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Decathlon is in Italy, and it's the best sports store I've ever been to, so Id get anything you need sports related from decathlon. I still have a rucksack and a hammock bought from them 10 years ago that work like new. Their shoes are great, their pants are nigh indestructible, if I had any athletic stuff to buy and I was going to Italy I'd just get it in decathlon.
And all of the prices are cheaper than the states for sure, and much higher quality in my opinion
Decathlon is great for getting cheap sports equipment, of all kinds!, The problem is you often get what you pay for. I love it for picking up stuff where I don't care about how it performs (for example I play social football at work ⚽, and a pair of shin pads from there is super cheap and I really don't care how they function).
However, I definitely care a lot about my climbing shoes. So if you're pretty experienced / you're climbing a lot, I wouldn't recommend Decathlon for climbing shoes. (But that's just me...)
Edit: for the record I believe Decathlon is a French brand, and according to wiki they're in 60 countries! Not just Italy 😉
Yeah, their so over the place. I've got to disagree strongly about quality, however, at least in terms of everything I've bought there. The rip stop pants are truly ripstop and last years, are super lightweight, breathable and quick dry. I still have my original 40 gallon rucksack from 10 years ago in like-new condition, My ultra lightweight rip stop hammock lasted 5 years without an issue, but I just ended up buying a new one because it was still $9 at decathlon 5 years later and I was in I think Portugal at the time. My puffer jacket from there cost about 15 bucks and lasted 9 years, The pull-up bar I got was sturdy construction and stayed in the door frame the entire year I had it -
I'd never recommend a brand that I had not personally experienced the quality of, and while I do want to make the huge disclaimer that I haven't bought any climbing gear aside from ropes for my hammock, that lasted the 5 years I had each hammock, from spandex running shorts to popup, ripstop tents and everything I've mentioned above, the quality has always been so far above anything I've bought in the states for so much cheaper, well, that I haven't shut up about that store ever since I started buying things there, haha.
It is a French company, and everything in the store, even though the items are manufactured in China, is designed in France and I think that's reflected in the quality, because man everything I get there is so durable and comfortable.
Actually I just bought and shipped to the states two new pairs of decathlon lightweight rip stop quick dry pants I was talking about, just because there's no other pants that are as comfortable and durable as these are. The zippers never break, The pants never rip, they don't stain easy, the pockets are large enough to be useful but small enough to be unobtrusive, slight elastic but not too much elastic in the waistband, even the snap buttons hold well but are easy to open. I know I'm going on and on but it really does still boggle my mind how well- designed and durable all of this stuff I've bought over the years is.
The fact that decathlon is cheap is also nice, but if everything cost American prices, three times to five times as much and it was this well designed and durable, I would still buy their products to the exclusion of other sports stores. Nothing else compares.
Haha, well I can see you're obviously a huge fan of Decathlon. I will concede they do more stuff well than I previously mentioned. As you pointed out the clothing is well designed. I also have a pair of Decathlon climbing/hiking trousers which have served me really well too.
They do hit the middle of the price point range with much better features than the totally cheap (and rubbish) gear (like the stuff you get at Lidl supermarkets). I wil tip my cap to them for that.
Still, when it comes to high performance equipment, I personally wouldn't rely on Decathlon. When I feel that performance is super important, I will prefer to pay a premium for additional features and/or better design.
A good example is climbing shoes. I typically buy La Sportiva shoes, and that's because I know the rubber types (XS Edge or XS Grip) work super well, certain models fit my feet really well, & the performance I get from the shoes is just worth it (for me).
Side note: since you get it shipped to the US have you ever been inside a Decathlon store??? It's wild how big they are! You could get lost for a whole day inside 😂😂😂
Oh yeah, I was abroad for years and have been in decathlons all over the place. There's a decathlon in Beijing with two not-quite but pretty close to full-sized tennis courts near the entrance, and another with a basketball court, besides each also having the regular giant warehouse store as well.
I'm visiting the states longer than I thought and realized I could ship over decathlon products, and my original hiking pants were reaching their limit.
That's interesting about the rubber, do you know about the with it the metal in the crampons and pegs/carabiners whatnot vs. specialty stores?
Well, I do believe that all safety gear purchased from Decathlon is fully certified and rated for the application. So that's good! & it's not the same as buying sketchy uncertified gear from Amazon, or AliExpress (or whatever).
But sure, there may be differences in the function between Decathlon's own brand Simond and (for e.g.) Petzl, or Black Diamond, or DMM, or Edelrid.
Weight is usually a big one. Some of the top manufacturers of climbing hardware really have put it a tonne of engineering to shave off weight in their designs. A few grams on 1 carabiner can add up over a full rack. Other things are like gate design & gate action. Top of the range carabiners often have a nice gate action, and it's not uncommon for people to have a preferred style of gate (i.e. wiregate, Vs solid gate) to make clipping the rope more fluid.
If you are mostly sport climbing, saving weight might not be a big factor, and in that case maybe there's less to differentiate. However if you're trad climbing, or multi-pitch climbing, or even big walling, saving weight might be a huge consideration.
So all in all, it depends 😋 it can really help to get out with friends and try their gear to see if it makes sense for you. I also watch a fair amount of gear reviews on YouTube, or read gear reviews online.
But yeah, all in all, I do think Decathlon is great for certain items. But I also think it's worth paying extra for those items which you want to function really well (and this can be pretty subjective).
Cool thanks, I'll check if there's a decathlon close to where we're staying.
For sure. I know they have ropes and clips too, pretty much everything. And super high quality pop-up tents, made of good material. But you just throw them on the ground and they unravel like a dragon Ball z capsule into a sick tent, then you just fold it up again after down to the size of a manhole cover but super light.
If you're in the US then anything at all should be cheaper nearly anywhere in Europe or at least EU
Huh? I really doubt that. And sales tax is lower in the states, plus if you go to REI or so you'd have a way better return policy
Sales tax is going to influence maybe 10%, but that is far outweighed by the non tax price differences. I've gathered a couple of examples from REI and Oliunid (italian store) below. Oliunid prices include EU sales tax.
I would fathom that a big reason why laspo shoes are more expensive in US versus Italy is the factory location. The shoes are made in Italy and then have to be shipped to US.