No one's asking you to wear the number of layers I suggest. Sounds like many of you think fewer layers are necessary. Fine, try it out and see. What I've listed works for me, and I've used layering this way a long time. I've worn the shells with 1-2 layers like all those here who think it's the only right way to do it, and it's way less comfortable for me, hands down.

I was part of roadie culture for many years. I've raced road and track, done many, many centuries, challenge rides, and fast club rides with people who race. I still do on occassion. So I know the drill. (Though I suspect that some of the loudest voices in this thread are something less than roadies--i.e. wannabes).

Sure there are good ideas that come out of that culture, but many poor ones that are driven by the need of the bike industry to get people to constantly buy more stuff, the marketing for that stuff and advertising platforms like Bicycling ragazine that will pretend to objectively tell you how badly you need it.

So I've seen a lemming-like, emperors-new-clothes mentality in that culture for years, and it has become worse over time. Problem is, it creates a barrier to people who aren't in that bubble, both in terms of looking silly and laying out cash for expensive specialized equipment most people simply don't need, especially commuters. I feel bad for the newbies here if mouthy roadie wannabes dominate this subforum.

Roadies and their wannabe followers are an insular group--friendly to their own, but reactive to anything challenging the roadie dogma, as this thread demonstrates so well. Just scan the posts here--it's not just that people are rejecting something they've never tried out of hand, they're being infantile about it (and their mother's dress them funny). That's typical roadie attitude. It sucks the fun out of cycling.