I was all weirded out and embarrassed by the lycra until one day I was looking at my bike and just admiring its form. I was struck by how efficiently it's designed. No phony ground effects, tail fins, air dams, spinner rims, or any geegaw like you'd find on a car. Its form is determined by function. Then doesn't it make sense to cover its powerplant in the most efficient clothing?

True, it makes perfect sense...just for some folks it wont make enough sense until they either start putting on the miles, or (like me) lose some more pounds.

Really, this powerplant for the most part runs fine on boxer-briefs and levis...around mile 60 it starts getting pretty uncomfy, but I never go over that anyways.

Who wears corduroy pants anymore?

My kinda guy! But you should ride nekkid ALL the time!

Wanna be my boyfriend?




(By the way, there are two k's in "nekkid"... )

Does being on here make you smarter? Nope! Go away and ride your "*** bike". We'll leave you alone.

From what I have seen around where I live, there must be at least 200,000 oversized people who play for the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. After all, that must be the only reason these people wear the jerseys and such...

Wear what you like, but by all means, ride, ride, ride!

Well, isn't wearing any jersey of any sports team really providing "advertising" for that team? If I wear a Padres cap, doesn't that, in essence, act as a billboard for them? Besides, most of the 'ads' that are plastered on cycling jerseys are for European companies that no one in the US has ever heard of or could use anyhoo, so, if it trips your trigger, wear it..

When I ride, I use plain vanilla bike shorts and jerseys. I do have a few event jerseys
such as the 3 States-3 Mtns that are chock full of logos, but I have some pride in
that as I did the century on the bent. On a recent road ride I noted one rider with
a bright orange jersey that really stood out 3-400yds down the road drawing the eye.
On the other hand, jerseys with a lot of green/ light blue tend to blend into the green
of trees/bushes and forbs, not necessarily a good thing on country roads. Commercial logos obviously attract a lot of interest, I heard a quip recently that Monster Garage
and the Chopper cycle show hosts make a great deal of money peddling Tshirts and
hats with their logos. Same with football and basketball team logos that are all over
sport stores clothing that is derigeur in the jr/sr HS student crowds.

Well, you can call me a troll or an agitator or tell me to piss off and you'll wear whatever you want regardless of what I think. That's fine, and to be expected. But this post received a lot of replies and that's curious. If it were not a hot topic in our minds, this thread would have died 5 minutes after I submitted it.

I should have made it clear in the beginning that I do wear biking shorts sometimes, and sometimes wear brightly colored riding jerseys when visibility is a concern. My irritation is with handing corporations free advertising by wearing their logos plastered all over your body. What's more, there are people out there (we've all seen and known them) who wear, buy and do things ONLY because it's the 'in' thing to do. And that irritates the heck out of me.

Wearing a Padres shirt is different, and that argument just doesn't hold up.

I believe that anyone who rides a bike these days deserves some credit for getting out there and doing it. That's great. I obviously have an unpopular opinion on riding clothes, and that's fine. I can live with that. Some of the bile directed my way for having an opinion contrary to the majority was kinda surprising, but not altogether unexpected. I was hoping to hear from more folks like me that don't take much stock in spending $150 on a shirt that provides free advertising to whomever, but, well, such is life.

See ya. This place just isn't friendly to anyone who isn't obsessed with the lightest, newest, 162-speed titanbonluminum bikes on the market, and dressing like a TdF racer. I like to ride my bike for exercise and relaxation, to the store, and to work, and to friends' houses. If I showed up in a t-mobile shirt...

Like I said earlier, my jersey support the club's sponsors. My annual club membership includes the "free" jersey, so it actually doesn't cost anything much less $150. It doesn't matter to me what you wear. You should be comfortable. Why do you care what anyone else wears? Let 'em wear what they like.

I think you'll find most dont spend that much.I happen to be one that hasnt spent over 40 bucks for a jersey and out of the 10 i have only 1 is what your talking about as the rest of mine are just colors. Next time you go to the mall,open your eyes and you'll notice its what most people are wearing,logos and as you call it advertising shirts. As for your question,what did you think you would get from a bike forum? If you go into a crowd of smokers and say how dumb it is and they react the way we did and you just dont understand that,HELLO!

Jerseys and shorts have a purpose and no cyclist is a *** for wearing them.

Why? Have you ever stopped to consider that some people actually like the look of those logos? I for one do find some of them unique, interesting, artful, creative, clever, humourous, etc. I will wear clothing with those logos because I like how they look. My all-time favourite clever logo is the Sun Microsystems emblem. It's simple and clever.



I don't have any team stuff as I don't think most of the jerseys satisfy my criteria of taste although I do find some of them nice and would consider wearing them. I generally wear jerseys I've collected on rides or those promoting organisations I belong to. However, I do like my Redhook jersey.




I'm still at a loss as to why this bothers you. Feeling rebelous? If it's popular then it's bad? I'm failing to see how this effects you so profoundly.


Why not?


Well... let's see. An advertiser spends a whole lot of money to create a unique and interesting design that not only sells their company's products but also sells the design itself because people want to wear the logos. How shameful of them... they should burn in hell for all eternity! Imagine giving people something they like or want! The horror of it all! And on top of that, they have the gall to expect that people pay for their services? Well never has my flabber been so ghasted!


Since when is liking nice things (and no, I'm not saying that only new expensive things are nice) diametrically opposed to friendliness? You are criticising people based on what they wear and you're calling us unfriendly? Mr. Pot, I think you ought to hang up the phone.


... then the men in long trenchcoats will summon the black helicopters with the guys dressed in ninja suits and tactical gear to force you into harsh labour on your bike? It seems to me that there are plenty of folks who ride their bikes for exercise and relaxation, to the store, to work and to friends' houses while wearing a t-mobile jersey. If you have some psychological reason why you can't do that then I think as the saying goes, "that sounds like a personal problem."

I swear I was gonna let this die and go away. But khuon's post was good stuff.

1. I totally agree that Sun's logo is the bomb. If there were a Sun Microsystems cycling jersey, well perhaps I'd consider that. Especially if it were purple.

2. "Well never has my flabber been so ghasted..." Ok, even though you're being mean to me, that's some funny stuff.

3. khuon, you sound like someone I would get along with well. You write well and you're funny. I just wish you were the one person here who would have said, "Well, I totally disagree with you but you do have a point..." Oh well.

mmmmm Redhook...

Ride up mountains, drink down beer!



Just got in from a ride and am enjoying a tasty Fat Tire.

1. big question. i'll let the philosophers answer that one

2. because i can and i want to.

3. if cost was the reason for my living, kill me.

sd

Because I'm a roadie, and roadies wear bike shorts and bike shirts that are too expensive and have brand names that I'm not sure how to pronounce.