...how old their oldest piece of cycling clothing is?

[LittleGreyCat]

Prompted by me looking at some of my kit and trying to remember when I bought it.

I think I have worn out all of my original cycling shorts.

I do have a few tops left over from the 1990s - I bought my first recent bike in 1995 and gradually stocked up on clothing bought in the sales at cycle shops.
Those were the days.
Most of the cycle shops are now gone forever.

Anyway, without digging too deeply I have a winter weight Lycra (I think) long sleeved cycling top which seems more or less indestructible.
Yellow (no longer bright).
I have a very lightweight over top by Diavolo (long sleeved sun shirt?) and apparently Diavolo is still a thing.
Top by Iceni which doesn't seem active in cycling clothing at the moment.
All from sale rails in the mid to late '90s

Do others hang on to battered but well loved clothing?

[foxyrider]

I have some stuff from almost when i started racing, jerseys, track suit, caps etc - so they date from @ 1977! Some of the it i can still get into even That was useful when i did the L'eroica event as i recreated not just my 1978 race bike but wore the genuine kit that used first time around.

As regards still in use - well i have a ski band that has been used on the bike every winter since i think 1987 - jerseys & tops, the better ones don't tend to get worn to death as new ones are added periodically. Shorts and longs rarely go beyond one season, i seem to wear through the seats so they get replaced/retired well before the rest of them get tired. Footwear often lasts well, my 'best' road shoes are over ten years old and even much cheaper stuff often go more than five years of sometimes daily use in all weathers.

I usually do @ 250/300km a week all year round so not weekend warrior wear!

[Bmblbzzz]

Shorts bought in 1985 or '86. Still worn every summer.

[drossall]

I've still got the kit for my first cycling club from the late 70s. Doesn't fit though.

I also have some fur-lined cycling shoes from around 1979. I was out with a fellow student, heading into the Dales, on a snowy day. We'd only done a few miles before my feet got so cold that I said I was going to have to get thicker shoes, or head straight back. They are what I bought. No drilling, and not even suited to the then-current shoe plates, so I stopped using them when toe clips went out. I think my friend had to lend me the money to buy them - no credit cards for students then, and I had very little cash with me.

[Audax67]

Arm warmers bought in the late 90s.

Shortest-lived are, of course, shoe covers. The manufacturers seem to believe that we never put a foot down.

[eileithyia]

Audax from the early 1990s bought ready to ride the PBP

[peetee]

If you had asked this two years ago I could have told you 38 years. I had a cotton t-shirt with the appearance of a string vest that eventually fell to pieces. It worked very well as an early/late season undershirt and I have yet to buy anything else that does the job as well.
Anyhoo, I do have a pair of AguSport spats that must be 30 years old.

[ANTONISH]

One machine knitted wool road jersey - last used around 1962 - no chance of fitting into it now.
One pair Belgian road shorts with dessicated chamois insert - late fifties.

[maanderx]

I have a yellow Coolmax™ jersey, a Peter Storm top and a Gore™ Windstopper gilet from 1996.

[PH]

I have a Cannondale branded jersey, bought with the discount voucher from my first non BSO bike in 1999. It was my first ever cycling specific garment, and it remains my favorite jersey in the right conditions. I have some Rohan stuff from about 15 years ago when they were making cycling specific stuff, I haven't bought much cycling specific stuff since.

[mig]

still in use? several wool/acrylic 'Infil' undervests bought some time in the 90s from Ribble cycles. the natural coloured ones. i bought a large amount in a multi deal and have filtered them into use ever since.

almost indestructible & a cycling classic!

[freiston]

I lapsed from all but utility cycling some time in the 80s after my decent bike got nicked and I got rid of all my old cycling stuff, including giving away my Karrimor panniers and Bardale. I didn't return to the "cycling fold" until the mid to late 90s. When I "took it up" again, I bought a pair of roubaix bottoms very similar to the Tudor Sports York tights but by Alan Lloyd ("Ayel") from Mike Vaughan in Kenilworth; this must have been about 1997. They're still going strong though I hardly ever wear them now - usually when the weather is cold or other stuff is in the wash.

[xerxes]

Not specifically for cycling, but in winter I use a Helly-Hansen base layer vest which I've had since the early 1980s.

[rjb]

I'm still using long acrylic socks made for plus fours from the 1960's when I joined the cycling club. Still keeping my toes toasty in the winter. And I have some "OZZO" arm warmers too.

[mattsccm]

Campag wool tights from my first day at college in 1983. The chamois liner died last century but the tights are fine and still in regular use. My first jersey from 1979 can still be worn but seems to have shrunk somehow!