Today as I left the house for work, my wife commented on my outfit. I typically wear a long sleeve hi-vis yellow jacket, bike shorts, helmet and gloves.

"Somehow, when I see you in your bike gear I always think of Michael Jackson."

I'm assuming this is due to the fingerless bike gloves. Somewhere between an observation and a put-down, definitely not a compliment.

Sigh, just another side effect of the commuting cyclist's life.

I don't wear anything special. I try really hard to make my bike a car replacement, and I don't "gear up" when I get in my car. I put all the lights and reflective surfaces on my bike instead of my body and call it good. Normal rain coats look better when you're off your bike.

My commute is far too long to not wear cycling specific gear. When I'm riding around the neighborhood doing errands I ride a fixed gear path racer and wear either jeans or long shorts, but my sit area would be very uncomfortable and anything made of cotton would be soaked, clammy, and weigh me down if I wore the city outfits on my 29 mile r/t commute. As for gloves, I still have scars on my palms from falling gloveless 20 years ago. That road rash took forever to heal. High visibility acid green is de rigueur for riding in dark and twilight with law abiding cyclists being killed here at the rate of once a month by distracted or hostile drivers.

Fortunately, I have never been overly concerned about what other folks think.

^Same here.

Funny, I think of our car as something I use when riding is impractical. I don't think of my bike as a car replacement.

As such I wear stuff that works well for the weather conditions and a certain level of exertion since my commute doubles as a workout on most days. I also like to wear things that make me more easy to see since my person makes up a large part of what's visible to motorists.

That doesn't mean I throw on the kit of my favorite cycling team, or don the tri-suit to make my trip to the South office a little quicker. Most of what I wear while commuting isn't cycling gear at all, but it is athletic wear.

Now, a short trip may not be worth "gearing up" at all for and often times what I happen to be wearing is perfectly suitable for type of ride I'm going to be taking.

Agree with lots of your points. My commute doubles as my main source of exercise so I'm all wet from sweat at the end.

Lots of my "cycling" clothes is just generic athletic wear. Today was white shorts, neon turquoise long sleeve under a hi-viz green short sleeve and work socks. The combination probably did look goofy but I wasn't dressed for fashion. Those bright colours were to help me be seen.

When pressed to think about, I'm having a tough time coming up with any legit bike gear that ISN"T goofy looking.

You can always quit wearing the the bike gear and she can see what you look like in a coffin or hospital bed.

The other option is to put the high-visibilty stuff on your bike or the things you carry, rather than wearing it yourself. For example, I once bought a high-visibility vest that didn't fit me too well, so I wrapped it around my backpack, which it fit perfectly. I also swear by using a Planet Bike SuperFlash and other flashing lights on the back of the bike. The strobe pattern of the SuperFlash combined with other lights tends to get people's attention.

Because the morgues are filled with people who died because they weren't wearing bike gear?

Can we just get away from the idea that biking is so dangerous that if you do it wrong you're going to DIE!!!!

I think visibility is important, too, but the idea that you will end up dead if you don't wear your lime-green vest is over the top.

heh, every morning i walk through about 400 prison inmates (during morning program movement) in my zip-off cargo pants/shorts (i put the legs on before i go in), hi-viz windshell and carrying my helmet. footwear for today was royal blue Vans slipons.

but, i'm already the only bike commuter at work and therefore the official weirdo....

[all helmets are goofy looking, but might help in some cases. i wear one because i promised the wife i would. i got a good deal on a hi-viz wind jacket and figured it couldn't hurt. if nothing else it would help find my body in a search...]

I just wear whatever I happen to be wearing, which is usually cotton in warm weather and wool in cold. So far this has worked for me, even on longer (40-50 mile) rides. I do have a yellow rain coat, though, and a 500-lumen headlight and one of those Planet Bike rear lights. So far, I have managed to avoid death, and even close calls have been extremely rare. But I rarely ride faster than 18 mph on flat ground, and my moving average is very much closer to 15 mph. I have a (totally unsupported) hypothesis that if you ride a little slowly, especially in heavy traffic, you're less likely to have a collision with a stupid motorist. (No, I'm not suggesting that all, or even most, motorists are stupid...)

I don't quite understand why people gear up to commute. Of course there are always exceptions to this depends where you live and how bike friendly your area is.
Helmets, I guess never hurts and probably good practice to wear most of the time.
Eye pro, a must have in Portland area, especially Spring and Summer.
Lights, if you're riding at night, most places it's the unlawful to ride with out them.
Bicycle shorts, only if I was commuting >20 miles.
High vis vest/clothing, only when traveling in areas that are questionable and not as cyclist aware.
gloves, only if it's cold enough.

Well, you do live in Portland, so driving without sunglasses is no big deal.

My commute is 30 miles RT and, at a minimum, requires that I take a shower after the morning ride, so yes, I "gear up" (as in, shorts and a generic jersey, gloves, and cycling shoes). If I'm going to ride that far and get sweaty, I prefer to do it in bike specific clothing. I also like to put in extra miles during the ride home for additional exercise, so again, bike specific clothing is better. And in DC in the summer, it'll be 80+ degrees by 7am and it's humid as s**t, so you sweat just walking out the door...so riding more than a few miles leaves you drenched and I'm not about to go to work like that.

...And this is an example, why one would gear up.

Its too hot around here in summer not to wear my bright white and red cycling shorts and Jersey. They are comfortable, about as visible as any garment can be, and light and easy to store when I get to where I'm going. On top of the lights and reflectors on my bike I surely HOPE it makes me hard to miss. If I'm not commuting I'll wear them anyway as I'm 90% likely to ride one of my bikes to where ever it is I plan on going.

i looked goofy before i started commuting ... why should i change my style

I have to admit that I enjoy walking into a train station filled with corporate types with my nose running like a faucet and wearing full Fred regalia. I'm sure there's some adolescent non-conformist thing going on there. Probably some type of private assurance that I haven't completely sold out and joined the rat race ( I do clean up, change, and look like everyone else by the time I start work - but hey, I'll take my victories where I can get them)

Whenever someone says you look goofy (or like Michael Jackson) in your cycling gear... just interpret it as you look so f-ing punk rock! And then flip them the bird and yell "Anarchy"... (unless the person is your wife in which case you give them a golf clap and a kiss).

That said, I don't wear "gear"... but if I did... the above would be my response.

My commute is only 5 miles, but I do "gear up" - polyester gym clothes, but not lycra/bibs/jerseys. I have a convertible cycling jacket and some fingerless gloves, but those are the only cycling-specific clothes that I own.

Honestly for commuting I don't see a point in "special clothes". I commute 5 miles each way on a very hilly commute and wear my normal work clothes. Only exception is rainy days where I wear the previous days clothes and put a new change in my bags. I have always seen cycling clothes as a thing only for sport riding and not commuting. IF I was to have a car would I suit up like a race car driver just to go to work? Then why do the same on a bicycle.

I rode in my work clothes when my commute was 5 miles each way. Now that it is 15 miles each way, bike shorts and quick dry fabrics are much more pleasant.

This morning I wore my pink/grey bib shorts from my team kit, a red/white/blue Randonneurs USA longsleeve wool jersey, yellow/reflective sash and anklebands.
Mad stylin', yo.

Tell your wife that she needs to be supportive of your cycle commuting because you are a paving the way for others who will evenually be riding bicycles.