Ecco dress shoes on Ultegra pedals.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/915eb0b6...158mo1_500.jpg

I don't bike in work clothes. Not TO work anyway. Sometimes I'll ride home in them if I don't feel like changing.

In the winter it's too cold. Khaki's don't keep me from freezing.

In the summer it's too hot. Khakis will cause so much sweating I will smell like a gym locker room all day.

In the spring temperature isn't a problem but it's always wet. So I'll get my khakis dirty.

In the fall.....I dunno I guess I could. But I spend 9 months of the year changing clothes when I get to work so I stick with it.

To those citing weather as the reason for not wearing cycle-specific clothing, I think that's a fair comment. In the video above we see the commuters year round and the distances are on average quite short and the weather conditions are quite mild by American standards (most of Europe is).

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ee07514a1c.png

Where I am now it is even more mild, which is very nice, post some temp info of where your from:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0818031da2.png

I ride all year round in all weather conditions...I wear a mixture of casual/outdoor/athletic clothing. It keeps me comfortable and looking normal.

My ride from home to the light rail station is four miles, with an 800 foot descent. I could coast almost the entire way, though actually pedaling the last mile gets me there faster. Given that there is almost no effort involved, I could ride in my work clothes without arriving sweaty and smelly. But the ride home isn't so great; four miles with an 800 foot climb. :)

On the other hand, my office has a locker room and shower area adjacent to the keycard-access bike parking. On days when I drive to the train station I'll bring a few changes of clothing in my backpack. Then on the days I bike-commute to the train station I change into one set when I arrive at work, and bring it home in my backpack at the end of the day.

I don't bike commute as often as I should; before this year my only bike was a road bike, and it wasn't ideal for rigging as a commuter. Now that I have a hybrid with fenders I'll do it more regularly when the weather gets back up into the 40+ range.

me too for my phd :)

that's why i asked.

My sister got her phd at a small university that was eaten by TAMU and they're not Aggies... I'm not sure if they didn't want to be or the Aggies wouldn't let them

[MENTION=200073]acidfast7[/MENTION], it's interesting to see that climate chart for Copenhagen. The winters don't look the least bit worse than New York's, except for the shorter daylight hours. The summers are a lot milder. Where do you get those charts?

Sometimes I think I'd like to move to a nicer climate. I think more than half of our days here are what I would consider bad. I learn to enjoy them, but I might have more enjoyment if there were more good days.

From wikipedia.

Moving to the seaside, where they would give me a permanent academic job, has really improved my life quality :)

I ride a German upright commuter bike with a partially-enclosed chain. It is designed to be ridden in normal clothing, just as a road bike, hybrid, or mountain bike is designed for sports clothing. I wear a suit and if I'm giving a presentation; slacks and sport jacket otherwise. During the summer, I roll the jacket and carry it in the pannier and wear a short sleeve shirt. During the winter, I wear a light, unlined Gortex hooded overcoat, partially unzipped and without the hood if the temperature is above 0 C. Below -10 C or in case of precipitation, I add rain pants and a overshoes. I have ski gloves with liners - wear just liners, gloves, or gloves plus liners depending upon temperature. Always normal dress shoes. Special kit includes studded tires for winter, which work well even when the roads are too slick to drive.

My current commute is 16 km round trip and takes around 40 minutes each way. When I had a different office, my round trip commute was 40 km and about an hour and 15 minutes each way. Clearly, I don't consider this a sport or athletic activity requiring special clothing. If I had the hassle of changing in and out of special clothing, I would never ride a bike at all unless conditions absolutely precluded driving.

I assume by "work clothes", your target audience is office/professional workers. For a lot of folks, "work clothes" mean Carhartts. But I reckon you're referring to people who work indoors for the most part.

Dress here for gents is "business casual". Some guys will even wear polo type shirts, but I'm in a button-front shirt every day. Commute is 1.5mi / 2.5km each way. Unfortunately uphill on the way in (Capitol Hill is one of the highest points in the area). Not long enough of a commute to bother with changing clothes. The building does have a changing room in the basement, for facilities and other non-office staff who may need to change in and out of uniforms or the like. I even used the shower down there for a week many years ago when our hot water heater took an unannounced retirement. So this would always be an option if I ever had a longer commute.

