Your best (bike related) buy of the year?

A real challenge to pick just one, but my CAAD10 105 is just brilliant, I did my first metric century on it. Rapha trousers have been excellent too, smart enough to wear to meetings, but very comfortable to ride in on my Brompton. Rapha mitts have been the first pair of gloves that actually fit properly, I've narrow hands and long fingers, they are a joy to wear. Lastly my shutt vr pro team bibs are very comfortable and pretty too.

http://www.rapha.cc/rapha-trousers (60 in sale, down from 100)
http://www.rapha.cc/pro-team-mitts (30 in sale, down from 50)
http://www.shuttvr.com/shop/productdetail/Team-Bibs/

really looking forward to a cycling filled 2012

Not really a buy, nor specifically bike related, but i've just won a Contour Roam helmet cam from their facebook page

Best buy, although not received yet is my Volagi bike with 25% off straight from America

New pair of Zipp 404 clinchers for £1100 from one of my local bike shops. They are brilliant wheels, are goddam fast and sound brilliant.

I wanted say the new bike, which was also the first road bike I've owned in about a decade.

But, I think it's the other. Bought replica HTC and Leopard Trek jerseys end of last season - HTC for the memories and LT because I loved their kit last season. 2 days later got the HTC jersey signed by Cav after he won the final stage of ToB in LDN. Guess, that's it then.

P.S.: Anyone got a large/xlarge new sized HTC jersey available for sale? Don't think I'm gonna now wear the one I've got.

Took a pic of our local café & cake stop, sent it to a magazine and they printed it, received a cycling jersey and loads of free cakes etc all for pressing a button !

Custom titanium breakaway cross from Xi'an titanium in China. Spec'ed it up in every detail including every tube dimension, frame angle and fittings. Built it up just before crimbo and it's the best all-rounder I've ever ridden. It's been on 4 hour offroad jaunts shod with CX tyres plus 6 hour road rides. Smooths out all the bumps and yet stiff enough for group ride hill primes!

Two items stand out:

The Giro Prolight helmet I bought from Planet X at half price. When I crashed in November at 35mph it shattered into 4 pieces and I 'only' broke my collarbone and a few ribs.

A 2009 Specialized Tarmac Pro SL frame I bought new at the bargain price of £650. A few months later I discovered some carbon peeling off at the bottom bracket. Specialized sent me a brand new 2011 Tarmac Pro SL3 frame as a replacement for free!

Northwave roubaix bib tights, they've kept me on the bike all winter!

Also: A good waterproof pair of overshoes, I never leave home without them.

only started to get into cycling this year, so i saved up my pennies to buy my b'twin triban 3. and i just can't wait for it to be summer again as i've got a lot planned.

another bargain was some pretty retro cycling jerseys off ebay, that is all folks.

Bought two new bikes in 2011.

A CUBE AGREE GTC PRO - I Absolutely love riding it!

Also A RIDLEY X RIDE With Ultegra Levers and Rear Mech, equiped with V-Brakes! A very smooth ride even on road with Knobbly tyres! But I'm going to change them to a set of Michelin Lithion 700x23 tyres as I mostly ride on the road and some trail riding but not really off road!

Both bikes were bought at discounted prices for New Bikes.

Mine would have to be a toss up between the Torm Short Sleeved Jersey....

http://www.torm.cc/t2.html

Although I own a few lovely Rapha pieces I dont have a jersey, I know these have had comparative reviews though, a very very nice piece of kit, I'm about to dive in a long sleeved one

... and the ASSOS Bibs I picked up on Ebay, these suckas are the most comfortable shorts I have ever worn, I've generally always had Giordana shorts, knicks and longs in the past as they are absolutely great... have to say though, I doubt you can beat a pair of ASSOS.

Finally, I'd throw in my Rapha Touring Shorts, these are just LOVELY and help to make you look a little more human in certain cafes, etc

toss up between:

nice little bike picked up at car boot sale for my daughter that is unisex enough to pass down to son. i.e. it's not pink.

Endura bib shorts - first pair of bibs owned and really comfy

Nice 2nd hand Kinesis Crosslight Pro frame haggled down to bargain price, now built into multi-purpose winter / commuter / cross racer.

Rapha collar is one of my best this year, better than any buff i've used. Also dhb winter tights, cracking value for the fit and performance. Oh yea, my genesis flyer, steel framed loveliness

My best buy not only for this year but for all time is a Bontrager RL soft shell jacket. It does everything any other piece of upper clothing has ever done. Keeps me dry, warm and comfortable up to about 16 degrees C.
Awesome and under £80 if you can find one now.

After that - Sealskin gloves and socks - The latter have made my overboots redundant!!

2 standout buys. A pair of Lake CX236 shoes - carbon soled beauties - and what a joy they are. The real winners were a pair of great big Surly Karate Monkey 29ers for the wife and myself. We built them up over the course of about 6 weeks, choosing every single part down to the bolts. Although they weigh the same as a small car, they're the most grin inducing bikes I've owned in a long time.

Rapha Softshell Jacket - although expensive it has been brilliant - just one long sleave merino base layer underneeth - it has been used for all my riding since begining of November in all temps from freezing upwards. Although not listed as waterproof it has not let water through when it has rained.

Diadora Protail 2.0 MTB Shoes..

got them for 115€(!)instead of 332€ Standard prize

They are on sale on chainreactioncycles if anyone is interested!

By a country mile it's the Northwave winter boots I got in Nov, nice warm feet and much less pre ride pratting about

Magicshine MJ-872 1600 Lumen Rechargeable LED Front Bike Light

Fantastically bright. Can now see clearly on the dark country roads that form part of my commute!

Very good idea for a thread! Most noteworthy buy this year has got to be the fibre flare light. Finally caught on to it last New Year's and it's been brilliant clipped onto bags, the seat stays and the back of jerseys. Worth a google if you don't know what I'm waffling on about.

After 2 knee ops i spent some hard earned cash on getting my bike set up properly. I can defo recommend it as my own set up was way out on what the professional did.

Best buy is a tie between a set of Avid BB7 road discs bought a few weeks ago for my Cotic Roatrat - which are just superb compared to the v-brakes and Tektro Lyra discs that were on there before and some Rapha 3/4 shorts bought right at the start of the year in the Rapha sale which have been fantastic I've worn them A LOT and they still look like new after a wash and iron.

Best buy... Entry fee for a couple of races which I promptly doubled in winnings

Worst buy... L&M Seca 1400 light which wont seem to switch on after todays rainy ride even with a full charge

I do believe...well actually the wife does...that I have bought way too much 'essential' kit this year...so can't really say what was my best buy...but I did buy a Kona Jake as a winter bike at the start of the year...but as I had a broken hand at the time didn't get much use out of it...that is about to change...cos I need to get out...probably go for an hour tomorrow and work up an appetite...gobble gobble gobble. Merry Xmas!

Mine was a set of BBB over-shoes. Snug as a bug in these puppies and can be seen for miles in them.
Regards,

Trikeman.

Sky team gilet for £16, loverly bit of kit.

good for you mofo, well done on the fag front. I got back into the saddle for health reasons too agout 3 years ago, its worked wonders and I'm trimmer now that I was when I was a teenager.

[He says, currently munching on Pringles and geeing the family up ready to go out for a Christmas Eve curry!! But I was out today...]

I purchased my dream bike this year - a Wilier Cento Uno with Super Record and Fulcrum Racing Zero wheels (red spokes). Roll on Spring!