The Smell of the Commute
 

Do you have a bag of some sort? If yes then you could put a small towel, deodorant, and some fresh clothes in there and change at work.

When I had a job that required that I look/smell good I would ride into work, slip into a bathroom stall strip down, mop up the sweat with the hand towel, put on dry clothes, apply deodorant, then go to work. No one ever complained and god knows they would have if they would have had a gripe. Generally, it is not the sweat that makes a person stink, but rather being dirty. Since you likely shower and change clothes on a regular basis you should be good to go.

Try to reduce the over-heating and hence the sweat is kept to a minimum. My tips for this would be:-
[1] singlet or nothing on top
[2] backpack that allows airflow (Deuter)
[3] loose shorts with natural fiber
[4] ride slower
[5] commando:D

Everything the other two said, plus:

Shower before you leave, unless you have a shower where you're going.
Unscented baby wipes. These things are fricking amazing.

All good advice, I also use,

Right Guard 3D - cool scent. It smells good and covers the funk.

In my experience, it's not sweat that smells, but sweat that stays on your body for too long. So baby wipes, reapplying deodorant, etc will all help.

One of the biggest things I've found is to stay away from cotton. A couple posts up mentioned that too. One of the things I've found is you don't have to go and drop $60+ on a bike specific jersey to have cool, lightweight and wicking fabric. I got some generic working out/jogging t-shirts from Target for about $10 each that are made from a spandex and polyester blend. They work amazing, I ride them to school and work. I don't even need to carry a towel or baby wipes, just an extra stick of deodorant.

Sidebar: it seemed like a good idea to wear gym shorts, since they are not cotton. I'm not concerned with aerodynamics, etc, on a commute, so I thought it wouldn't matter. Turns out they will fall back on my legs when my legs are at the top of the revolution (exposing way more leg that I would like, and occasionally showing boxers), and occasionally get caught on the seat clamp/water bottle holder, causing me to slam my leg into the top tube when I attempted to pedal forward. Not fun.

And here I thought that this thread was going to be about all the backyard BBQ and restaurant cooking aromas I have to endure on my evening commute home. :D

Lucky you. All I'm getting right now is trash broiling in the heat or the smell of hot asphalt.

smell comes from decaying bacteria. so wash thoroughly before and after your ride. yes, before and after. also you might stay away from garlic and foods that contain garlic. my last employer had a shower so it was a commuters heaven. I showered before my ride, after I got there, and I also changed my clothes. don't think you can get by with some baby wipes or without chaning your clothes. cycling specific clothes are best cuz they rinse and dry quickly. trishorts are great under regular street clothes cuz they have a thin liner but once you get where you are going you're gonna want to take them off and let them air dry. my last employer also had a boiler room where I could air things out during the day. like I said, a commuters heaven.

No lie, man. Just the umpteenth "What do I do about B.O.?" thread.

:lol: Me too. But see this concurrent thread on Fifty Plus, “What do you smell on your commute?(Other than yourself!)“

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-than-yourself!)

I've never tried baby wipes because I've had such good luck with the reusable swim towels I already had, things like these:
http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/1205.htm

Most swim towels are intended to be stored damp/wet in special plastic cases. When you finish your ride, you can "refresh" the towel at the sink with cold water so that when you dry yourself with it, it's nice and cool -- better than a traditional dry towel. Once you finish drying off & changing, rinse the towel in cool water again. Since the towel is intend to be kept damp/wet, when you do launder it with your clothes, you can take it out of the washing machine and put it straight in its plastic case; no need to dry it, ever.

I've used these things (not the brand in that URL, but similar) for years for swimming, commuting, touring, and camping. They're great.

Old sweat and new sweat are two different things. Bacteria is the stinker.
I have to do whatever I can do in a stall at work. I shower before I go to work. Deodorant kills as much smell/bacterial as is going to be killed. I never have odor issues.