I started riding in shorts, and changing into office pants in the bathroom at work. Like others have already said, the shorts make a huge difference in reducing the amount that I sweat.

Your long pants may save you a bit of road rash if you fall, but the long sleeve shirt will probably not do much. You're better off trying to wear thinner clothing on the ride.

Shorts and a t-shirt.

Other than a helmet, I don't dress for protection from a fall. I dress for weather and visibility (bright color shirts and/or reflective jacket in winter).

I have only fallen a couple of times in recent memory (3-4 years).

- On a wet wood bridge - no scraping there, just bruising.
- On the road - I wasn't watching closely enough and my tire went off the edge of the asphalt and I fell. Some scraping, but no serious bleeding. Winter gloves helped, but they were torn up a bit.
- Yesterday at a stop sign I didn't get clipped out in time and just fell over. I caught myself with my bare left hand and it is fine. My left knee is a little scraped probably from trying to unclip while laying down.

I don't feel that I fall often enough to warrant protective clothing. For the hot summer days we are having now (high in upper 90s) I'm wearing cycling shorts and a sleeveless jersey. I would go shirtless if it was more common cyclists.

The expose as much as they do. If you want to expose less skin, buy cycling clothes that expose less skin. I ride with long sleeve jerseys all year. I ride with long rain pants in the winter. I don't think I would wear long pants in the summer regardless of whether it's cycling specific or not; even when I try to dial it back, if I'm wearing pants I wind up a sweaty mess.

Sounds like you've never tried going faster. Clothing makes a huge difference to speed and power required once you're riding around 20mph.

Tight fitting clothes and an aero riding position will make you much faster but it's a moot point if you're constantly having to stop for lights and traffic. I have a longer commute and probably similar temperatures to the OP and can't imagine riding in long pants in the summer.

They're more about cutting wind resistance and wicking away your sweat so when you arrive at your destination, you're not feeling as damp and nasty as you would if you were, say, wearing a cotton shirt. In your hilly San Francisco environment, you'd only benefit from the reduced wind resistance on descents - not so much on climbing as even pro cyclists cannot go fast enough on a climb to benefit. BTW, my Pearl Izumi cycling jacket hardly exposes anything.

The problem with pants is the pants leg might get caught in your pedals - that is why cyclists wear shorts or put reflective leg wrappers like this one around the pants leg: CycleAware Moto Slap & Wrap Reflective Pant Leg Bands - Boys' - Package of 2 - 2014 Overstock - REI.com

As a beginning cyclist, I've fallen maybe 10 times from my bike because I messed up a turn on gravel/sand or made some other bad decision; but have only suffered cuts/bruises on two of those falls. That's because most of the time, I landed on my feet and the bike hit the ground on its side. The bruises were from hitting a wall or some other object rather than the ground itself. If you're worried about falling, just try to think of landing feet-first when you feel the bike start to tip over.

I base shorts/pants & short sleeves vs long sleeves decisions on temperature. So if it's a hot sunny day in my area and someone is wearing long pants and sleeves then yeah you would be the minority.

Clothing will not affect your speed in any measurable way, but you'll FEEL faster in bike clothes! :-)

It depends on the type of cycling clothing. Spandex/lycra stuff is designed for road riding, where the only concern is sun protection. Baggy mountain bike jerseys and shorts are designed for fall protection, since falls are much more common off-roading.

The standard lycra kit isn't that much exposure in general you have two falling scenarios. Low speed crash where your hands get the majority of the scrapes, or high speed collisions/crashes where you're going to get pretty badly chewed up regardless of clothing.

And no, clothing won't make you faster, they may make it more comfortable. I can't imagine pedaling at 80 rpm with pants legs flapping in the breeze.

Clothing of any kind except perhaps leather or football pads isn't going to protect you much. Get better at your bike-handling so that falls are a rarity.

I haven't ridden in San Francisco, but my experience in urban areas is that my speed may vary from 8-17+mph. The difference depends on traffic, time of day (traffic), route and weather more than clothing. The 2 mile rides were always the slowest (across town in congested rush hour traffic), and often took almost as long as the 7 mile rides on weekends.

Personally, I like long pants more to protect against sunburn (and cold in the winter) than falls; other riders with longer commutes have different preferences.

