Gear deals without the games

End of season is the reliable one. Summer kit gets cleared from late summer into autumn, winter kit goes in early spring, and the discounts are real because shops need the shelf space. Show weekends help too, with stands shifting stock at prices you won't see online that month.

January deserves a mention as well. Retail is quiet, warehouses are full after Christmas, and rider kit sits in the clearance rails alongside everything else. If you can wait for a planned purchase, the wait usually pays.

Black Friday is a mixed bag. Genuine deals exist, but plenty of the discounts are the same price the kit sold at all autumn with a red sticker on it. And keep an eye on the oldest trick in the trade: last year's colourway. The jacket is identical, the graphics are a season old, and the price drops properly. If you don't care about this year's colours, it's the best value in biking.

Tyres follow the same rhythm. When a new model replaces an old favourite, the outgoing tyre gets discounted while stocks last. If you were happy on the old one, that's the moment to buy a spare set and store it somewhere cool and dark.

Check the price history before you trust a saving. If the full price only existed for a fortnight, the discount is theatre. Watch for RRP inflation too, where a quiet price rise happens before the sale so the percentage off looks bigger than the money you're actually saving.

Grey imports deserve a proper look. The price can be tempting, but you may lose the UK warranty, and crash replacement schemes from helmet and kit brands usually won't cover them. Sometimes the saving is worth the trade. Just make sure you know you're making it.

One more tell: a deal that's always on. If a jacket has been half price since spring, half price is the price. Real discounts have a reason attached, a season ending, a line closing, a show weekend. No reason, no deal.

Never buy a used helmet, and be very wary of unboxed returns. A helmet that's been dropped can have crushed the energy-absorbing liner inside while the shell looks perfect. The damage is invisible, and it only shows up the day you need it. Buy new, from a proper retailer, even if that means a cheaper model.

On that note, cheap doesn't have to mean unsafe. Check the SHARP rating site before you buy. It publishes independent impact test results for helmets sold in the UK, and some modestly priced lids outscore the flagship stuff. It's the single most useful free tool in kit buying.

Fit matters as much as the rating. A top-scoring helmet that doesn't fit your head shape won't protect you properly, so try before you buy where you can, and don't size by guesswork.