Cycling clothing should match your intensity.
Clothing should match the weather.
Clothing is a tool, the samezas any other tool. Pick the correct tool for the job.

If you do something a lot and friction is involved then the contact points matter.

Runners vaseline or tape their nipples for pete’s sake. If you ride enough and sweat doing so friction is an enemy.

-saddle fits butt shape and power output

-padded shorts because that way the cushion moves with you, permanent saddle pads are crap as it doesn’t move with you

-chamois buttr because friction reducer

-tight clothes because modern materials aid sweat wicking and tight clothes don’t snag on saddles or other stuff

-I loathe stopping to eat, so eff a tshirt….bike jersey convenient food or tool storage. Reach back, grab snack, eat! Enjoy wind and sights riding. I can stand idle at home!

Spend money on the contact points:
-matresses
-clothes
-shoes
-eye glasses
-etc……

I can do 20 miles a day 5 days a week on my commute in my work clothes. but when I hop on the tandem in the evenings or weekends wear cycling clothes. my body wont allow non padded shorts after the commute. I would wear more regular shirts but I need the pockets. what sucks with cycling clothes in the winter here in portland if we stop and rest we freeze.

I’ll be wearing NOT SHORTS and a Rapha jersey to Brooklyn tomorrow.

Unless your racing anything works unless your going for those strava mup koms. But of course you got the "I wear the most expensive **** just because it happens to work best for me" crowd.

Yo, Indyfabz .... I always figured you for a big LL Cool J fan ....

:D

In my experience it depends on the bike, the saddle, the ride and the rider. It is too cold here for me to ride regularly year round. In the early parts of my cycling season, I have to toughen my tuchus. Once I have that done, shorter 20 or so mile rides are fine in running shorts. Longer rides I like padded shorts.

I wish GPS would have been around in the late 70s because I'm pretty sure I rode more miles in cutoff jean shorts than I do now in lycra.

Yeah, good quality clothes can be found at reasonable prices. Having the actual premium level stuff, the budget offerings aren't that good but you get 90% of the product for 50-30% of the price.

My go to training clothes are one-piece roadsuits from Decathlon, which is an European big box sports store chain, which are their top shelf stuff at around 100 Euro a piece. They're just good in every way. Sure, Castelli road suit has slightly better materials but it cost basically double. Perfectly usable although basic bike shorts can be had for under 10€ and I have a stack of those which I use for the indoor trainer and the odd training ride, never given me grief. I have an Aliexpress trisuit which I use for training and used in races without issue which cost under $50 (just have to size up ordering from China - I wear S in Euro sizing, XS in USA sizing and L in Chinese)
​​​​​
So, you don't need to spend a ton. That said, I do love my Castelli stuff.

The more comfortable I am, the more I enjoy the ride, and I am most comfortable in good quality, well fitted jersey and bibs. I’m a big believer in paying whatever is necessary for contact points, so I don’t cheap out on saddles, shoes, bibs, etc.

That said, if I’m just riding to work, I typically just wear office clothes.

It matters. Bicycling is a tribal sport. For such a simple activity, there seems to be a very large number of tribal variations. The clothes that you choose to wear tell the rest of us to which tribe you belong.

Lurking on this and other cycling forums and I’ve seen way more of the snobbery going towards the lycra crowd than from the lycra crowd.

Floppy clothes on road rides suck. Especially shirts unless you never want to carry anything in jersey pockets. Stop caring what people may think when they see you. This seems to be the main issue.

Cycling clothes that look like normal clothes exist. There’s a time and place for tight jerseys and bibs as well as normal clothes

Do clothes matter?

Why ask me? Do your own experiment.

First day, go for a 20 mile ride in full cycling gear, the best you can beg or borrow.

Next day, same ride, cut-offs, flip-flops, tank top.

Third day, go naked.

In most of the places I have ridden .... the answers will be absolutely clear by the end of the test.

I heard people say that cotton kills but my experience tells me otherwise. I've never heard of anybody getting killed by cotton.

I think the funny thing about this thread is that the OP seems to have run that experiment and discovered they really don't want to wear cycling kit. They're uncomfortable with that because a bunch of people are telling them that's wrong.

That said, I agree with you that op should experiment with this with the new road bike. OP already has the clothes, but wasn't using them much anymore.

This isn't an argument or a suggestion, just info. I rode my road bike 100 miles yesterday and am about to take a 70 mile ride on it today. Both days, I'm wearing tight tshirts and cargo shorts. Been doing this for several years.

Maybe for you it does. Definitely doesn't work for me though. I find cycling clothing massively more comfortable to ride in than my casual everyday clothing. If it wasn't then I wouldn't bother with it. People who ride a lot can figure this stuff out for themselves and everyone I know who rides a lot wears cycling clothing, of which there is a vast range of options and pricing to suit any budget and style. Even the simple cut (long back, short front, close fitting) and rear pockets of a cycling jersey are enough for me to choose one over say a running jersey.

Not being a cycling Peacock I wear T-shirts, and rugby shorts.

This thread is over. Winner (chicken dinner).

My preferred outfit is cargo shorts, a t-shirt and wool boxer briefs unless I'm racing. Cycling clothing matters a lot for speed, there's lots of wind tests from Zipp, Specialized, Trek, GCN and others that show how much of an effect loose clothing can have on speed. Comfort-wise I don't like padded shorts and for me they create rubbing issues, I don't find cotton to be that bad and I like my comfort. All up to you

I guess
 

😶 r

Fff
 

I just like what’s comfortable .

Ride nekkid and see how far you get. Whether that's significant depends on whether you do this in front of a furry convention.

For me, the only important aspects are the contact points: feet, hands, and butt. I wear clothing that keeps those parts comfortable, functional, and protected. I rarely concern myself with the rest of the ensemble.