As to falling, I would start by not doing that. Regardless of what you are wearing.

I wear whatever I'd wear if I were driving. Typically jeans and oxford shirt. Maybe a sweater or sport jacket when it's cooler and heavier jackets during winter. Whether I'll be riding or driving doesn't affect what I wear except maybe a heavier coat if I'm riding. This is fine up to about 90f. Above 90f I sweat a bit more.

For fitness/training rides I typically wear lycra shorts and a team jersey. If I fall I'll get scraped up. See first paragraph.

For WNBR my girlfriend and I wear matching paint. Again, see first paragraph.

Don't over complicate it.

I have a 5 miles commute, and I just wear what I wear to work. I'm in IT, so I tend to be able to get away with appearing less than perfectly groomed.

Shorts and a T-shirt or camp shirt in this unbelievable heat wave in the pacific northwest. High 70s is just plain unnatural, and the 80s is a sign of the Apocalypse. High 50s to low 60s is normal and good shorts weather.

Only thing bike-ish I wear is cycling shoes. I change into sandals I keep at work when I get there.

You are the first person I have ever heard of that is concerned about covering skin because of riding a bike.

Since you are showering at work, that means you have the opportunity to wear whatever you find best for your bike ride, and then change into whatever you wear for work. If you want to wear khakis and long sleeves on the bike, that's up to you. As others have said, you'll have to get pretty fast for clothing to make a meaningful difference in your speed.

Good grief, skin exposure isn't going to kill you. Take a hard enough spill and not even heavy duck canvas will keep you from injury. If you ride correctly and lawfully, you will stay off the ground. If you want to get faster, then pedal harder and use gearing to your advantage. I ride with lycra shorts and a triathlon sleeveless shirt; I ride with traffic, 45mph limits on the main stretch, through downtown congestion, over gravel/hardpack trails, up and down hills, in the rain/snow/ice, and skin exposure just doesn't seem to matter at all. Besides, should you (hopefully not) go down, the first thing you'll do is throw out your hands. Long pants will not help your hands. Or you'll strike a hip. Long sleeves will not stop a hip fracture. Or you'll knock your noggin. Clothing has no bearing on helmet integrity.

Put on some shorts and ride, my friend. You might even get a tan.

I wear coaches shorts and long sleeve cotton shirts on hot sunny days.

For those of you who aren't sure what coaches shorts are:


They might have changed a little since this photo. This vintage looks pretty aero though one might get mistaken for Big Bird.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

That's exactly what I thought of, except when I was in junior high, my coach wasn't nearly so fit...

If you expect to frequently take little falls, then long pants and long sleeves and full finger gloves make sense. But there is no reason why you should be falling that much, after the initial wobbly period when you start riding. I bike commute every day and maybe fall down once every five years, if even that. If you take a big fall, a genuine crash, then long pants/sleeves won't make any difference. Choose your clothes for heat, cold, sweating, rain, convenience, visibility.

I ride to/from work in my normal "business casual" work clothes, normally khakis and a short sleeve shirt, with jackets and rain gear as needed. I could change at work but don't want to take the time.

Well, they make leathers for motorcycles. Check out a Harley shop sometime. It will protect your skin (a lot of my family ride).

But.. That stuff is damn hot and heavy. And on a pedal bike...yesh..

Perhaps leather bike gloves and leather patches on elbows and knees? I'm thinking you'd have to make this stuff yourself though. Not the gloves though. They make leather cycling gloves.

God grief. Men's fashion..... There are no words.

I'm sure I could find some pictures of women's clothing from 20 or 30 years ago that would look just as bad. Though in truth it's hard to believe this ever looked good.

None of the clothes that I wear say "bike commute clothes." However, the clothes I wear on the bike are different than the clothes I wear at work.

Once I switched to my Brooks Flyer saddle I found I was more comfortable without the padding in my pants, so now I just wear jeans and normal undies when I ride to work.

This is, of course, on days that I do not need to dress like a Big Boy...

Women's 70s fashion wasn't that bad. The 80s.... Another story.

But this.... the unflattering cut... the POLYESTER.... the weird color.... did I mention the polyester? And that fly....

Sometimes the wisest answer is also the least painful.

There are some who validate their opinions by stating they have crashed countless times........Now why would anybody trust them for good advice?