What is up with Cycling Clothes?

Original Post

This post isn’t a newbie asking why lycra and chamois pads are important. This is more along the lines of the social/cultural aspects of cycling clothes.I am not a disbeliever in cycling kits. Not including my two sets of shoes, I have about $500+ in clothes. The garments are typically expensive, and sadly they do get exponentially better when you reach that $50 for a pair of shorts level. I also do not ride exclusively in cycling clothes. I am not afraid of pedaling along in jeans and t-shirt around town or to go to the store. After maybe three or four months of trying to use some of my already owned performance clothing used for running or other sports, I found out some of these pieces just didn’t cut it. Gym shorts will not suit you for a thirty mile ride or more if you don’t want saddle sores or crotch rub.  With that said, you can clearly take me out of Grant Peterson’s side of the Venn diagram.     

I have many issues with the clothing in this statement for cycling use. I wouldn’t have a problem with wearing such clothing (if it didn’t look like it was two or three sizes too large on the person) as long as we aren’t talking more than ten miles. Call it a luxury, call it habit, or even call it weakness, but I see no sense in wearing clothes that will get and stay dirty or eventually be uncomfortable on a ride. 

Here is my point and fact on the whole cycling clothing thing: Road riding demands high effort when climbing, and sprinting, let alone the aerodynamics of it all. Khakis and a baggy dress shirt just wouldn’t be the proper accommodations. Imagine all the sweat, grease on the leg of the pants, and the shirt bunching up on you in the drops. Just like in mountain biking, cross-country riders have in the last decade switched over to full race kits too. These outfits keep sweat evaporated, hold your gear while being a weight weenie, do not catch on brush or branches and the clothing goes on even after a crash. I’m sure a button or zipper missing would nearly incapacitate a pair of jeans out on the trails. These types of clothes just make sense for performance driven fun to be even more about the ride.
The one part about Grant Peterson’s spiel that I agree to is:     

Also, when you’re riding as a group, dressing like other riders, in tight & stretchy clothes, can encourage camaraderie and make you feel part of a group. On the other hand, no group worth feeling a part of will ostracize you for looking a little different.     

There is a lot of social stigma attached to cycling clothing. We do look like spacemen or superheroes or whatever else you want to associate to the kits that we wear. At least when I wear lycra, I am planning on riding either a longer distance than normal clothes would allow, or I am focused on speed and efficiency… and I’m focused on those things a lot. But not all of us who wear lycra are Cat1 racers setting the pace with their Dura-Ace. Wearing cycling clothes does typecast us as cyclists that are entrenched into the sport, and it does stereotype us as people you would ask if they are going to ride in the Tour de France if you didn’t know them. it does look silly. I love the feel of it though. I really do. All in all, it is ingrained into the culture, if you disregard the excuse of comfort. it is just the thing to wear. You don’t play basketball in a three-piece suit, do you? I hope you don’t. There are also tons of unofficial do’s and don’ts of the cycling culture around you about your kits. I mean… who wears rock racing clothing? Wearing your favorite team’s kit can be considered being a poser. How did all of these double-edged rules and exceptionalities come to be?    

Ugh...

 

I get flack from friends, family, and coworkers about my bike garb. This doesn’t stop me from wearing it, nor does it really make them want to ride bikes. I really think that if there was an entry-level, very passive way to introduce cycling clothing to people who don’t make a six figure budget, it would sell. Outlier and many other companies are coming out with street wear that is moderately appropriate for long distance, but starts out at like $120 for a pair of shorts.  A lot of their clothing is what I wear off of the bike. Dockers-type shorts and dress shirts. Sperry topsiders Shoes. Other well established and comfortable clothes will be sufficient go to the farmer’s market to buy some veggies or whatnot, but like I stated; it’s a joke to go on a half century with this kind of stuff. I don’t even want to imagine how much more energy is lost here and there.     

If you’re a non cyclist, and really wonder what all the garb is about – try it. Don’t be afraid. It’s very useful. Don’t worry about random people’s approval, and get out there. The prices are a bit prohibitive at first, but the weight lost from riding may help you fit into all of your old clothes in turn saving you money!

 

I accidentally deleted my post somehow, this is the 2nd version.

This post isn’t a newbie asking why lycra and chamois pads are important. This is more along the lines of the social/cultural aspects of cycling clothes.  I am not a disbeliever in cycling kits. Not including my two sets of shoes, I have about $500+ in clothes. The garments are typically expensive, and sadly they do get exponentially better when you reach that $50 for a pair of shorts level. I also do not ride exclusively in cycling clothes. I am not afraid of pedaling along in jeans and t-shirt around town or to go to the store. After maybe three or four months of trying to use some of my already owned performance clothing used for running or other sports, I found out some of these pieces just didn’t cut it. Gym shorts will not suit you for a thirty mile ride or more if you don’t want saddle sores or crotch rub.      

With that said, you can clearly take me out of Grant Peterson’s side of the Venn diagram.   

    

 I have many issues with the clothing in this statement for cycling use. I wouldn’t have a problem with wearing such clothing (if it didnâ€t look like it was two or three sizes too large on the person) as long as we arenâ€t talking more than ten miles. Call it a luxury, call it habit, or even call it weakness, but I see no sense in wearing clothes that will get and stay dirty or eventually be uncomfortable on a ride
  

Grant Peterson did get one thing right:      

Tight and stretchy *is* the way to go if you want to set a personal record on a certain loop you ride, and there’s a lot of flat and downhill riding in it. Also, when you’re riding as a group, dressing like other riders, in tight & stretchy clothes, can encourage camaraderie and make you feel part of a group. On the other hand, no group worth feeling a part of will ostracize you for looking a little different.      

This is right. Cycling clothes have a stigma to them. Oh, you’re a bike racer. You gonna ride the Tour de France? You look like a racer. But wait, has the rider typecast the clothing into the stereotype or was it the clothing that has put the stigma on the riders? Chicken or the Egg, no?     

Personally, I see that there is a threshold that needs to be crossed to have the need to wear cycling clothes. This threshold includes:     

1. Distance – 20+ Miles
2. Performance or Speed Requirements/desires

Road riding twenty miles for several days in a row is just not worth doing in normal clothes for me. I would end up with bike grease on my clothes, sweat dripping from me the entire time (think spin bikes at the gym.),  and the likely chance of chafing. Cycling clothes make even more sense for cross-country mountain biking since there are so many things to snag shirts and shorts on. I totally understand the trend of having XC riders wear cycling kits.  Wearing clothing like outlier and other posh crafters is nice for less than twenty miles. Heck, I wear tons of above the knee shorts without a million cargo pockets, dress shirts/polos/etc, and sperry topsiders on my bike all of the time. I’m not trying to be a velofashionista, or ride cycling chic. This is just an evolved taste of mine. but I’ll be damned if I will pay $120 for a pair of shorts from these fine companies like Outlier or Rapha.      

 

The most important thing is enduring comfort. Spend your money on your contact points:      

• Feet
• Rear End
• Hands

Everything else is important too, but not as substantial. Remember these items if you are just starting out or are interested in getting your first bits of cycling gear. This sounds elitist, but spend some money. These clothes will last, and you may even lose money with the new enthusiasm for cycling that comes along with them. The money you save on not having to buy new jeans and shirts can go to bike gear, loans, or even more bike clothes 😀