Originally Posted by
tarwheel
I just got back from a vacation from Northern California -- where GP apparently lives as well -- so I understand why you are both so misinformed on subject of bike clothing. It's easy to wear "normal" clothes cycling when the temperatures seldom get warmer than the 60s F. You need to get out of CA now and then. Try riding in the Southeast during summer (or spring and fall) in your "proper" street clothes and you will be a sweaty, smelly stink bomb all day long. I personally have no desire to walk around all day in clothes soaked in sweat, but you are welcome to it if that's your thing.
My commute is 30 miles round trip. When I get to work in the morning, my clothes are completely drenched. Soaked in sweat. It's that way generally from May through September around here. So I wear synthetic cycling gear. It gets wet, but I rinse it out when I get to work, hang it up, and it's dry by the time I'm ready to leave work. Try doing that in your tweed or cotton clothes.
Originally Posted by
krobinson103
South Korea in the summer is the same. Today we hit 37 degrees celcius with crazy humidity. Just a 11km ride at 30km/h had me drenched in sweat. It would be foolish to wear anything but synthetic cycling clothes.
Hey guys!
Both Grant and myself assume you all have common sense. Nobody is suggesting that you all brave the hot sweltering temperatures of the south in heavy cotton clothing. All we're saying is that on those days, when the weather permits, instead of doning bicycle specific clothing, just wear what you might ordinarily wear for the day. Now Grant has already stated that certain types of clothing might have to be stowed away until you've arrived at your destination. However, that doesn't have to be the case at all during the months of September through April, if you live in the southeast. It also, doesn't necessarily have to apply at all to most of America during all the seasons except for the summer. In the summertime, bicycle specific clothing is certainly more plausible. Even full kit in some cases!