Shoes - I used to run SPDs with some kind of recessed cleats (usu. called "mountain" shoes, but they'd be more appropriately called "commuter"). I even had a pair that looked like oxfords from above, but I walked in them too much and the soles cracked. The last year or so I've gone back to "street casual" shoes and conventional clips, or just flat MTB pedals. Not for any particular reason; I could go either way. Wintertime, if it's cold enough, I'll wear conventional (not bike-specific) winter boots I keep one pair of semi-nice looking oxfords under my desk, for those days when meetings, etc. might call for something more appropriate than sneakers or boots. What would seriously sway me toward SPD would be a shoe with a bottom that's stiff enough to allow snapping in and out quickly and safely, but flexible enough to allow walking without eventually cracking right at the mounting holes. And a cleat recessed enough that walking on it isn't going to ruin it. I don't need the sole to be super stiff for pedaling efficiency. Probably a "bird's milk" combination of properties, but one can wish....

Been riding a vintage MTB lately, swapping wheels studded/non based on conditions. I rode an MTB all summer/fall due to construction and flooding. Previously, either an old hybrid, or for several years, a RANS semi-recumbent. Only special kit would be some signaling device (horn/bell) and lighting, and fenders and studs for winter. One ongoing challenge, on every bike besides the RANS, is pannier heel clearance. Since I do typically ride the bus on rainy days, I like a convertible backpack/pannier. They all have a sort of "generic" fit that doesn't play well with my long legs and slightly big feet. Someone needs to make one with the lower left corner cut, for optiomal NDS mounting.

There are other bike commuters in our department; parking downtown is insanely expensive, so it's a pretty even split between bus, bike and car commuters. Most of the other bike commuters have a longer commute, anywhere from 3 to 10 miles. Some ride in their office kit, others change clothes in their offices or the changing room. Seems like the folks who live closer ride hybrids, and those with a longer commute opt for roadies. Small handful who ride in winter; I think there's only one other guy in this particular office with studded tires.

I have a locker similar to rhm's, wedge-shaped, only $60 a year. One of the few such facilitites downtown, and fortunately RIGHT outside the most convenient door to my building. I was on a waiting list for it for about 3-4 years. You basically have to wait until someone retires or dies to get one now.

I commute in my work clothes I will wear that day except for shoes. I am able to keep my dress shoes in a drawer at work and wear a cheap formal looking mocassin type of shoe since I have flat pedals (MKS Lambda pedals with PowerGrips). I am a fairweather commuter now so I am usually not out in bad weather (at least going in to work). My commute is 5 miles. I don't sweat much since I go at a leisurely pace. I ride a Surly LHT with Jones Loop Bars and I carry what I need in a rear pannier (mostly lunch). My normal attire is dress slacks and a button up shirt and tie (which I button up at work) or a Polo shirt. I shower at home and will do a "bird bath" cleanup and baby wipes once I get in after cooling down for about 10 minutes.

I arrive 30 minutes earlier for work when I do commute. One reason is to give me enough time to cleanup and another is to allow for any unforeseen circumstances (flat tire, broken chain, forgotten item at home I have to double back for, etc.). My commute is mostly flat and easy going and I can lock my bike up in a break room (even though I still bring a lock). I work at a college and have access to showers and lockers but don't use them. I also have my own office but don't keep anything but dress shoes their.

I'm sure America has more extremes, but I recently heard a Russian complaining about the cold here in the Netherlands, while it was only freezing slightly, around 0C, and it can get much colder. When it's windy and wet it can feel much colder, and summer heat can be less plaisant than higher temperatures in Southern-France. Average temperature is not the whole story. In general I ride between -10C and 35C, rain, wind, snow or ice, but the combination of -10C and strong winds is pretty rare so I might chicken out the next occasion now I'm middle-aged.

I do dress for the destination, sometimes in suit and tie. I have a full chaincase, fenders and a mudflap, I take good care of leather shoes which includes sometimes lifting my feet while riding through deep puddles. It's regular clothes but when I buy a coat I make sure the sleeves are long enough for the handlebar position and the wind doesn't blow in elsewhere either, with of course a scarf. I have a (stylish) wool cap with fold in earmuffs (less stylish with them out), that I sometimes have to hold for a moment so it won't blow off. But when it's really cold you can get away with anything, if it looks very warm people will only envy you. In the summer heat I just ride slowly,it's less hot than walking, and sometimes bring a fresh shirt.

