Going to interrupt the highlighter debate to touch on this again real quick: Lyon on average is 12 degrees cooler than my city and Seattle comes in at 17 degrees cooler. There are quite a few riders on this forum in places even hotter than OKC. That makes a pretty big difference when you're a sweaty person. I really envy you people in more temperate climates that can ride around without getting drenched or killed by the humidity(both self generated and natural), but it isn't practical in some places. If I'm going more than a a mile or so, I wear some lighter clothes specifically for the sweat. Not cycle kit, but some shorts and a synthetic shirt to cope with the heat and the sweat.

As for high viz, I think it's practical if you're riding a lot of rural/fast roads or in inclement weather. Overkill anywhere else. My rain coat is hi-viz and that's about it. I don't need to be lit up like a early 90's fashion statement to be seen on my normal route.

I can't imagine riding to work in anything but full kit, but then my ride is 16 km minimum with varying terrain, and I like to ride the fixie. My usual route is closer to 20km, just because I enjoy the ride (and it's a quieter route which avoids some of the hills), and then after work, I like to take a longer route home. This can turn into a three and a half hour ride in mid-summer, when the sun sets after 9 pm here in Canada. Riding in my work clothes just wouldn't work for me, and it's just because I enjoy the ride, and I like to make it longer, and sometimes I like to make it harder. Wearing non-cycling clothing would just slow me down, trying to avoid sweating into it.

Add to that the fact that it rains here quite often in Vancouver, so it's eminently practical to have your riding kit drying for the return trip while you're in your working clothes working. Even when it's not raining, I'm pretty wet from sweat when I get in anyway before jumping into the shower at work, so if I'm going to be changing out of wet clothing, why not just wear proper riding attire? I just make sure to bring a dry t-shirt for the ride home.

Which is a long and roundabout way of saying that Grant's approach doesn't work for everyone. And as far as "poseur" goes, I've got enough international cycling medals and leaders/champions jerseys to dispell that one too!

Luis

That's ******-tastic!

I have an enchanted jockstrap sucka!

if i sniff your jockstrap will i gain magical powers?

Maybe! The first place I go when I'm looking for cycling champions is people who post in the commuting section of Bike Forums.

1. Good strawman argument. He's not talking about racing, as he emphasizes *constantly.* In fact, he points out that spandex, etc., are for racers.
2. He says on the interview that $400 is about what you should spend on a bike if you want to begin commuting. Another strawman argument.

GP has enough controversial opinions without having to make ones up for him.

guilty consciences can be annoying. :innocent:

i think alhedges doth protest too much. gp is well known for his disdain for people who wear "racing" garb for utilitarian purposes. i wear spandex (actually non-koch brothers lycra) because after biking on a near daily basis for a long tim i've found that its the most convenient garp for hammering up my hilly commute in the freezing rain. i also strongly approve of lycra because it stops your huevos from dangling and getting in the way.

I'm right there with you. On top of commuting, I do quite a bit of utility cycling. For trips less than maybe 10 miles round trip, I just wear whatever is appropriate for my destination, or whatever I happen to be wearing at the time.

I personally find cycling to be quite safe where I live. No need to go crazy on the high vis clothing and safety equipment. I don't even bother with a helmet on many trips.

I've had far more close calls in a motor vehicle, and I haven't decked out the family car in dayglow yellow yet, or started wearing a driving helmet. Not that those helmets probably do all that much for you when you get left hooked on your bike.

There comes a point where it isn't worth it to cycle, if you're going to live your life in fear. I choose to live a happy healthy life. If some drunk runs me over some day, well that's the breaks.

Yea I just ride. I dres the same as when i had a car,,, WoW that was a long time ago. Not into any pre ride productions sep checking the tire pres from time to time like i did the oil in my car :)

No, read the post. Caloso said that he was wearing kit because it was the middle of racing season. GP has never disapproved of racers wearing kit; he says

And he doesn't even disapprove of people like you:) You tried it; you prefer lycra; fine.

There several things GP says I don't agree with - I think he's spectacularly wrong about index shifting, for example. But there are way too many posts in this thread disagreeing with things that GP has never said, or posts that strip all nuance and caveats away from things that he has said. Like this

Grant Petersen's "Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike"
 

I just skimmed a few pages of this book online. It seems like a great resource ESPECIALLY for commuters, who tend to be more practical in their approach to cycling than other types of bicyclists. The question I have is, having read what's available for free sampling on Amazon.com, have I seen the whole book already, or should I plunk down the twelve bucks and buy a copy?

