what's your longest-owned piece of cycling apparel?

[robt57]

These are close, early to mid 90s, before I got road bike infected, I mean affected. No I mean infected...

[KJMUNC]

I still regularly wear two different Giordana undershirts I bought in 2003. I've restitched the shoulder seams on both more than once due to crashes that ripped my jersey but just popped the seams. One of them also has a hole right in the middle of the chest area from where my HR scraped along the ground during a high speed descent/crash on Wolfpen Gap in GA one of the first times I wore the shirt!

They're still the best (only?!) undershirts I've ever owned and perfect for cooler weather. I remember buying them as part of a team order and thinking how expensive they were.....I think the cost/mile is now well within the fractional cents/mile!

I still have the vast majority of my team kit from the early 00's as well.....the first season or two of Hincapie's team line.

[terry]

My first bike was a Motobecane Grand Record bought in 1975-hanging on the wall was an orange BIC Motobecane Team Jersey. I ought it and still use it-sparingly, usually as an extra layer when temps are in the 20’s. Getting a little threadbare but you can’t beat wool.

[Dave]

I've got a number of pro jerseys dating back to the early 90's. I got divorced in late '90. I started cycling a lot more after that and gave up boating and water skiing. Cycling is lot cheaper. and more environmentally friendly. One of my favorites that is still in great condition commemorates the '94 Russian world cycling tour. I can't quite fit into all of them, since I weighed about 135 when most were purchased. I have some that fit plenty tight, even at that weight.

[Elefantino]

I have a Performance rain suit from 1987.

[Bob Ross]

I bought a winter cycling jacket from Performance back in 1995 when I convinced myself I was gonna commute by bike year round.

I wore it once, then it went into a closet for 10 years. But I've been wearing it pretty regularly since 2005. And since the zipper on my Assos jacket broke last year, that 25-year-old Performance jacket was the only thing I wore this winter.

[steveoz]

Still rolling with a pair of Specialized road shoes circa early 2000's, they were top of the line back then, size 45 W and fit absolutely perfect - had the cobbler sew the tongue back on once....

[paredown]

Originally Posted by sfo1

That was a great summer........

Awesome!

[donevwil]

A pair of leg warmers from, I think, '88. Still like new, I hate riding in leg warmers or tights. For me knee warmers are fine down to freezing as long as I have booties and upper body warmth.

[Waldo62]

Voler lycra knee warmers. Worn regularly since the early 1990s. The most practical/useful item of clothing, and, in black, goes with everything.

[HenryA]

Raggedyass PI tights that are as old as the OP's. No elasticity left at all.
And an Aussie race jersey from early 90s.

Both somehow still usable if you don't care how you look.

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

I have a black wool tightly knitted Decca jersey my long gone mother brought back from Belgium for me in 1975.

Your mom sounds like she was an awesome lady. Congrats!

[stumpyjr]

Oldest is a specialized jersey from 2006. The elastic is gone, but I still wear it from time to time.

[oliver1850]

Pretty sure I have the first cycling jersey I owned, purchased for my first race around 1993. I had always just worn T shirts up to that point. One of the guys I rode with let me know that I needed proper apparel to be allowed to start a race. I'm wondering if a T shirt would have gotten me disqualified, not that it mattered.

[steelbikerider]

My 1979 Texas A&M cycling team jersey but i would bust the seams putting it on, a mid- 80's Sergal wool cycling jacket with a red/white/blue tye dye wind panel on the front that gets lots of laughs when I wear it, team jerseys from the mid - 80's I can still wear and lots of Defeet products from the 90 - 00's that get worn regularly.