You are so lucky in the US

[gilly]

Hello ladies :)
This is such a lovely forum, everyone is so supportive of each other :)

So why do I think you're all so lucky? easy! you have so many places to buy girly cycling clothes!

Everytime I go into a cycle shop here (UK) they have one tiny rail of women specific clothes, always only in black :(

I follow links on here and other US cycle sites and there they are, colourful and stylish women specific cycle wear... Most, in fairness, do ship to the UK, but delivery is not cheap and often times our import tax can be more than the original cost of the item.

I read earlier of a lady here who found a friend in a Perl Izumi outlet a Perl Izumi outlet ? :eek: I am green with envy.

And then there are your women specific cycling clubs :eek:

You are indeed lucky ladies.
And it's nice reading all your stories :)

I may not post very often, but I read you often ;)

[Trek420]

gilly wrote: "So why do I think you're all so lucky? easy! you have so many places to buy girly cycling clothes!"

yet I'd trade my girly clothes for nationalised healthcare! and.. european folk get waaay more vacation.

"Everytime I go into a cycle shop here (UK) they have one tiny rail of women specific clothes, always only in black :(

And then there are your women specific cycling clubs :eek:"

Are you in a club? If you started a womens ride bet there'd be takers.
:p

[smurfalicious]

The Pearl Izumi outlet isn't that exciting. I'm really not that impressed by their shorts. The only ones that at all appeal to me at all are so expensive! They do have some nice long sleeve jerseys, that are soft inside.

I can relate to your angst about local stores and the lack of clothing. I live in a small town, and we are relegated to a selection of about 4 boring shirts and a few shorts mixed in to the rack of mostly mens shorts. I hate the clothes here! The area is kind of earthy so all we get to chose from is solid colored, pastel, subdued garbage. Hello, I wanna scare the wildlife!!!

love and cookies
-smurf

[SnappyPix]

Hey Gilly

I had exactly the same problem ... bored with blacks and sickly girlie pastels, I resorted to the only feasible solution available ... I booked a return ticket and headed off across the pond. Came back with a suitcase full of vibrant clothing and managed to get in two weeks' fabulous cyling around SF and Muir Woods. Mission accomplished!

Most definitely the more expensive option and with hindsight, the import tax would probably have worked out cheaper, but the sheer thrill of standing in a bike store and having CHOICE over stuuuuuuuuff made it almost worthwhile!

Girl gear envy is a very baaad thing! ;)

[SnappyPix]

Check out www.primalwear.com.

I love my curl up and dye top, always gets a double take!

[MightyMitre]

Trouble with girls stuff in the Uk is the market is so small shops don't bother with a big womens range as there's just not the number of people to buy it.

Another problem is that shops tend to stock very general girls stuff. Some girls like flowers and bright colours so when you're riding you're proud to show you're a girl, where as others are more serious athletes and prefer function over fabric colour.

As a result a lot of shops have to try and stock gear somewhere down the middle - to appeal to both the serious riders and the more casaul. Not an easy task when you've only got a small rail. So you often end up with pretty medioca choice.

Now if there were more girlies riding shops would have to respond to the demand... :)

[jplum4]

I know that this is a stretch, but does anyone know if you can buy the fabric to make a jersey? I need mine about 1 1/2 inches longer and can't find anything except a man's jersey. THen you have to deal with boxy men's styling. Seems like they would be easy to make if the fabric was available...

[Trek420]

SnappyPix wrote" Came back with a suitcase full of vibrant clothing and managed to get in two weeks' fabulous cyling around SF and Muir Woods. Mission accomplished!"

So, when I go to England I'll pack a case full of Shebeast and Primal , drop it off and come back with....? Sounds like a good import/export biz. I thought bike and cycle culture was popular in England? Come to think of it my Norwegian relatives when they are here head to REI for outdoor gear. What's funny is that Norwegians tend to be tall yet my brother in law can only get his favorite outdoor jackets, shirts in large/tall here.

[SnappyPix]

LOL

Sigh. Shebeest. Came back with loads of their stuff too! Thank God Customs never opened my case! We do a good range of waterproof gear over here, to protect our milk white skin against the wet British weather!
Like MightyMitre says, most shops only stock a limited range of token women's gear, usually basic, middle of the road stuff. There are 6 bike stores where I live, with a dismal range of clothing.
We need to get more women out of the spinning classes and onto the roads!

