Vintage Cycling Jersey buying tips

Most of the retro cycling jerseys that we find and most of the ones on this website are old and not reissues. Now there is nothing wrong with a nice reissue but the real treat is finding a near mint classic cycling jersey. Unfortunately those are hard to find. Here are some vintage cycling jersey buy tips that we have based on our past experience.

Jersey sizing - One of the hardest problems to solve. With all the different companies who have made vintage cycling jerseys there really is no standard. One of the best ways is to measure armpit to armpit. But remember many older fabrics have almost no stretch in them when compared to newer jerseys. Also if its possible to get the length of the jersey is important.

Fabric - Those mid 80 fabrics can really mean one thing. Sweat so consider that when doing the sizing. You want some extra room with some retro cycling jerseys because a really tight fit is not going to be comfortable. As noted in the sizing section some older fabrics have almost no stretch.

Condition - Besides the obvious questions about rips or tears in the material there are a few other things to check out. Stains from use and also sweat stains with some materials. The condition of the zipper is important since a very good deal on an old vintage cycling jersey can become an expensive purchase if you need to get the zipper replaced. With rips I like to check the rear pockets, armpits and around the zipper.

Real vintage - With some very popular jerseys you should be aware that these are not true vintage because they are reproductions of old classic jerseys. But for some jerseys we likely would never be able to afford the original version because they would be in very high demand. In some cases it might not be stated that the jersey is a reproduction but that is mostly because most people would assume they are reproductions. The upside to these jerseys is that the material is much more comfortable.