Like most folks, I appreciate a good deal. In fact, over the years, I’ve become a discount shopper for many items, and have gotten rather good and finding the lowest possible price for just about any item I’m purchasing. I’ve found this to be especially helpful with running-related gear and shoes, which, as we all know, can add up rather quickly! The old mantra about running being the simplest sport because all you need is a pair of shoes still applies, to some extent, but the availability of a multitude of product categories stretches that simplicity quite a bit. There are plenty of other wonderful gear review sites and blogs out there, and I try to report on my own gear purchases as well. This plethora of information typically leads me to research extensively before purchasing just about anything.
Once I’m ready to pull the trigger on a particular item, I’ll put an equal amount of effort into finding the best possible price, and waiting for an item to go on sale, as it is most often not an immediate need. I have some common sites that I search pretty regularly when looking for something. Additionally, I’ve become a huge fan of The Clymb, which is a membership (free) based flash-sale website for athletic and outdoor apparel and gear. New sales are posted every day at 10AM CST, and they run the gamut from socks and gloves all the way up to kayaks and bikes. They even have pretty reasonable vacation packages to rather exotic locations! They carry at huge range of major athletic brands at any given time, and have a permanent rotating collection (Clymb 360) in addition to their flash sales. Shipping is a flat $8 and their customer service has been excellent in my opinion. I’ve found casual and running shoes, apparel, and a wide range of gear that I never would have paid full price for but gladly picked up at 50-70% off retail.
In addition to The Clymb, active.com also has a similar flash-sale site for athletic apparel. I’ve noticed that their items are more heavily cycling and triathlon-focused than The Clymb, but they also have some incredible sales. I will fully admit that I’m a bit of a gear junkie and I love the entire process, from research to product-testing, and would love to spend even more time testing products, although preferably through company sponsorship instead of paying for everything out of my own pocket. I would love the chance to attend the Outdoor Retailer Convention almost as much as I long to travel to Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Just recently, I picked up three new items that you’ll no doubt be reading about in the coming weeks as I get a chance to test them out. I picked up the Ultimate Direction Sports Bottle holster ($5, retail $20), the Inov-8 Debrisoc 38 ($10, retail $20), and the Fuelbelt Speedster reflective vest ($10, retail $27.99). I’m looking forward to testing out all three items, which will hopefully fill needs I had as I push forward into the spring race season. Below are links I mentioned, as well as a few other great sites to check out.
The Clymb- This is by far and away my favorite gear sale site…apparel, hydration, shoes, nutrition, and the list goes on!
Active GearUp- A great flash-sale site for a multitude of gear and nutrition needs
ZombieRunner- great sales and a huge inventory
Running Warehouse- this is an especially great site for finding discounts on your favorite shoes!
Sierra Trading Post- this is a great go-to site for all things outdoors
Do you have any secret sites or tricks for finding the best deals on running gear? Share them in the comments section- I’d love to hear them!
