Are you gonna duct tape 'em to your jersey? or what?

I think the fact that your friend likely isn't a sponsored rider reflects upon his nature as an un-professional cyclist.



Ride with the gear you want, on the bike you want, when you wan't. Oh, and if you see a blue-and-gold howitzer shell on a Bianchi catching up quickly, move out of the way...

...so that he can discover the pothole in the road about ten meters up ahead. Ouch!

Ohhh, your friend is right about the reflectors. Reflectors in the spokes end up being an annoyance anyway. Stylewise, it shouldn't matter if they are on a hybrid. Leave them on the hybrid.

Jerseys are a matter of taste. Most roadies prefer jerseys. I didn't until I started wearing jerseys on a regular basis. They are much more practical -- pockets in the back, they don't retain as much sweat, and some actually look pretty cool (that one could be debated). Most jerseys do not fit me well -- an example can be seen in the "RAGBRAI" post! I run into a problem with the jerseys I have because the group ride I participate in is sponsored by a bike shop. Most of my jerseys were given to me and they have the name of other bike shops on them!

Styleman SUCKS!

Style is where you find it. Reflectors, that would be something in the area of safety. Tshirts vs jerseys.... I've worn them, but on the trials I like old snap button "western" shirts w/ the sleeves cut off. I learning to sew, and once I get good, the sleeve are going to be used as pockets. Just my own thing. Everyone wants to be different, but we all end up looking like each other (just people ridin' their bikes),

Hey at least your friend is not into wearing speedos and wearing reflective pasties.

Laters

What in the hay-yel do road bikers know about style anyway?

Bike style is an oxymoron.

Somebody gave me the buyer's guide issue of Mountain Bike the other day. I couldn't resist flipping through it...I had to see what new lows this trade mag was exploring these days. In it was an article on style do's and don'ts. It was quite reminiscent of a Cosmo article. Anyway, this fool advising on style was making all kinds of spurious claims about what the "freshest" bikers were doing and wearing. Here's an example:

Rule X: Your stem and your handlebars MUST match. If they don't, well you just have no hope of fitting in.

Rule Y: Absolutely NO MOJOS. Little figurines on your bars make you stand out, and therefore make you look juvenile. Remember, conformity is the key to pleasing everyone.

And on they went. Whatever. Bunch of sissies.

As for reflectors in the wheels...well I agree, they are dead weight. If you make a habit of darting out perpendicular to nighttime traffic, they may be of some benefit...but I doubt it. Reflectors on your pedals, however, are a great idea.

REAL cyclists never use reflectors or jerseys. REAL cyclists ride in the nude in full daylight and have no need for either.

nut'in but a cup! Right drummer boy? Can't have no strange chainring tattoos, can we?

Phully Phredded is a style statement. What kind of style, I'm not sure, certainly not the "freshest". I have reflectors on my SLA battery. The only reason I would take the spoke reflectors off is if they make my wheel hop. In the Commonwealth of MA, with its cowpath path roads, many intersections are at strange angles and I will take all the help I can get in being seen on my nightly commute. I have a reflector zip-tied to my head tube. I put reflectors on my pedals. I riveted a reflector onto my rack pack. I put a safety triangle on the back of my hydration pack, and wear one as regularly as I wear a helmet. Every once in a while I look my bike over for another place to put a reflector. I'll wear anything Cool-max or Drylete or wool. I will wear a cotton Tee if the weather is 60 degrees, cloudless and otherwise perfect. Having said all that, no, my road bike is almost reflectorless.

Caloso.. What I do, is put reflective strips about my wrist, for when I make hand signals at night. Yes, reflective gloves would be a great idea.. I do have a whole jacket that is supposed to be made of reflective material. I lights up silhouteing the whole human, but it does not breath.
To me the purpose of jerseys is to be seen and to wick sweat.. Just like cycling shorts protect your rear and support your muscles.
If you want to celebrate your favorite team by wearing their kit, thats your thing. But we should not make judgements about a persons intentions.. Boy, it would be nice if just wearing your favorite category jersey would put a person on the team. We'd all be the cyclists we choose.. If only it were that easy.. I'd climb the alps like a pro. Dream on you so called posers.

I would use a T-shirt on my MTB with a child Carrier, But surely I would use a Cycling Jersey on my Road Bike, and will try to look very cool in this outfit...

I wouldn't expect anything else of you.

Hi webist, I don't have reflectors on my bike because I crashed once and the front one broke off, so I removed the rear one, so that it wouldn't look stupid with only one reflector, as for jersey's I haven't tried one yet, I usually wear a T-shirt.

Since my post, I have visited my LBS. The owner is also a friend of the same fellow who raised this "style" question. The LBS owner offered to put as many reflectors as possible in my spokes Said he had hundreds of 'em. Great sense of humor.

Since the LBS is a source of cycling jerseys and not T-shirts, the owner seemed to favor jerseys over T-shirst as well

I gotta say, the difference in the comfort of jerseys over any other shirt is remarkable to me. I really like 'em.

I'm leaving the reflectors on for now. If they start making noise or something, I'll probably take 'em off. I like the notion of reflective tape for the Camelback, gloves, shoes and such that I've read here.

That's such a brilliant and simple solution, no wonder I didn't think of it. Duh.

This statement is one of those basic truths of life to which nothing can be added.