macteacher

Hi all,

I have been on copenhagenize.com a few times and more than anything else they stress cycling with regular everyday clothes that you have in your closet..

I can appreciate where they are coming from, but do the Danes not sweat after a 5km ride? My commute is 8km and I'm drenched by the time I arrive. The cycling specific gear I have helps in wicking the sweat away. What do the Danes do in situations like that? Are they all walking around in their drenched cotton shirts, trousers and suits?

I don't know if that site has ever addressed the sweat issue, but anything more than 1-2km for me and the pores open up and it's like Niagara Falls.

Anybody here ride with regular clothes AND DOES NOT change when they get to work?

tjspiel

A bunch of people ride in their work clothes here.

I'm pretty much a "change when I get to work" guy but that's because I use my commute as a workout. However, I've experimented with doing my commute in regular clothes and taking it easy to see how workable it is. I've planned on doing some longer posts about my results but basically if the temp is moderate, the route is fairly flat, and you take it easy enough, you don't have to work up a big sweat.

If you find that doesn't work for you, don't sweat it.

Honestly, too many people are far too concerned about how other people dress for their commute. Obviously not having to change makes things a lot simpler. Changing has it's advantages too. Choose which ever makes sense for your situation.

lungimsam

I ride in street clothes and shoes.
I only change the outer clothes when I get to work.
Work clothes go on over the undergarments.
Not a problem until summer hits.
I steam under my clothes for about 20 minutes until homeostasis is achieved.
No complaints yet. I have asked my friendly co-worker to be sure I am not offensive, and they say they only smelled the Bay Rum I dabbed on when I got to work.

harshbarj

I do, always and year round. My commute is 8km and I simply do not see or accept the need for bicycling clothing. I commute in -30c weather or on 40c weather, all in my work cloths. I sweat no more than my coworkers who have to walk 3-4 blocks after parking their cars. The key is know your pace. If you push yourself you will have problems.

Like the danes I also ride a city bike.






copenhagenize is a great site and something that I wish would catch on more here in the states. Been watching it for years.

Steely Dan

i start sweating like a mofo when i even just look at one of my bikes.

i have no idea how on earth anyone can ride a bike in regular work clothes.

it must be nice to not possess sweat glands. <stewing in jealousy>

wolfchild

I don't use bike specific clothing because I hate how it looks...it's just not my style, however I do use "technical athletic clothing" and outdoor type clothing.The number one reason why people sweat too much is because they overdress, ride too hard and are out of shape. My commute is 12-14 km one way and I can ride in such a way that I hardly break a sweat, it all depends on how hard I ride and how many layers I wear.

Commodus

I ride in regular clothes pretty often. I guess it depends what your 'regular clothes' are, tho. I usually don't put on long pants until mid-November, for example.

Many of my friends have trouble with this very issue, but this has more to do (in their case) with their clothes. I mean suits are fairly ridiculous for anything, though there are certainly exceptions.

Andy_K 

I haven't been to Denmark, but I did visit Munich a couple of years ago and they have a very significant biking population. The thing is, as far as I could tell the residents of Munich weren't using bicycling as a substitute for driving so much as they were using it as a substitute for walking. Running errands around town? A bike works for that. Heading to the train station? A bike works for that. Going more than a few miles where a train won't help? Take the car. I'm obviously painting with a broad brush, but that's what it looked like to me.

Now back to my situation in the states.... I live in one suburb and work in another. My home and work are 10 miles apart. I could ride my bike 2 miles to the local train station, leave my bike there, hop a train to Hillsboro and ride the company shuttle to the office. I could take my bike on the train and ride the last mile and a half, though the trains are only meant to carry about 8 bikes so that can be problematic. I could get a folding bike and carry it on the train. None of these options would require special clothing. I can easily ride 3 miles without sweating most days.

However, I find it much more convenient, not to mention considerably more enjoyable, to ride the entire 10 miles to work. To do that at the pace I enjoy riding, my every day clothing doesn't really work. So I wear bike-specific stuff.

-=(8)=-

I only ride in 'regular' cloths.
In the summer, I perspire a little, so I will splash on some wintergreen alcohol and put on a fresh shirt, thats all.
From September to May, never.
But, even when I sweat, I dont have an odor. I am a lone male in an office of angry magpies who would most definitely tell me if I did.
What you put in determines what comes out. Toxic stuff like meat and alcohol are going to make for odiferous situation

JoeyBike

I checked "Regular Clothes" as this is my preference. Except for some techie undies, everything else is thrift shop compliant.

Cold and wet weather forces me into a more technical costume, although I try to purchase tech clothing that looks like regular clothes i.e., mountain bike shorts without padded liner.

New Orleans where I live and work is Africa hot much of the year. I change into clean clothes at work but do not currently shower at work (no shower). Baby wipes and deodorant seem to do the job (no complaints from coworkers).

fietsbob

I cant remember where I put my bike duds, though I do use the shorts and shoes when I tour ..

charbucks

I checked both.

