The Cycling Gear with the Best Return on Investment – Buying Advice

While they didn’t make massive changes, they made a series of adjustments that unlocked noticeably better performance and comfort.

No, my new fit didn’t instantly catapult me to the top of my local Strava segment times, but I did feel better on the bike, which was especially noticeable on long rides and after unbroken blocks of riding.

But bike fits are not one-and-done. Fitness ebbs and flows, bodies change, and so do the best practices of bike fit. So, 10 years after getting my last fit, I went through a new fit consultation, which, like last time, resulted in a handful of tweaks that have already paid dividends.

Maintenance Time and Tools

I don’t obsessively sanitize my bikes or, unless it was a particularly wet or grimy ride, even clean them after every ride.

But I do clean my bikes regularly—especially the drivetrain. —and keep parts lubricated (with good lubes).

I avoid harsh chemicals that can damage delicate materials, grease where I should grease, use friction paste in the proper places, use a torque wrench obsessively, and check my tire pressures before every ride. I keep my tubeless sealant topped fresh and replace worn parts before issues crop up.

I also recommend investing in good tools, especially a torque wrench. High-quality tools last longer and are less likely to damage delicate parts.

I pay attention to my bikes as I ride, listening for new or strange noises and noticing if the bike starts to feel or handle differently—Indications that something needs attention.

I also “maintain” my electronics, keeping the firmware updated and charging my batteries properly so they last a long time and my devices are always ready to go.

By splurging on maintenance time, I usually find and address issues before they become a problem on a ride, so my bikes are always running fast, smooth, and quiet; they last a long time, and I don’t encounter nagging issues.

Tires

High-performance tires are magical. With them (at the right pressure), your bike is faster, smoother, and grips better, and you ride comfortably and confidently.

Considering that they’re one of the cheapest pieces of cycling hardware, good tires have the greatest ratio of performance gained per dollar spent.

So yeah, I’ll happily spend nearly 100 bucks per tire for the Pirelli P ZERO Race TLR RS or the Vittoria Mazza Enduro.

Good Bearings

The thing about bearings is they get worked hard every ride, which is why they’re the bike’s most maintenance-intensive parts after chains, cogs, and rings. And they’re buried where it takes work to reach them for service, especially in this era of internally routed brake hoses.

So that’s why I’ll pay more for good bottom brackets, headsets, and hub bearings (and pivot bearings on a mountain bike). And I’ll make sure the frame surfaces where the bearings reside are properly prepared.

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On new personal bikes, I’ll even chuck the stock bearings and replace them with higher quality stuff before I even ride the bike, just to cut down on frustration and downtime later.

And good doesn’t mean spending crazy money for ceramic bearings that advertise themselves with “forever” spins. But it might mean investing in Chris King stuff, Enduro MaxHit products, or Ceramic Speed SLT bearings. But trust me, investing the money and effort on the front end for good bearings will pay off in the future.

Wheels

Forget the latest drivetrains and “upgrades” like OSPWs: If you want a bike to feel and perform better, invest in a great wheelset (wrapped with great tires, of course).

I’ve found that putting a light and stiff wheelset on a lower-tier frame results in a better overall package than the reverse. And you don’t need to spend $8,700 on the Lightweight Obermayer Evo to get a snappy set of wheels. There are several sub $2k wheelsets—examples include Roval, Hunt, Bontrager, Reserve, and others—that kick ass.

And for my mountain bikes—excepting an XC race bike where weight is a top concern—I find that I’m more likely to prefer the feel of an aluminum wheelset like the Race Face Turbine ($798/set) or the DT-Swiss XM 1700 ($1,100/set) to that of a more expensive carbon wheel.

Cold and Wet Weather Gear

Other than bib shorts (see below), I haven’t found that spending lots of money on high-end warm-weather clothing results in much more than less money in the bank.

But when it comes to gear for inclement and cold weather, investing in high-quality products makes a huge difference—potentially the difference between a great ride and a dangerous ride.

