Tri-ing on a budget

I thought I'd also mention that I've found that a great resource for gear is your local or regional triathlon bulletin boards' classified listings.

At trisportcanada.com I found someone parting with a 2001 Ironman Elite wetsuit.

When he found out I was a complete rookie, he offered it to me for the equivalent of about $75 US, as he wanted to give a newbie a break. After a few emails, he offered to drive down the approx 750 miles so I could try it on and even take it for an OW swim to make sure I still wanted it.

Can you believe this guy?

I offered to just buy it sight unseen and told him I'd send payment by mail and he could ship it to me, and he replied that he was shipping it to me before I even had a chance to think about sending payment. He said that he could trust me, since the triathlon community is an honest,  trusting group.

So before you resort to ebay (yet another favourite source for gear) check out regional tri bulletin boards for someone who might be looking to give a newbie a break!

CindyK - 2005-06-30 10:35 PM WOW, I was in our VV once and they darn sure didn't have any tri gear

Albeit, I don't see a ton of gear on every visit, but all the clothing I mentioned was purchased in the past 4-5 months at the same store. I should clarify, however, that I'm only looking at the small-medium sizes; theres alot more in the XL racks that I pass over.

On second thought, perhaps I should be scooping up all the sizes and posting them on the BT classified discussion board

We've had one for about a year now - I figured most moderate sized cities would have one - there isn't one in Guelph? I've been to the ones in Windsor & London (I think there's two there now).

My wife has a first cousin who shops at all the Value Villages and runs an ebay store re-selling stuff, primarily clothing. He lookes for immaculate vintage and new designer clothing with the original retail tags still attached, buys them up for a few bucks each and makes a killing on Gucci, Yves, R.L., GAP, Tommy, etc. selling for up to 100X what he paid (he brags about the one London Fog trenchcoat circa 1950's, looked brand new, bought it for $5.00 and sold it for $599.00)

I'm not going to guarantee that there will be tri-stuff there, but be sure to check out the women's section - the last two pairs of shorts I bought were the new Pearl Izumi tri shorts and an almost-new pair of cycling shorts with a natural chamois - the girl at the checkout asked me why I was buying these, "are these for your grandmother?" she asked. Pressing forward, and explaining to her what they were for, she admitted that the staff there thought they were some kind of old lady underwear or something for stress incontinence! LMAO!

Most of the shorts and singlets I've bought were erroneously in the ladies section, despite most of them actually being men's (okay, I'll admit I've bought two pairs of shorts that I think were women's, one cycling and one tri, but whose gonna know?)

If you guys can get over the odd stares of a dude flitting through the women's athletic wear and filling up their cart, then I strongly suggest you check out your local thrift/seconhand/consignment shops.