Sports shops with very little sports gear , whats the story ??

Seres

I hate the way most of the big named sports shops dont really have that much sports gear , i went to buy a decent pairs of googles in two local sports shops and they only had a very small C*** range , also i also tried to get a pair of lyra shorts which you would think is a fairly standard piece of sport gear , NONE !! , also their range of runners for actual running can be quite bad also . Do alot of well know sports shops just have gear for fashion ? Where do most of ye buy your gear ? on line ? how will i know the right size gear for me when i am buying stuff for the first time online ?

hunnymonster

I mostly buy online for the best value. I guess at sizes and I'm usually right but there are a couple of things hanging around the back of drawers in the wrong size though. I also buy when I am away on holidays. Big cities are usually pretty good.

Seres

hunny monster , could you recommend some good sites to buy stuff on ?

hunnymonster

I get a lot of stuff from wiggle.co.uk. Their range is excellent and I'm a platinum customer (or whatever you call it when you spend a small fortune there) so get an extra discount. They are not always the cheapest though, so some people, find what they want there and then google it elsewhere.

Bambaata

platinum member here too ;-) i think if u spend obver £500 u qualify. i got my bike with them so have it from that

hunnymonster

Bikes I import directly from the USA! God, I sound like such a nerdy freak who never leaves the house but spends all day on the internet. My partner has made the comment that I have something of an acquisition problem!

geld

Seres,

You are right. The bigger chains are not "real" sports shops but clothes/shoe shops IMO. Even Lifestyle who are now Marathon sponsors are only a small bit better than the others. Their range of running shoes is quite small and they do not provide any type of gait analysis. In fairness to them they have improved but if Man U branded shirts etc are better sellers then can you blame them for concentrating on these?

If you are not happy with going the online route then Amphibian King in Bray, Runways in Parnell street Mick Dowling in Terenure and John Buckley in Cork are my recommendations. They will all have more experienced staff to advise. There are more and I am sure others will advise.

TontoMurphy

I know i'm going to get hammered on this, but Lifestyle and Champion seem to cater more for the flecky tracksuit wearing youth than someone who'd looking for training gear.. Ended up buying proper running runners in the States last year, couldn't find the ones i was looking for over here at any sort of reasonable price...

Dunno what Lifestyle are going to do with all the Dublin gear left over this year :rolleyes:

Peckham

I buy pretty much everything online, and mostly from startfitness.co.uk - their clearance section gives some great bargains, and they also have an ebay store. Fast cheap delivery also.

In terms of sizes, if you find out what size you are in each brand then it's pretty easy to order. You could check out sizes somewhere like Arnotts (decent running section), and then concentrate on these brands when shopping online.

Was burnt once before buying shoes from USA over the Internet - got stung for the VAT on the package, which pretty much neutralized the saving I was making from ordering abroad. Tend to buy shoes from Ambhibian King now.

Seres

i find it frustrating that sports stuff is so expensive over here , its not very encouraging to people to start partcipating ,
i was also very disappointed recently . it cost €7 to use the local pool for one hour (ridiculous) and i saw on the kellogs cereal boxes tokens for a free swim at partcipating pool , so i brought one along , what would you know , my local pool wasnt a 'partcipating pool' , how unencouraging is this to people to start up sport ( sorry i know this is completly off the topic, just had to get it off myt chest )

cfitz

Peckham wrote: »

I buy pretty much everything online, and mostly from startfitness.co.uk - their clearance section gives some great bargains, and they also have an ebay store. Fast cheap delivery also.

In terms of sizes, if you find out what size you are in each brand then it's pretty easy to order. You could check out sizes somewhere like Arnotts (decent running section), and then concentrate on these brands when shopping online.

Was burnt once before buying shoes from USA over the Internet - got stung for the VAT on the package, which pretty much neutralized the saving I was making from ordering abroad. Tend to buy shoes from Ambhibian King now.

Have had very similar experiences to these.

Would recommend startfitness.co.uk.

I find Arnotts good in general, decent range, ok prices. When buying technical stuff it's nice to be able to see/feel/try the product before purchasing.

Getting caught for VAT from the US is nasty but it's often worth buying from there coz it can still be a lot cheaper than buying here or in the UK. Also it may be impossible to find what you want without ordering from the US. Be aware of the delivery time from the US though.

Racing Flat

Frustrating when you go into a high street sports shop and ask one of the assistants where the running gear is, and they look at you like you're stupid and point to indicate the whole store. Don't think my nipples would be too happy if I did a 22mile run in recent weather in a Man Utd. top.

eclectichoney

I like:
startfitness.co.uk
dorunning
sweatshop.co.uk

Can usually pick up a few bargains in the sale sections and they have reasonable shipping to ireland

wiggle.co.uk is great too - free shipping woot!

Ger the man

TontoMurphy wrote: »

I know i'm going to get hammered on this, but Lifestyle and Champion seem to cater more for the flecky tracksuit wearing youth than someone who'd looking for training gear.. Ended up buying proper running runners in the States last year, couldn't find the ones i was looking for over here at any sort of reasonable price...

Dunno what Lifestyle are going to do with all the Dublin gear left over this year :rolleyes:

The exact reason why I avoid those shops, the staff have no interest in athletics either.

robinph

+1 for Amphibian King in Bray for your shoes and I've also ordered a couple of bits and pieces from Wiggle.

Running Bing

Arnotts was always pretty good for sports stuff and although I have'nt ventured in for an age I thought Elvery's was pretty well regarded.


Again the prices are probably going to make you cry compared to online but thats the way with everything not just sportswear.

Canis Lupus

High street (chain) sport shops are clothing shops for fat people or chavs imo. Useful for maybe a tshirt or pair of shorts but nothing else.

RacoonQueen

I made the mistake of going into JD Sports once. If you think Champion, Lifestyle etc are bad, try JD Sports. They don't have ANY running shoes. AT ALL. :eek:

The stock has been even worst lately than previously not even arnotts have had a good supply of gear. JJB always had a decent selection but this ****ty sale they have has put a stop to that.