Clothing
Browse used kids' cycling clothing for sale from riders across the UK. The category covers jerseys, shorts, tights, base layers and jackets sized by height rather than age, usually running from around 110cm to 158cm, at which point most brands hand over to adult XS. It exists because children grow out of cycling kit long before they wear it out.
How do I size kids' cycling clothing?
Almost all of it is sold by height in centimetres — 110, 122, 134, 146, 158 — so measure the child against a wall rather than working from their age, which varies by a size either way at eight or nine. Sizing up one step is reasonable for a jacket that goes over layers and will get a second winter. It is a mistake on shorts, where a pad that sits away from the child and a loose waistband cause the rubbing that puts them off riding.
What does a child actually need?
For a mile to school in ordinary clothes, a waterproof is the only specific item. Kit starts to matter once rides get long enough to sweat in: a wicking base layer, shorts with a thin pad for anything over an hour in the saddle, and a jacket cut long at the back so it does not ride up and expose their lower back. Helmets, gloves and body protection are not clothing and sit in kit instead.
What should I check when buying used kids' clothing?
Children's kit fails at the elastic and the fastenings long before the fabric gives up. Stretch the waistband and cuffs and watch whether they spring back or stay slack, check hook-and-loop tabs still grip once the loops are full of fluff, and run every zip up and down under a little tension. On shorts, look at the pad for flattening and glazing and at the leg hems for grippers that have stretched out. Waterproofs need the inside seam tape checked for lifting edges, and reflective print checked for cracking, which is how it fails. Faded name tapes and a school logo cost you nothing.
Is used kids' cycling clothing worth buying?
This is the corner of the market where buying used makes the most sense, because one growth spurt retires a jersey mid-season and the second owner gets most of its working life. Around half of new is a fair asking price for a season's wear with the elastic intact; branded waterproof shells hold more than that. Buy new for the layer that decides whether they ride in winter — usually the jacket — and used for everything worn under it.