In this space, name-brand technologies like Polartec Power Shield Pro, Gore-Tex, and Gore Windstopper, eVent are, when properly applied and executed, worth paying for. For insulation, I seek out products that use Polartec Alfa and PrimaLoft.

Bib Shorts

Fit is everything when it comes to cycling shorts. That’s why I don’t shop for bibs by price; I focus on fit and comfort.

But I also won’t tell you that the only shorts that fit well and are comfortable are Q36.5’s $460-dollar Unique Pro bibs. Some of my favorite bibs are often a brand’s mid and lower-tier shorts like Q36.5’s Dottore Bib, Rapha’s Pro Team Training and Core bibs, Velocio’s Signature Bib, and Giordana’s Silverline bib.

Some of these are, admittedly, still very expensive shorts (pro tip—every premium apparel brand puts stuff on sale a few times a year), but one pair of great bibs is worth more than a hundred pairs of ill-fitting and poorly designed shorts you bought just because they were cheap.

And hey, if Voler’s $65 Peloton Bib or The Black Bib’s $40 bib works as well for you as a $250 short, that’s awesome. But I’ve never regretted paying more for comfort.

(Pro tip #2—Thicker isn’t better when it comes to chamois. Often, the thin chamois is more comfy over the long haul.)

Helmets

Like bibs, I won’t tell you that only the most expensive helmets are comfortable. But my philosophy is the same: Try on as many different options as possible and pay for the one that feels best. You’re not going to regret paying an extra $100 bucks for a lighter, better-ventilated, and better-fitting helmet.

And, like bib shorts, it is often the mid-priced stuff that impresses me the most. So, while a $300 Specialized S-Works Prevail is a superb helmet, so is the $160 Search.

But if I tried on both and the Evade felt best, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it. But the reverse is also true. With helmets, as it is with bibs, put your comfort first, not your wallet.

Drivetrains

I’ve been saying so for literal decades, and my younger colleagues agree, that unless all you care about is weight or flexing, there is no reason to buy a top-of-the-line drivetrain.

The key technologies that influence performance are usually the same in a third-tier group as they are in a top-tier group. So, Skip the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 or SRAM Red AXS and get the Shimano 105 Di2 or Ultegra Di2, or SRAM’s Rival AXS or Force AXS.

While it is true that drivetrain brands introduce their newest features and designs in their top-of-the-line groups—hood shape, brake revisions, and micro-adjusting front derailleur in SRAM’s new Red AXS for example—these things always trickle down to the lower priced groups eventually.

Now, I will admit that I do care a little bit about weight, so I usually will split the difference and get a second-tier group like SRAM Force AXS, or Shimano Ultegra Di2 for road, or Shimano XT or SRAM XX for mountain.

I’ve also built a little spreadsheet where I lay out the prices and weights of the different groups’ parts and identify where to save money because there is less weight difference (often derailleurs, brakes, and controls) and where an investment returns the most weight savings (usually cassette and crankset).

High-End Carbon Frames

While I’ll always encourage people to spend as much money as they want on a custom frame from a small builder they love, I don’t feel the same about mass-produced carbon frames from mainstream brands.

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I have two main reasons for this. One is carbon frames, especially race-oriented ones, which tend to evolve so quickly that the latest/lightest/fastest/coolest frame can only claim to be for a few months before it’s supplanted.

And second—as Dan pointed out in his recent story—is that when a company offers multiple tiers of carbon frame, the top of the line is usually a lot more expensive but only fractionally lighter.

Hey, if you have the money to stay on the bleeding edge of performance by buying the latest and greatest every few months, I’m happy for you. Plus, you’re helping create a robust second-hand market so other riders can stay near the bleeding edge but save a ton of money.

But as I see it, the extra money brands charge for their premium frames is in no way justified by the extra performance they offer.

And this is clearer than ever as brands like Seka and Winspace start to gain traction with frames that boast impressive performance but are half, or better, the price of a top-end Madone, Tarmac, or SuperSix Evo frame.

Warm Weather Jerseys

I’ve ridden in $100 (and less) jerseys and $400 jerseys. There is little difference.

