PeteHski

They make quality gear if you like and can carry off their very French style. Definitely not for everyone.

GhostRider62

Interesting, I did not recognize the style based on nationality, it seemed more gender focused. I learn something every day.

PeteHski

It's about as French as a French thing from France can get. Clue is in their name.

WhyFi

That's the nice thing about the you-don't-know-what-you're-missing stuff - less compulsion to blow money.

Did you visit ACF in person or did you shop online?

I've gotta meet a friend there, for a ride, this morning. Well, at Northern Coffee, to be precise. I miss meeting for pre-ride coffee and being able to browse the bike crap, but maybe it's a good thing in this case - too many big wastes of money.

Koyote

I visit mpls about once each year, and sometimes go down to AC. I grew up in the NW suburbs.

prj71

Local group of friends is establishing a bike club of sorts to represent the area at races, rides etc. I was invited to join. Looks like I might be buying a Borah Teamware jersey. This will be more expensive than Amazon damn it!!

Germany_chris

My big waste of money Dromarti’s showed up today after the first wear I have a feeling I’m going to have another set.

these are some comfortable shoes that don’t clunk like normal cycling shoes

tomato coupe

In all fairness, the Chevrolet Corvette is the least “French” car ever made, yet its name says otherwise.

terrymorse 

The ingredients in one bottle's worth of sports drink mix are readily available and cost less than 10 cents.

The commercially available sports drink mixes run about $1.50 per bottle.

I make my own mix from dextrose, salt, lemon crystals.

All those other ingredients you'll find in sports drink mixes? Unnecessary.

base2 

terrymorse is on to something.

Glucose is pure muscle fuel. All other sugars get converted to glucose. Fructose is one of the easiest sugars to convert. Honey is a mix of both Glucuse/fructose. Why not start there? Of course any other sugar would work too with a bit of digestive conversion delay.

Potassium is a necessary electrolyte. It can be found in the spice section of grocery store usually marketed as "salt substitute" or under the brand name NuSalt. Most sports drinks don't have very much due to the possibility of digestive upset & make up the difference with plain salt. But a quarter tsp or so per bottle is plenty.

The knock-off powdered Kool-aid drink packs can be ridiculously cheap. The large powdered Gatorade mix can also be used instead & had for significantly less than the commercially diluted stuff at the roadside convenience store. Frozen, concentrated lemonade or limeade would likewise be a refreshing alternative to either.

Mix all of it up in a water bottle in whatever combination works for you for "sports drink" at way, way less cost than commercial.

I'm sure others here have similar hacks in the empty water bottle arena.

jema123

$40 on a water bottle? That is one heck of a water bottle. I've gotten deals for $7 per quality name brand bike bottles.
I've seen outrageous prices on carbon fiber water bottle cages, and I guess if you are racing and every ounce of weight matters that is important to you.

I did spend extra on a mips helment. I read on it and it doesn't seem necessary and I had a helmet that was a few years old but not damaged and just thought I should get a new one and just spent extra on the Mips,

terrymorse 

You don't have to spend crazy money for a bottle cage, but please avoid the cheap and flimsy ones that lose bottles if you go over a bump. A bottle cage is safety equipment.

I lost a good friend and ride buddy, because the bike in front of him ejected a bottle on a fast descent.

Maelochs

I do the powdered gatorade. It saves me money and it saves me time---which I need to wax my chain.

Eric F 

These are my favorite for a modern road bike - very light, reasonable price ($20 on Amazon), and hold bottles way better than you would expect from their very minimal appearance... https://www.zefal.com/en/bottle-cages/496-pulse-l2.html

PeteHski

Sure, but that stark contrast doesn't apply to Cafe du Cycliste. They are the embodiment of French cycling style and they make that as obvious as they possibly could throughout their website and marketing. They are easily the "Frenchest" cycling brand I can think of.

GhostRider62

My strongest cage is also my heaviest, it is made from carbon. I use in behind the seat position. IIRC, they were $75 each. Few things irritate me more than someone losing bottles. Back in the day, one only drank after taking their pull at the front and when on the back of the pack. The cost is a consideration to others. Not a place to skimp.

prj71

So something I recently learned. I have a couple of carbon Bontrager water bottle cages I purchased at the Trek bike shop for $70 each. After purchasing them I decide I wanted a different color. Ordered some from Amazon for 1/3 of the price. When they arrived I couldn't help but notice that they were exactly the same as the Bontrager water bottle cages. So Trek/Bontrager gets them from the same place in China and then slaps their name on it and raises the price. Dumb.

seypat

A lot of that goes on in many industries.

prj71

Yeah I know that. Wasn't expecting it on the Bontrager bottle cages and it pissed me off that I spent so much money on them just because the Bontrager name is slapped on it. Talk about a racket.

seypat

I'd be POed also. Paying a premium price for a private label product.

tomato coupe

It doesn't mean Trek/Bontrager buys their cages from the same source. There are lots of cheap bike components that are just cosmetic clones of name brand stuff, but they're not the same product.

Herzlos

IF they are actually the same item, you may find that the branded one has tighter quality control and higher yield threshold. So the cheap one is potentially one that failed a quality test for the expensive one and was re-branded instead of destroyed.

Maelochs

Yeah .... everyone says "Sure they come from the same factory and the same assembly line, but the brand-name ones are still better."

For frames, I;'d buy that. Bottle cages .... whatever. The real test is that the gentleman has both and can see if one is really functionally superior to the other.

And the gentlman has responded:

prj71

Nope. Exactly the same. The Bontrager one is just a rebranded chinese one. And I've never had a water bottle cage fail or break ever.

WhyFi

Absolutely. His assessment of jerseys was shown to be sterling, so buy with confidence, amiright?