For me the key factor is the hill and the weather. I live in the river valley and commute uphill in the morning, so there's no "find your own pace" option - even if I drop into the lowest gear of my Surly LHT (20 gear inches) I'll still be pretty sweaty by the time I get to the top. While I'm okay with wearing jeans (somewhat stretchy girly jeans) if the weather's nice, I'll usually bring a shirt to change into. The hill problem is worse if it's -15 and blowing snow in my face - I need to wear enough layers to survive on the flats and downhill, but that tends to make for extra sweaty on the uphill. Delayering helps but it's still a tough balance.

On the other hand, if I'm doing a lazy multi-modal commute (3 km flat + train up the hill), I'll wear whatever I feel like wearing that day.

Though I've never been there, my impression is that Copenhagen is quite flat. I'd like to see proponents of fashionable cycling riding a single-speed 50 lb Dutch bike in a tweed suit up a 15% grade for a few km...

irwin7638

The most I've had to do is carry an extra shirt, some deoderant talc and change once I got to the office. That was only in the summertime during extreme heat in July and August.

Marc

spare_wheel

Copenhagenize.com likes to pretend to focus on transportation cycling but this is, IMO, a misnomer. In reality, copenhagenize.com is the worldwide headquarters for sexist retro-gauche leisure cycling.

Mark Stone

When I go for a ride, I wear cycling shorts but everything else is street clothes. When I commute (or, rather, used to commute) and ride utilitarian through my side of town (which I still do) I'm in street clothes all the time. I don't sweat enough to be concerned about it. As far as spare_wheel's comment, I can't say anything; I started to read the site and got bored and quit. I guess not enough pictures for me

TwoFourOne

I ride to school (2 mi) in normal clothes. It's short enough so I never get sweaty in the morning.

Going to friend's houses and whatnot, I still dress in my normal clothes, but I may carry an extra shirt or pair of boxers.

devianb

I am most comfortable in my regular clothes so that is what I wear.

seafood

I checked "Other" because I bring a change of shirt. My commute is 3.7 mi one way and flat with plenty of intersections, where I need to stop. I could easily ride at a more sedate pace and not need a change of clothes at all. But I happen to like pushing myself a bit, so I work up a bit of sweat and change into my office shirt when I get there. I certainly appreciate the simplicity and utility of regular pedals, a few different jackets for different temperatures in the winter, a scarf, and some duct tape over my helmet for the winter months. Oh, and of course fenders.

DJ Shaun

My commute doubles as my cardiovascular exercise. I will sweat like crazy so I don't wear my office attire while riding. It's the same with the runners/joggers at work. They don't go for their lunch hour run in their suit.

Now, if I'm running a quick errand on the weekend (like a couple miles) then I'll ride in whatever I'm wearing.

GeraldF

I ride 4.5 miles (~7-8 km) each way to work. I wear my normal work clothes of khackis or dress pants and a button down shirt. In the fall and winter I don't sweat a ridiculous amount. The key is to NOT dress warmly. If it's 55 degrees out I won't even wear a jacket. If it's 40 I'll wear a relatively lightweight breathable jacket with no sweater. In the summer I've been know to change my undershirt T, which is fairly moist with sweat, but I keep the outer shirt on for the work day. I also use a deodorant when I change the under T. If sweat is the main issue, as others have said, don't pedal so hard! One other tip would be bike half way to work, make a pitstop for a light breakfast, then continue on with the second half. This way you won't be nearly as sweaty when you get to work.

One last suggestion is to bike part of the way and drive the rest. Folding bikes are great for this!

Drew Eckhardt 

It depends.

Moving fast enough to avoid boredom I can get a shirt wet within 3km in spite of 7 degree C temperatures, no jacket, and shorts. At 20km one way (still less than the 26km average American commute) it's far enough to be a decent workout which precludes staying dry.

Bringing my wife along as another boredom avoiding approach allows a dry 16km round trip for ice cream on a 27 degree C summer day.

IIRC both my mother's father's parents came from Denmark which makes me 1/4 Danish.

I'd speculate that they're more relaxed about getting to where they're going.

Denmark also isn't known for high temperatures.

I wouldn't do that because I'm too impatient to ride slow. I passed on changing for a while when my office moved from 4.8 slow kilometers (I couldn't walk for a while due to a broken leg before that, and wasn't going terribly fast) to 14 not so slow leading to a wet back and shorts with vaguely saddle shaped dirt mark and didn't care much about it at the time although in hind sight that was the wrong move.

blakcloud

It was right after I visited Copenhagen that I switched and started riding in regular clothes. I figured if they could do it, so could I. I don't push myself when I cycle so I don't got overheated. I do keep a few fresh shirts at work just in case but that is about it.

paulkal

For commuting (5 km), I wear normal clothes. However I use SPD pedals, so use SPD shoes.
For longer distances I wear cycling clothes.

fotooutdoors

Do what works for you. The reoccurring theme on this thread is that if you push hard (or live where there are hills, which Copenhagen does not really have), you will sweat. If you sweat, you probably should change clothes upon arrival to work. Me? I have a hard time going slow enough if the ride is more than 4-5 miles, so that is my "change" point. In the summer, I basically have to change no matter how far my ride; I would be sweating if I was gently walking.

acidfast7

>5C = regular clothes for me
<5C = Lycra pants and exercise top