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)
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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.

Yeah, I've found that apparel doesn't matter much when I'm in the recliner, either.

I think I'd pay money to see a cycling peacock.

Nice childish name-calling, btw.

Unless my racing...what?

BF never, and I mean never EVER, disappoints. Who would buy/wear cycling-specific apparel whilst actually cycling? Who, on BF, actually rides? (Hint: it’s the same people.)

Who wears Homer Depose clothing, cotton pants, work gloves and workshop safety glasses with their flat pedals when they roll out for their thrice-monthly “ride” around the sidewalks? No hints needed. ;)

There are reasons why cycling clothing exists, just as there are reasons for swimwear. Sure, you can jump off a rope swing in cutoff jeans, and you’ll still get wet. Not very many lap-swimmers in cutoff jeans, though. Yeah, you can throw a football in office attire. I wanna see you take a hit behind the line dressed like that. Et cetera, et tu, Brutus, and Peter Cetera.

I'm definitely in the non-lycra camp as far as my habits go, but as far as this thread, I agree with you. I want nothing to do with the anti-kit wearing insults.

Saves a lot of aggravation if we don't assume our rightful place in the world is to convince others of the errors of their ways. There's entirely too much of that on both sides of this completely trivial issue.

Oh, look everybody, Cycling Kit Karen is back. You never fail to disappoint by posting this same insipid "no true Scotsman" nonsense. I'm pretty sure I ride at least as much as you do and I'm pretty intense when I ride. This forum is chock full of people who ride a lot and don't wear cycling clothes. This upsets you for some reason, and you never get tired of making sure everyone knows you don't approve. Maybe give it a rest for a while? "Cycling clothes exist so you need to wear them or you're not really cycling" is a pretty lame thing to assert once let alone repeat in several threads.

Thanks for the tip. Just ordered 2 pairs of hiking shorts. Have one jersey on back order

Here's the thing - if you wear what my wife likes to refer to as "Bike Togs" because of what other people will think of you, or if you AVOID wearing them because of what other people will think of you, you're letting other people tell you what to do. Wear what works, as long as it's legal*, and assume others are doing the same.

*(because that's the one case where you should let people tell you what to do)

This forum is also chock full o’ nuts. Welcome. Try not to sound so wounded about imaginary people mocking you personally for wearing street clothes while “riding” your bike with intensity. No one in this post cares about what you wear, personally. It’s not about you. True talk, HTFU. :)

People can do whatever they want, and, well, they will. Good times…

So do you really have no short-term memory or do you really think anyone is stupid enough to miss the generalized insult of anyone who doesn't wear cycling kit in your first post?

BTW, people who are claiming the lycra snobbery doesn't exist on BF, this is your guy.