[caligurl]

lol! i don't know about that! the largest selection i've found is at supergo.. and wasn't all that impressed!

i've ordered several things from performance.

i do find cute things at sports chalet... and usually on the clearance rack.. i hit the jackpot on saturday.. we were on our way home and i noticed a sport chalet outlet.. never noticed it before cuz wasn't interested in sports i guess!

so we stopped.. it was a whole store of clearance racks! EGADS! i could have spent hours looking! however my focus wasn't on fitness or regular clothes.. but cycling clothes... well i hit paydirt... cycling stuff was an additional 30% off! woo freaking HOO!!!!!!!!

i got a heavy pearl izumi winter jacket for $55! a pretty light blue.. (i had already gotten a wind breaker type one at a sports chalet store a while back!)

2 pearl izumi short sleeved jerseys (and should have gotten the other two i left.. cuz i realized i have no short sleeved jerseys!)

2 long sleeve.. on PI and one fox (the fox one has a fleecy lining.. yum!

a PI sleeveless jersey

and a pair of tights (no chamois)

all for $128 (yes.. that inclused the $55 for the jacket!)

they had a pair of PI ultrasensor tights for 34 (before the 30%) but i decided i'd get their fleecy leg and arm warmers instead.. cuz i don't know about the whole no chamois thing and wearing the tights over shorts...

prior to that i had stopped at incycle cuz they are listed on trashy cat's site and i wanted to see their stuff in person (well.. wanted to buy! lol!) but they only had large shorts *POUT* but i did pick up a pair of tights with a chamois (cannondale) for $34.00 and cute pair of cannondale shorts for $11.00!

i think i need to stop buying for a while!

[Irulan]

Originally posted by jplum4
I know that this is a stretch, but does anyone know if you can buy the fabric to make a jersey? I need mine about 1 1/2 inches longer and can't find anything except a man's jersey. THen you have to deal with boxy men's styling. Seems like they would be easy to make if the fabric was available...

if you search the apparel sub-forum, there's a big thread on making jerserys. I make most of mine, and all my shorts.

Irulan

[Trek420]

caligurl wrote "i think i need to stop buying for a while!"

nah, just ride lots and wear it all out :D

[Pedal Wench]

I've found that I do most of my shopping online. Even in a somewhat big city (Atlanta) that the stores don't have a large selection of women's cycling clothing. REI has some, but a store like Atlanta Cycling has about 5 jerseys to choose from - pretty sad, actually. Go online - Performance, Nashbar (with a 20% off women's jerseys sale!) and right here at Team Estrogen!

[emily_in_nc]

Terry. Their stuff is expensive but good quality, and the sales are good! www.terrybicycles.com. I buy most of my cycling clothing from Terry, Team Estrogen, and Performance.

Emily

[MightyMitre]

Gilly - if you can't affort a ticket to the US how about Easyjet to Italy. They've got some excellent stuff over there.

Brands like Nalini do some womens stuff, as do Sportful. I went to their factory shop in Italy in the summer and their latest range of womens kit is fantastic - sporty and practical, but cut and designed to fit and enhance the female figure. Very nice gear. :cool:

There's a few Sportful dealers in the UK who might be able to order the things for you.

You could also try www.wiggle.co.uk Don't know if they do Sportful but they've got a great big section on womens gear.:)

[gilly]

Well that woke up the English girls :D

Just to prove my point, below are two UK online stores and then two US online stores... there's no comparison. UK=dull US=Vibrant.

I have been to San Francisco, way before my days of cycling, and sadly on business, so I didn't get to see much at all :( My husband has also been over on business and wished he'd had time to cycle. It is in our plans to go together and have a cycling holiday :D

Italy is also in our plans, so MightyMitre, where in Italy is the Nalini factory shop please?

Trek420... it's a myth about the vacation time (well, as far as UK v US is concerned) I worked for a US company here in the UK, they were based in SF, they got exactly the same holidays as us, just spread out a little more :)

I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and order from overseas until I can get there in person..... <sigh> will make the tax man happy :rolleyes:

Thank you ladies :)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/default.asp?cat=women

http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/item.cfm?ID=1764

http://www.primalwear.com/2004site/WOMENS-JERSEYS.html

http://www.teamestrogen.com/categories.asp?catID=18

[Trek420]

gilly wrote" Well that woke up the English girls :D


Trek420... it's a myth about the vacation time (well, as far as UK v US is concerned) I worked for a US company here in the UK, they were based in SF, they got exactly the same holidays as us, just spread out a little more :)"

http://www.doomdujour.com/1vacatns.htm

soure Economic Policy World Almanac Americans have the least vacation time in the 'civilized" world, just THINK of the cycling we could do if we got time off like the French!! Sorry, the chart does not list England.

