I’ve had a small day bag for a good few years now that accompanies me on most hikes. I bought it in Lidl of all places for not much money. I usually only need a small amount of stuff and it’s comfortable, reasonably well spec’d and simply does the job. It’s pretty worn now though and for the last few months I’ve been trying to find a replacement.
So far I’ve ordered three different bags that I’ve returned for various reasons. Mostly the fit and/or quality wasn’t what I expected. Today though I think the search is finally over!
A fellow Irishman has a YouTube channel called “Rambling On”. The video below is his review of a Decathlon 40L bag that looks fantastic. However, I was looking for 20/25L max. In the last couple of weeks I spotted a 20L version on the Decathlon website, delivered today and it’s pretty much perfect 👌
Just over a month since Xmas and Santa came again yesterday.
Funkier Pontebba Winter Jacket
Ordered based on a recommendation from a fellow blogger. Reduced from $100 to $19 and $28 for delivery which I felt was still good value. Predicted delivery from US 21-45 days, arrived on 22nd day. Great first impressions and looking forward to testing it over the next couple of weeks.
Medium size and bought for Audax spins and possibly bikepacking. Not on an offer (£34.99 from PlanetX) but good value and bought based on the saddle bag I bought in November.
I’ve looked at similar gloves over the last couple of years and at £9.99 these seemed to be great value. They’re no longer on the website so may have been a clearance price. I hopefully won’t need to wear them too often🤞
Unsurprisingly my social media ads are mostly filled with cycling related products and websites. Over the last few months PlanetX has been showing up a lot and due to the nature of ads, even more regularly once I clicked on one of them!
👆 this is a screenshot and not a real ad 👆
Having perused a number of categories and products for a while I finally made a jump last week and ordered a few items.
Base Layer
I’ve become a baselayer convert over the last year or so but needed a slightly heavier option for colder winter days. PlanetX do a sleeveless, short and long sleeve version. I don’t like my arms too warm so I opted for the short sleeve.
I wore it on Wednesday for the first time and was very impressed. It’s a very close fit but not tight or restrictive. I didn’t feel clammy at all so felt that it wicked away sweat pretty effectively. I definitely think I’ll buy another to have a spare as I think it will be getting good use over the winter.
I have lots of pairs of gloves due to a constant search for the perfect pair. The 365 race gloves caught my eye as they’re described as:
Light, warm and snug fitting, with a nice tacky palm grip to boot
I don’t like bulky gloves so was interested in something that was both light and warm.
I also tried these for the first time on Wednesday. It was very cold so I layered them over a pair of Sealskinz merino liner gloves as I really didn’t want to have cold hands. This turned out to be a perfect combination. I had no issues with the cold and when I stopped for lunch at the 50K mark my hands were dry with no dampness in the gloves. The layering also gives the option to lose a layer of it gets too warm.
The only issue I had was when the rain turned heavy and prolonged. Eventually the rain soaked through both layers and I started to feel a bit of a chill. At this stage it would have been a good idea to have had my waterproof Sealskinz gloves. In fairness to the PlanetX gloves they’re not marketed as water resistant. As a bonus they look good with my Perfetto jacket.
I really dislike carrying stuff in my pockets so flying in the face of Rule #29 and 31 I’m a fan of saddle bags. My current dhb wedge bag is getting a bit worn after a couple of years of use. They’re discontinued now so I’ve been looking for an alternative.
Podsacs seem to make good bikepacking bags so I decided to test them out starting with a saddle bag.
I haven’t got organised yet to get this onto my bike but I’m impressed by the quality so far. It has a pretty heavy duty feel with good straps and a dry bag style closure. It’s also bigger than I expected. I hope to test it on the bike this week.
My bike came with basic plastic bar end plugs that I dislike. One of them also comes out far too easily so I want to replace them with metal screw-in ones. It may look like I buy everything black but I do like a little splash of colour and picked red ones to match my helmet and bike trims.
I’ve unsuccessfully tried to fit them once already but I’m not sure if they don’t fit or if I’m doing something wrong. Another go during the week but I might be sending them back.
I’ve been a Wiggle fan for many years now but PlanetX are showing some competition so far. My only issue is that I hate paying a delivery charge and there’s no free delivery option. Returns also have to be sent via standard postage with no free returns option. The value of the items I’ve purchased outweighs this considerably but it still irritates me.
The links above are standard links and I have no affiliation with PlanetX and don’t receive anything for them so click away if you want to see more details on the website.
the idle cyclist 