I was going to write a post seeking brand/store recs for workout clothes, but I figured we could all use a space to ask “What’s a good brand for X?” and get feedback. I’ll start!
What’s your go to place/brand for workout clothing? About how much wear do you get out of a piece? My latest Nike pants were a big disappointment.
I like backcountry.com for workout and outdoors gear. I bought my first North Face item (a pair of running shorts) for a super discounted price (I think $23?), and I have to say the quality was worth it.
I have unexpectedly had all the sport clothes purchased at Giant Tiger last forever. They won’t be the lightest slickest stuff, but it works.
I usually either stalk really high end yoga pants brands on poshmark and ebay (Alo Yoga, for example), or I get Popflex brand stuff, which has lots of pockets and nice fabric but a much more reasonable price point than say, lululemon.
I try to buy nothing new, but I did get a LOT of stuff from ebay. I work out every day and worked in a high-end gym and hate doing laundry constantly, so I have almost a full week’s worth of leggings and sports bras, etc. I would also say that I’m extremely lucky as I live in Portland which has the headquarters for Nike and Adidas, so there’s an abundance of high-end athletic wear in the goodwill here.
If I want merino wool (for travel or bike touring) I stalk icebreaker on ebay or on backcountry.com
Oh wow, I’ve never heard of Popflex! Thanks! I didn’t think about ebay either…might have to poke around…
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the C9 line at target for workout clothes - I’ve had some running tights last me for several years from there.
I have had really good luck with Gap and Old Navy for workout tops. I haven’t liked their pants as much. I find that while I like different tops each day, I just like wearing black capris so I just buy a few pairs of high end bottoms (I like Athleta). Since we do laundry every day, this works for us.
Oh yea, I have joylab stuff from target and it’s really high quality and lower price point. I got mine by trying things on in the store and then putting alerts for what I want up on ebay. Also our local goodwill gets a lot of deadstock from target.
There’s a HUGE Goodwill across the street from a Target here, and easily 10% of the store is brand new Target clothes. It’s awesome. I’ll go in to Target, try things on to get an idea of my size, then walk across to Goodwill (where the changing rooms are crazy busy) and buy it for $5.
And to keep this OT - I have a really hard time finding leggings that don’t get all baggy on my stick bug legs. I was with my kids at Nordstrom Rack over their school break and tried on some pairs just for fun, but ended up finding my holy grail - good fit, didn’t cut into my mom belly, just enough compression to not worry about underwear vs no underwear, moved GREAT, and soooooo comfy. I keep forgetting to look at the tag to see which version they were, but I’m pretty sure they’re Zella. Clearance for $20, original tag was $75. I’ll wear sweatpants and be too hot for $75 but $20 for legging bliss is perfect.
I wish I could send you all my leggings that I fail at. I have massive biker/skater thighs/glutes and short legs and I often can’t get leggings over my knees, but the alternative is they’re 3 sizes too big in the waist and 5 inches too long. I can only buy tights that have a rear gusset and even then there’s often no hope.
I’ve been using fabletics, but I’ve had mixed results. I love the 7/8 powerhold leggings I got from them, so I ordered a 2nd pair in another color and might try out another style. I mostly liked the running shorts, but I’d be open to trying another brand instead of buying them again. I’ve only liked 1/3 tops I’ve bought. I didn’t find any of their winter clothing very practical for cold weather, so I haven’t bought anything in a while.
I’ve haven’t had any issues with the subscription by making a calendar event to remind myself to cancel the month before the date I get charged. I could definitely see myself canceling once I feel well stocked up on leggings.
Any recommends for bike locks that are reasonably priced yet still secure and also with a long U? Preferably a U + cable lock combo.
Former bike commute workshop leader and bike shop employee. Across the board, I’d recommend either any onguard lock (they are the cheaper version of kypronite, which is pretty much the best) and my general rec is $10 on the lock for every $100 you spend on your bike, up to $1000… The shorter the u-lock, the safer it is (no room for a crowbar) but harder it is if you have aluminum (larger) tubes or less standard bike racks.
Abus is my favorite folding locks, which are better than cable loops and also nice and foldie and better if you don’t have access to standard bike racks all the time - you can use them by themselves or with a U-Lock. They are what everyone in Berlin used.
Protip: if you lock your rear wheel inside the rear triangle of your frame, you’ve also effectively locked your frame!
I agree – Kryptonite, Onguard, and Abus are my favorite brands. I live in a very high theft city and have a mix of two U-locks and a covered cable lock.
My goal is to make stealing my bike look like way too much work compared to others. I almost always use two locks, and if I’ll be leaving it unattended for a while I’ll use all three. On my regular bike I always lock the rear triangle/wheel, and then separately lock the frame to an object. I also will try to make my bike look less attractive than others – I have no brand stickers on my regular bike, for example. It’s recognizable to someone who knows the brand, but our typical take-it-and-ride thief is looking for something that will make a quick $200 on OfferUp.
When I biked I always used kryptonite and you can get them for really little money used. Lots of ppl think they’re going to bike all the time then crap out.
Good idea, I’ll head over to ebay
I can’t wait to live near a target 
I will say I had to cut myself off from Target entirely for a year to break the “oooh look at that” mentality that crept in over time!
My favorite/least favorite thing about my bike is that it’s a fully custom local build (and also the fanciest thing I own). It’s got a $6K value but it looks like a bright yellow clunker to an untrained eye. To a trained eye, it’s obviously an extremely valuable custom build.
I live in Portland, where bike thieves are pretty bike-knowledgable (as opposed to just looking for metal to scrap/etc). Any bike thief that recognizes an Ahearne will know they can’t just flip this bike on craigslist or at a bike shop and will stay away because it’s not worth their time. Any local bike shop would call up the bike builder on a custom frame if someone brought it in to sell to verify it was that person’s bike. Also I’m 4’11" (150cm) so it’s pretty obvious that it’s not the bike of any normal sized person. Plus, a good number of people in the local bike community/industry know in particular that’s my bike.
Buuuut I have niightmare that some un-schooled bike thief will just want it for the steel. Honey, don’t y’know that bike is 500 times more valuable as a bike than its scrap value? headdesk