Has anybody read it?

I haven't read it yet, but if you want to read more of Grant Petersen, go to the Rivendell Bicycle site and you can get a feel if you like his viewpoints.

The book is extremely arrogant (just like his newsletter). If you don't ride and even dress exactly like Grant, then you are the enemy. Many bicyclists will enjoy this book. Many will throw up before the finish it.

Check it out from a library, if they have them where you live. I liked reading it once but I don't need to own it.

Oddly it's not available as an e-book in my area. I had to get the actual paper version.

It seems the Table of Contents tells the whole story. Chapters with names like "You Have Too Many Gears" don't even need to be read.

I sort of agree that many cyclists worry way too much about gear and spend more time asking questions on forums and at bike shops than actually riding. I've been riding the same GT Outpost since 1996 and have taken it through everything from single-tracks to multi-day tours without a single problem or complaint. I'm so glad not to have spent tons of money on gear over the years because I believe it would have tainted my enjoyment of riding.

Anyway, thanks for your opinions.

I have it. As Papa Tom says, if you want to know what it is about, read the ToC. It is basically a whole bunch of one to three or four page opinions or blog posts in paper form. Grant can come across arrogant, but if you go into it open minded it is a enjoyable read and possibly in a few places, educational. As a friend of mind said, Grant says enough to &$*# everyone off, but there is also enough to agree with as well. Anyway, I bought it and after reading it I still thought it was worth buying. However if I were going to do it over, I might have just took it out of the library or maybe read it while drinking a cup of coffee or two in the Barnes & Noble bookstore cafe as I don't see the book as something I'll need to look at again.

Tom..... Just buy the book. Read it with an open mind and enjoy.

I just finished it. I thought it was a good read. He says in the beginning, these are his opinions and things that you should think about. I agreed with some and didn't agree with other opinions. One major area I agreed with him, so many folks buy racing bikes and don't enjoy them because they can't get comfortable on them. Mostly because their handle bars are so low. I see a lot of folks just ride the handle bars on the top and never on the drop.

Of course I'm a Fred. Ride a touring bike, handle bars around the seat height, mountain bike helmet (I like the visor), mountain bike shoes, clipless pedals, bike shorts. Have a medium size saddle bag and a handle bar bag.

Have fun biking, John

I agree with the Grants philosophies. At his peak, he was a huge part of bicycling's golden era(?) and now, his common sense approach is a refreshing yang to the overly complicated and angry yin of the cycling 'community' today. I feel if his attitude was more prevalent, more people would be trying a bicycular lifestyle.
:beer:

merged with the existing thread

oh please. i commute on flat bar carbon fiber bikes with hydraulic disc brakes and i loathe steel frames. after suffering on bouncy steel and jarring aluminum for far too many years, carbon fiber has been a bloody revelation. the ability of carbon fiber to absorb chatter while maintaining road feel makes it, IMO, a perfect material for UTILITARIAN urban cycling.

i fully expect that 60 years from now there will be someone just like gp selling lugged carbon fiber bikes with twee names who has a penchant for trash talking modern nanotube ceramo-composite bikes. there have always been retro-grouches and they have always been wrong.

There is some good thought in the book. It may not be for everyone, but there is likely at least some worthwhile info for most folks. If interested, send me a PM and for a few dollars to cover shipping I'll pass on my copy.

I'm not too familiar with any of Petersen's other work, but it seems like he's just making the case for "the rest of them" to get out on their bikes and stop over-thinking every damned thing. The overall tone of the few paragraphs I've read seems to be kind of "fed-up" with all the analyzation, blogging, and second-guessing when people should just get the hell outside and ride.

I own the book, I read the book, and yes, I own and ride a much overrated (according to some) Rivendell bike!!! ;)

Oddly enough, I own a couple pairs of spandexy bike shorts, have a helmet, and don't agree with everybody Grant Petersen espouses either.

But you know what, for me, his book speaks very much to how I like to ride, and I would agree, how most of the people in the world who don't race even on an amateur level probably like to ride. Most of it is just common sense. Do you need a Ferrari - and dress accordingly - to go to work? Nah. But hey, if that works for you, great.