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I've just swapped to tevas links (boot type) & they are fantastic,grip the peddles unbelivalbly, waterproof & half price at the mo on eBay £48 with free p&p
What more can I say
I'm also the wrong side of 40 lol

Shelfside

Another vote for the Endura Humvee trousers, although I rarely wear them unless its freezing. The Humvee shorts are excellent and go better with kneepads.
As said above Decathlon and Aldi are great for cheap base layers.
I love my Five Tens but thinking about getting that Elements version as the normal Freerider gets soaked through easily and they take ages to dry, or after you've washed the mud off.

I put mine in the airing cupboard overnight and they are mint

It's all about waterproof socks I have some old shimano am shoes from my mallet days very stiff and supportive I would go five tens next time they make a big difference to grip and support for ankles

Tevas links (ankle type), sealskin thick mid length socks =100% dry & warm feet.
Adidas tech fit base layer (long sleeve) nice & warm a bit pricey but you get what you pay for.
Fox skull cap for warm head for us folicley challenged chaps.
Cube thermal leggings, again a bit pricey, but do the job, sometimes to hot.
Endura waterproof shorts = dry bum.

Hope this helps...

Shelfside

^

Hate to say but it's Sports Direct with me. As I am just making the change from Road to MTB, I have already discovered the benefits of 'purpose made' attire, so, in order to get kitted out quickly and cheaply, it's shoes/shorts/tops/gloves from SD - low prices so if I REALLY hate riding in the forest, it's not cost me an arm and a leg.
Having said that, I think I'm going to enjoy it so may invest more next time

I pick up my cycling stuff from all over the place. Some places already covered above, the ususal Wiggle, CRC etc but the two I find cheap not mentioned are:

Mountain Warehouse for base/mid layers and cheap water proofs (not cycle cut tho)
http://www.mountainwarehouse.com/running-cycling/


Cycle Clothing for other bits. I have the bib tights and warm jersey for winter, and they are a great fit with the pad being better than your average DHB equivalent. Not tried the MTB stuff mind you. They also do so cheap post season sales so keep an eye out in spring for winter stuff etc.
http://www.cycle-clothing.co.uk/?gclid=CL6y-qzd4bsCFSKWtAodtnAAcw


I also tend to look at Merlin Cycles when pricing stuff up as sometimes they are good value.