It's probably more a matter of just dealing with the weather, in mass cycling countries like Denmark and the Netherlands it's a shared discomfort which is not only a consolation but you never have to 'defend' your decision to bike here, and there's a certain pride in just taking on the weather as it comes. The most important difference is probably that distances are much shorter though, in 20 minutes you can't get that cold or wet, the discomfort is bareable, if it's slippery you can slow down to safe speed, there are other cyclists around so you won't freeze to death if you fall and get hurt badly. Basically the weather is just a much shorter problem for most.

Whether I commute in work clothes or not has a lot to do with the length of the ride and conditions.

Work clothes are fine for me for shorter commutes without excessive heat and humidity. For moderate temperatures, I can wear whatever. For cool to frigid temperatures, I go with layers. Being a girl kitty makes things easier in many ways; in extreme cold, I can simply put long underwear under leggings and a skirt, put merino boot socks under dress boots, and add another sweater or two over the one I'll wear at work. A sleeveless dress with cardigan allows for similar configurations. If there's rain, there is outerwear for that. My commuter bikes have foot retention that does not require special shoes.

OTOH, I find rides (whether commutes or not) over around a half hour to be much more comfortable with proper cycling shorts. Once in a while is fine, but in the longer term, there is a reason why chamois exists. If it's hot/humid and a longer commute, then it's time to go full lycra and change; if it's really hot, a second cycling outfit is required for the ride home. I've just found that sitting around in wet clothing all day is not the healthiest thing.

On a few occasions, I've just paired cycling shorts with dress clothes, like if it's a longer commute but I'm just going in for an hour long meeting.

My commute is 18-20kms round trip and I wear my work clothes: jeans, button down shirt and usually velcro sneakers, a rain cape if it rains. In winter I add gloves and a light or heavy jacket. My bike has fenders, mudflaps and a chainguard.

I hear you man. I wonder the same thing all the time...

It's changed over the years depending on what I needed to wear and what my commute was like.

• 6 block commute, dress pants, dress shoes, button down shirt & tie
  • Kept my dress shoes at work. Rode to work fully dressed with my pants folded tight around my calves and held in place by pulling my socks up over them. They used to call me Oliver Twist when I walked into work like that.
• 7 mile commute up a giant hill, no dress code
  • Rode to work in athletic shorts and undershirt, changed when I got to work. Too sweaty.
• 7 mile commute mostly downhill, jeans & polo shirt
  • Roll up the jeans, ride to work in the undershirt, and put the polo on when I get to work

I rarely commute in my work clothes, for two basic reasons: I don't want to damage pants by getting the leg stuck in a chain or wearing out the seat, and dress/work shirts and long pants tend to trap a lot of body heat and sweat in the way that other gear doesn't. What I do most days is ride in shorts and T-shirt, then pull on my work shirt and swap on the long pants upon arrival. In the past I've carried a suit to work in a carefully folded garment bag strapped across my panniers. The exceptions are weather-related: my current commute is very short and mostly downhill, so if it's cold cold enough I can wear a work shirt under my winter jacket as a helpful extra layer and it doesn't make me sweat. And if it's cold and rainy, it's comfortable to keep my long pants on under my rain pants. For footwear I use clipless compatible sneakers that pass for ordinary tennis shoes and those are fine for walking around the workplace. In the rare instance I want dress shoes I'll just carry them in my panniers.

Hmm, I'm curious. Been looking for something like that. Can you point me to a product?

I wish I could, it seems that in the last few years fewer and fewer brands are producing shoes of the type I like (laces, no flashy colors or reflective bits that scream 'bike shoes'). Increasingly I've found it tough to find new ones and have to find older models that people post on the 'bay.

Here's an example of the sort of shoes I like - they attract no attention unless I'm sitting with a leg crossed and somebody notices the cleat:
https://www.evanscycles.com/speciali...-shoe-00123796

Is there an upper level to the lockers? I looks like there could be from the picture.

No. Here's another photo for clarification.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4240/...25e104fb_b.jpg

Hmmm?