Whether you take cycling as a hobby or you practice it as a sport at semi-professional or professional level, cycling gear is equally important. Cycling gear includes everything you could use to increase your performance, comfort or protection on a bike, ranging from the helmet, sunglasses, protective pads or jersey, to cycling shorts, footwear or gloves. Besides the protective role that most of these items have, they greatly enhance your comfort while riding and allow you to attain better performance at the same time. Let’s take each cycling gear component and review its uses and see what some of the most important brands that produce it are.
The helmet is undoubtedly the most important of them, safety-wise. Wearing a helmet might avoid some serious injuries in case you fall off your bike at higher speeds and it’s not recommended that you set track without one. Modern helmets are built so that they don’t hinder you in any way and they are light enough not to cause discomfort. In addition, most of them are waterproof, so in case you encounter some rainy portions on your track, your helmet will keep your head dry. Some of them also have the possibility of attaching small LED lights that will increase visibility. And of course, the helmet’s shape also affects aerodynamics, but this is mostly noticeable for professional cyclists. A lot of cycling gear companies produce helmets, some of the best, to name just a few, include Giro, Bell or Gita. Prices for a cycling helmet range from $20-$30 for the cheapest, and $120-$150 for the most expensive models.
Cycling sunglasses have 3 main roles: to (obviously) protect you from frontal sun that could hinder your riding, to protect your eyes from dust or similar particles or eye soreness caused by draft and lastly, they make you look cool, fashion-wise. Although they are quite important to have in anyone’s cycling gear, it’s often quite difficult to choose the right pair of sunglasses, mainly because they come in an extremely large variety of models, shapes, sizes and prices. Some of the most popular cycling eyewear companies of today, including Adidas, Amber, Oakley, Briko or Zero RH+ have tons of models you can choose from, but the price array of a pair of sunglasses may vary from $50 for older models (or new models, but coming from a less popular brand) to $400 for the ultimate, most fashionable pair of sunglasses out there.
Next up, cycling jerseys and shorts. These 2 pieces of cycling gear are quite important especially in terms of comfort, but they are also useful in avoiding injuries and keeping temperature levels equal on hot or cool days. Cycling shorts have a certain built in pad that helps delay (if not completely avoid) the so called “saddle butt syndrome”, greatly reducing the discomfort that the saddle can cause you after a long day of riding. Some models also have side pads that protect you from injuries in case you fall off your bike. Both jerseys and shorts need to be comfortable enough to wear and also keep your warm when it’s colder outside or keep you fresh on hot days. There’s a great deal of variation in jersey and cycling shorts prices, but some of the most popular producers in this field of cycling gear include Diadora, Adidas, Nike or Pearl Izumi.
Last but not least, are cycling gloves and footwear. A pair of cycling gloves’ main role is to avoid hand soreness from holding the bike’s handles for a long time, but they also provide protection from injury in case you fall off. Since they only cover the palm and the back side of your hand, but not the fingers, there’s a good ventilation going on, keeping you comfortable and allowing sweat to dissipate. Some models (especially those used in mountain biking) include shock resistant pads that attenuate the feeling of going up or down a bumpy road. Regarding footwear, suffice to say the shoes need to be light and extremely comfortable since it’s that part of your body that will do most of the hard work when cycling. They also need to have quite a good grip on their sole, so that your foot doesn’t slip off the pedal.
If you’re looking for some popular cycling glove brands, you might want to try out Trek, Activa, Louis Garneau, Santini or Spenco. A pair of cycling gloves’ price range is between $10 for the cheapest models, up to approximately $50 for the latest models of the most popular brands. Cycling footwear brands like Adidas, Nike, Diadora or Sidi can easily pass the $100 mark, but of course you can find cheaper brands or even get older models from popular brands quite cheap.
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