Yeah, the fit is important, and I want to look my best, but I don’t need to spend top-of-the-line money to get a nice-looking and good-fitting top.

Plus, apparel goes on sale a lot, so I usually keep an eye on the sale pages at Competitive Cyclist, Rapha, and Velocio (and other brands that make good-looking jerseys from high-quality materials) and jump on something only when I need something new.

Mountain Bike Apparel

Maybe it’s just my crash-y riding style, but my mountain bike apparel gets battered fast.

I’m too sweaty to ride in a plain cotton T-shirt and thrift-store jorts, and I feel silly when I invest in expensive mountain bike gear only to see it get dingy and torn within a few rides. (The exception is rain and cold weather gear, as I outlined above).

Again, it is apparel, so I take advantage of the ample opportunities to buy stuff on sale and gravitate towards the less expensive stuff (like Fox’s Ranger Collection) in brands’ lines.

And for tops, I don’t limit myself to cycling brands: Many outdoor and sports brands make simple and light tech-Ts that work great.

But I am open to splurging a little bit on mountain bike shorts if I find something with an especially great fit.

Clipless Pedals

Like drivetrains, there’s no real reason to buy the top-of-the-line pedal in a brand’s range. You’ll get the same performance—because they use the same cleat—from a cheaper pedal from Shimano, Look, Time, Crank Brothers, Speedplay, etc. Plus, many brands use titanium axles on their top-of-the-line pedal, which is less stiff than a steel axle and often has a low rider weight limit.

Cycling Computer

Cycling computers have gone the way of smartphones. The tools you use every day haven’t changed in decades. Still, to convince you to buy something new and expensive, brands add fancy-sounding features that often turn out to be not as useful as promised, only useful to small numbers of people, or only needed in uncommon circumstances.

I shudder to think what janky AI features brands will cram into the next generation of computers.

For daily use, I need a computer that connects to GPS and a few sensors, displays the few metrics I want to see while I ride—time, elevation, and power-related stuff)—and records my ride data so I can view it later. That’s about it.

I never use a computer’s workout tools (I find workouts much easier and more practical to do indoors with Zwift, Trainer Road, or a similar service). I hardly use the navigation tools (when I do, the most I usually need is “turn left” or “turn right”). I don’t need eight billion ride or bike profiles; I don’t need to know what song I’m listening to; I don’t need my computer to respond to a text for me; I don’t need it to tell me I’m riding into a headwind, I don’t need a touchscreen to swipe between pages (buttons are just fine), I don’t need it to change my light mode or control my camera, I don’t need to know that Payson McElveen is hilariously faster than me on a local Strava Segment, I don’t need more a day’s battery life, and so on. The only newer school feature I want is compatibility with a radar, which is just a sensor profile and a data field.

Most of what the $400 to $700 computers offer is simply not useful or needed. The GPS cycling computers with all the tools I need (and way more) for my everyday rides include the Magene C606 ($159), Sigma Rox 11.1 Evo ($180), Garmin Edge 130 Plus ($200), Coros Dura ($249), and Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt ($280).

Winter shoes

I wrote a big ‘ol story about my strategies for staying warm in the winter a few years ago, but one thing I didn’t cover was my thoughts on winter shoes (I did get to it in the comments).

I’ve tried many a winter shoe, and I thinkthey all kind of suck. They’re heavy, clunky, and fit poorly, and none—except the massive snow boots from 45NRTH—are all that warm.

I’ve had warmer and more comfortable feet by pairing my favorite warm-weather shoes with good socks and a good overshoe.

Sunglasses

25 years ago, I could perceive the superiority of the optics and fit of high-end eyewear like Oakley and Smith compared to a pair from a value brand.

Those differences faded a long time ago, and today $75 to $100 glasses are so good I can’t find any reason to drop $300 or more for a high-end pair of Smiths or Oakleys (especially since the latter’s current styling philosophy seems to be “edge lord”).

The glasses I’ve been wearing most are Tifosi’s new Moab ($80 with three lenses included) and Shimano’s $100 Technium L. Both are comfortable and secure and offer sharp optics and useful lens tints.

A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling, Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race.