Personaly I do pretty well with 3 weeks + 6 personal days off + 12 holidays (not all of which I get off) + unpaid time off + 1 religious day to worship the bike gods of my choice...+ and another year or two I'll get even more but most here get 10-12 days tops. I love my job, I'll never leave....yeah right.

:p :rolleyes: :D

[Trek420]

PS: the vievs of the above link are not necessarily the views of TREK420 (though he does make some good points) I just googled vacation and that seemed the best single source of figures I saw elsewhere, since I'm grazing on dinner did not hive time to do more research...:rolleyes:

[SnappyPix]

According to the article, we get 28 days holiday.
Sadly, I only get 21. Who's got my missing 7?!! Trek420, I think it's you!!
But I'm off on vacation to Sydney in October for 3 weeks - then packing in my job and moving to New Zealand for a 6 month vacation next year with my other half, so not complaining at all!
Yay!! 6 months to cycle around Auckland and Lord of the Rings country, can hardly wait!!

BTW - the import tax on goods for the UK is quite a sting. Ordered a Castelli jacket online from the States, paid £40 shipping and another £35 in customs tax. Ouch!

[spazzdog]

What about 'gifts'? Are those taxed as well? You could always send $$ for an item + regular postage to a friend here in the states. They could then buy it and send it as a 'gift'. How do the finances work out on that... more/less expensive?

[Trek420]

SnappyPix sayz: "According to the article, we get 28 days holiday.
Sadly, I only get 21. Who's got my missing 7?!! Trek420, I think it's you!!"

sorry about that! ;-)

"Yay!! 6 months to cycle around Auckland and Lord of the Rings country, can hardly wait!!

BTW - the import tax on goods for the UK is quite a sting. Ordered a Castelli jacket online from the States, paid £40 shipping and another £35 in customs tax. Ouch!"

Owwwwww. Could you stop by here on the way to New Zealand, Chainreaction bikes on the peninsula has a good selection of womens clothes, near the SF airport, stock up, do a ride, keep going?

[slinkedog]

Hey Trek420... does Chain Reaction carry Castelli? I want to try a pair of their shorts.

[Trek420]

Haven't been there in a while...nor do I work for them ;-)

but in the past was impressed that they had an equal number of clothes for each gender. Check their website or....go there (they do not take orders online or phone, that I know).

[kpc]

You guys have those reevu helmets. With the mirror in them. Have you seen them. a woman wore one to a ride this weekend and evryone was swamping her to check it out. She had to buy it in England and carry it over herself. It was soo cool.
I got on the net yesterday and ordered one from a place in Scotland. Apparently they aren't approved for US yet. Have you worn one?
One question, I paid 47 franks(?) (It looks like a 7 and an L.)
How much is that in $?

[Trek420]

slinkedog ....... "does Chain Reaction carry Castelli? I want to try a pair of their shorts."

was in left coast cyclery today, 15% off Castelli!!

[SnappyPix]

I've tried on the Reevu helmet, as they stocked them at my local bike shop, but they were a little too bulky for me, but liked the idea.
Not sure what currency you paid in! Europe now uses Euros, although Britain still uses £s (pounds), which is possibly what you paid in. They're in stock at biketrax for £47, so guess you paid in pounds! Equates to about $84, but I'm sure there'll be shipping on top of that.
http://www.biketrax.co.uk/subCat/46/6ed12b6dd93a20b897be7c1764eeb773/

[slinkedog]

Oh bummer! I wish I lived closer to Berkeley. I live in the south bay. It would be a major drive and I have to find someone to watch all my kids for the day!!

[letty]

Slinkedog,
Chain reaction has another store in Los Altos (on Homestead) by 280 and Foothill Expressway. It is closer than the one in Redwood City.
Letty

[Trek420]

slink...just checked their website they are closed Monday for labor day, ah shucks, and I thought I had an extra day to shop

[Veronica]

Bicycle Outfitter in Los Altos carries Castelli.

V.