Exactly. After you've been riding for a couple of months, ask yourself: Do I pay attention to what other cyclists are wearing? The answer is probably no. You are too busy keeping a lookout for road hazards, etc.

Why are you riding a bike? If the answer is, to make a fashion statement, then yes, I can see being concerned about how one looks in spandex. But if the answer is, as it is for so many of us in this forum, for fitness, recreation, or sport, then one quickly realizes the sheer functionality of a good pair of bicycling shorts overrides any concerns about appearance.

Last time I say a guy combining those colours it was in a newspaper picture taken at a gay pride parade. Now pardon me, while I bleach my eyeballs.....

My neighbor finally got some bike shorts after a terrible rash experience. He called to tell me he got some bike underwear to wear under his shorts. They were of course, bike shorts. Next mission is to get him off the hybrid and on to a road bike.

Skirts for the ladies and Kilts for the laddies, wear cycling shorts under to keep things decent....

ride where people don't know you. oh and ride really really fast.

Got my first bike shorts yesterday. I have always worn regular shorts but what a difference the bike shorts make. I bought the Cannondale Baggy Fitness Bike Shorts for $50. Wore them yesterday and couldn't quit riding.

https://www.rei.com/product/779078/ca...ke-shorts-mens

Good job. Now you need to make the jump to a non-baggy skin-tight short. They will be even better. One step at a time, I guess, although some of us are faster learners than others. Heck, I was in Spandex/Lycra - at age 58 - within a month or two of starting bicycling.

When I first started back riding (around 56) I wore mountain bike shorts which look like regular shorts but have padded liners. I wasn't worried about looking dumb in spandex but I assumed only "serious" riders wore them and I didn't want to be a poseur. But the first time I tried regular spandex was the last time I bothered with my shorts with liners.

I have been wearing lycra for probably 30 years... and this weekend bought my first pair of 'mountain bike shorts'... that because as I was riding the mountain bike this weekend, I went through some briars that basically destroyed the lycra... now I understand why mountain bike shorts are coarser material... every sport has its own uique clothes that is built around FUNCTION. For the road bike, it will always be lycra-- now, for the mountain bike, it will be mountain bike shorts.

train safe-

I often wear and see others wearing baggy MTB shorts at casual MTB rides. But at MTB races and serious training rides, lycra seems to be the overwhelming choice. Be careful with baggy shorts when positioning for weight distribution for steep downhills or when standing for climbs etc. The loose material can snag on the saddle and throw you off balance.

And stick with basic black!

I quit wearing spandex when a neighbor's teenage daughter complained to my son that my tights embarassed her. I found out that I was just as comfortable in normal clothes, took the complaint as a compliment and moved on.

Marc

Could be worse. If she called the cops you would have to register your spandex.

Some see it differently.

The kit and lycra makes you look like a poser; yes, and even more so if you are riding your s2.

If you are a competing swimmer, then you wear a speedo. If not, you don't.
If you are a competing cyclist, lycra and kit. If not, you don't.

Gentlemen don't ride around in a black girdle, it's that simple. It's not about what other people think, it's about your standards.

Let us know how that works out.

What? This sounds like it's from the same set of standards where ladies don't ride bicycles at all, and ladies only ride horses sidesaddle.

VERY differently.

If one is a casual rider then I agree, it really doesn't matter what you wear. There are those of us that spend hours on bikes pushing ourselves to physical limits. Wear the clothes that work for you for your circumstance and leave the gentlemenly attire for the country club.

Good point. So I won't worry about your absurdly narrow definitions of what is proper and will wear what I decide is appropriate or most functional for the situation or activity at hand.

I've ridden with Robert while he's wearing these. It works just like he says! PG

I spent my first 30+ years riding bikes in pretty much regular clothing. Then I discovered BF and a whole new world of gear, clothing and equipment that I had always thought were just for the pro racers. I have like 8 sets of bibs and I used to never ride without them, but over the last few years I have rediscovered the joy of riding in fairly normal clothing...albeit better suited for a bike than regular street clothes. Now for everything but roadie rides (where dressing differently tends to make the roadies shy away from letting you into their group because until you prove your skills with your legs, they are suspect if you are not dressed like the rest of the herd), I wear flat-seamed, gusseted-crotch undies and shorts made from wicking materials. The shorts are not skin tight, but far from baggy.

What I discovered is that I am actually even more comfortable dressed like this than I was in bibs...my "boys" have a bit more room to breath and my shorts and undies dry much faster than a chamois. Indeed, after many hot, humid summer miles, those chamois begin to feel like a wet, bacteria-infested diaper.

Of course a good, proper-sized and positioned saddle is a must, and you do need some miles to toughen up your nether regions (especially if you have been spoiled by spandex diapers).

Again, I don't mind cycling shorts/bibs and I still wear them from time-to-time, but this notion that they are some kind of requirement is simply not true. YMMV, of course.

There are cycling shorts with chamois that look like athletic shorts. You might be happier in those.

Get really good cycling shorts. The best ones are made of heavier weight lycra and are tailored to hold everything in place. It's the cheap shorts made of lightweight material with cheap inserts that make you look tawdry. Plus cheap shorts wear out faster (lose material with every wash), so they actually become transparent in direct sunlight. (You also want to avoid spilling anything with citric acid onto cheap lycra - it dissolves some of the material and makes it somewhat transparent immediately! Trust me, I've got cheap tights with splotches you can see thru where I've spilled stuff from my waterbottle onto my leg!)

Also, avoid any color except black, if you are modest. Any other color (especially red) accentuates every curve!

L.

Since this is the 50+ forum, I won't post the obligatory photo of the Polish cycling team.

It has already been posted in a previous Spandex thread by your truly.

you're going to ruin your goodie-goodie-two-shoes rep!