from the place you bought them.

fify

Funny. I buy cheap Performance stuff, machine wash the stuff on regular cycle just thrown in the machine along with all the other darks and machine dry with full heat. Even when I was riding a lot more than now, it would last so long that I would forget how old it was.

got emmmm. Woooo.

Maybe on yours it does. I am able to pay off my one credit card balance at the end of each billing cycle. Haven't paid a penny of finance charges since around 1996, when one month I wrote out the bill but forgot to mail it.

I've had very good experiences with $20 Aliexpress bib shorts. Worst that happened was they got discolored after a couple years, and I beat up on them. Machine wash/dry at home, during the day they hang out in the sun hanging from a chain link fence outside my office. I get the unbranded or generic (Cheji/Xintown) graphics.

I wouldn't describe that as durable. I've got similar mileage on Assos F1.13 bibs, it has zero holes, and MAYBE the chamois has started to lose to some of the firmness. They will definitely last another couple of years. They were my most comfortable bibs, so they accumulated the most wear by far.

They were out of stock on those bad boys at the outlets, but I picked up the cheaper uno's and so far so good with 'em. I can't help but think that once you get to a certain level with these bibs, their 'premiers' are just kinda b.s.

Wish I had the 13's to test so I could come to an actual conclusion and not just speculation.

Thanks for reminding me. I bought them from Competitive Cyclist so I just sent them a message. I bought a Castelli jersey from them two summers ago and the left sleeve was somehow sewn on upside down and they did a quick exchange.

That was the first Castelli item I had bought, I should have learned my lesson then.

I may try a pair of LG bibs. I have two club jerseys made by LG from a club I rode with when I lived in NJ, I bought them in 2006, they have countless thousands of miles and still look and fit brand new.

I think these are the ones I got
Louis Garneau Fit Sensor 2 Bib Shorts - Men's | Backcountry.com

Nah. It was just a joke. Monthly expenses always get paid off monthly.

Competitive Cyclist returned my email with a message that has a Backcountry.com address. Weird, they must be one in the same. But they're awesome, they sent me a UPS label to return it and gave me store credit.

Competitive Cyclist, Back Country. Steep and Cheap and Nashbar are all the same.

+ 1 for cheap ass kit. I buy ebay jerseys for $20-25. I'm also a big fan of used gear. So many people buy kit and never use it you can buy really nice stuff for a fraction of what they paid for it. I just got a pair of Capo bibs for $5.50 and a Capo jersey for $17.25 bith had bike shop logos on them but who cares.

Performance = Nashbar unless something changed I don't know about.