Or more specifically, how many changes for how many days? Planning a 15 day out and back to my dads place, 700 miles rt. I'm betting 50-60 miles a day, and 2-3 at dads place then 6 days back-ish.

Won't need tent gear for this trip. But I will take tools, raingear, the necessities.

My question is this. How many basic sets of cycling clothing is a good idea? shorts/socks/jerseys? I can laundry when I make dads place and I'll bring some street clothes, of course.
Assuming hot and humid with possible rain.

Thank you

No tent, meaning staying in motels?

I try to do sink laundry every night if I think the air is dry enough that my laundry will be only slightly damp by morning. Thus, I usually just bring a couple days worth of stuff. And if I get a few more days of wet weather and can't do laundry for a few days, I keep wearing it anyway.

If you are in motels, some motels have coin op laundry machines. On a couple trips where I expected to have laundry machines, I brought some of those laundry soap packets from home.

It depends on your comfort level. When I did my 8500 mile bike trip in 2015 I typically visited a laundrymat once a week. I generally changed clothes midway through the week. I was always sleeping in the riding clothes so I was in them 72 hours straight. Yeah, my tolerance level is much great since I don't have a sense of taste or smell.

You could easily get by with just one pair of clothes, plus something to put on while washing the cycling clothes, since as Tourist hints at you are suggesting you will be credit card touring and should access to washing machines along the way.

I take 3 sets of riding clothes and wear one. That gives me 4 days between needing to do laundry. I machine wash and dry my bicycle clothes all the time and seldom do hand laundry because the only thing worse then doing laundry constantly is having to do it by hand constantly.

I do laundry every night. I shower in the campsite/warmshowers/motel and take my sweaty riding clothes in with me and then change into clean clothes. I wring my clothes out and hang them up to dry. They are usually dry by morning and if not I ride in my spare shirt etc and hang the damp things on the bike to finish drying. Here are my socks and underwear attached to my saddlebag after a damp poor drying night in New Hampshire. I rode with them like that and they were dry by mid morning.




I pack/wear

1 x cycling jersey
1 x long sleeved zip T
2 x padded under wear
2 x pairs socks
1 x riding shorts
1 x leggings or rain pants depending on time of year.
1 x convertible long pants
1 x rain jacket
1 x wind/insulated jacket
1 x cycling shoes
1 x kung fu shoes
1 x beanie hat
1 x neck gaiter
1 x gloves
1 x cycling cap.

Machines aren't necessary, but they sure do a better job, easier. 🙂 One full change of clothes are all you really need, besides what you wear, but extra socks & undies are nice.

Pretty soon, no change of clothes will be needed:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-a8336141.html

I don't have a problem with rinsing out a jersey and shorts each night. I rinse one set wear the other the next day. If the rinsed set is still damp the next morning I hang it on my bags. Not a big deal.

Three sets of shorts, two wool jerseys. Wash alternate sets by hand. If you have access to water, you have what you need to wash clothes. I wash jerseys as dictated by my nose, and chamois' after each use, or if water is scarce the third alternate. Saddle sores are a real danger...

I take 4 days worth and many motels, B&Bs will let you use their washing machines, some for a price.

Clothing seems light, but it's bulky and carrying too much can lead to an extra pack or even rack, which starts adding noticeable weight. And it's often not actually light. Get a good kitchen scale to weigh and compare.

I've come back to bike touring from a long distance hiking career. Weight and bulk are more critical when carried on your back. A nugget of clothing wisdom is that you should be able to wear all your carried clothing at once as part of a coordinated layering system. So I carry just one of everything and launder it frequently, usually in a public sink (carry a rubber stopper), sometimes more than once on those hot humid days. It's actually refreshing to put on wet clothing and wear it dry. In cold or wet weather I might skip a day. I like to wash down on a sunny afternoon, then get to camp relatively clean and dry. I look for a machine at least once a week, often at a warmshowers host or motel stay. This style is a minimalist approach, not for everyone, but it's one tool in the box if you want to travel light.

Even on long trips I take either one or two pairs of bike shorts depending on how light I am traveling. The last few trips I took only one (even on a coast to coast trip) Washing them out in a sink is easy enough and if you spend a night out in the boonies without washing them it isn't the end of the world. I do not find putting them on damp to be a big hardship. They will be damp with sweat quickly enough any way I do find it important to get out of the bike shorts at the end of the day to air out. At that point I put on running shorts with a mesh brief.

For shirts, I sometimes take a jersey, but lately have been just using light tech tees. I take at least two of those.

Stopping once in a while at a coin operated laundromat is a possibility, but I only do that once in a while. That said, if you are credit card camping, many motels have a coin operated washer and dryer.

Socks, yes. Underwear? You aren't supposed to be wearing underwear. I do at night (and carry only one) but when on the bike, nope.

As I said, I'm not a fan of doing laundry constantly. I have other things I need to concentrate on than doing laundry every night. Your tolerance of laundry may vary.

I don't use shorts with a pad in them. I find it more flexible to use underwear with a pad. I carry two pairs and no other underwear. I wash one pair every night along with my jersey and socks. I wear my second jersey, pair of socks and underwear while they dry.

I've found cycling undies don't ride right on me. So Full cycling shorts will be the norm. Since the number is between 2 and 4 sets, I'll split the diff and go with 2 plus one worn.

Thanks for the help folks! I might be able to pare down to one pair of small panniers instead of my big pair.

How susceptible is your butt to saddle sores? Mine cringes even to read about wearing one pair more than one day without washing. Ergo, I'll take 3 pairs of shorts (and usually 3 jerseys to match). You can either wash daily and hope for good weather to dry them, or plan on a B&B or motel every third day. Wash in the evening, hang to dry overnight. The real shower is nice, too.

So you'll be sleeping indoors and riding in hot and humid weather. For that I'd recommend one set of riding clothes and one set of street clothes. You can quickly wash your riding clothes in the shower after each ride and hang dry them.

Riding clothes:
- short sleeve jersey
- bike shorts
- socks
- rain jacket (is this necessary in hot/humid climates?)
Street clothes:
- short sleeve shirt
- undies
- shorts
- socks

Eventually got techy fast drying synthetics, for the around town tourist wear..

I hand washed 1 of my 3 pair of bike shorts daily to always have a clean pair the next morning..

For pretty much any length trip: one pair of mtb shorts; two pair of underwear for riding (I've ditched padded shorts. In the evening I rinse out / wash the pair I rode that day, squeeze water out and then roll into and wring in a travel towel, hang in the tent to dry); two short sleeve and one long sleeve riding shirts (Merino. Launder as the underwear); two pair riding socks (Merino. Wash as needed). Beyond that I bring long pants to ride in the rain or in the evening/morning if it's cool (I've ditched rain pants, and instead I use a pair of Mountain Equipment Ibex Pants. They're very water repellent, and if they wet out they keep me warm enough), a pair of shorts for warmer weather, a long sleeve bug shirt, a rain/wind shell (Rab Latok Alpine), a light insulating jacket (Patagonia Nano Puff or Mont Bell down jacket, depending on how wet I expect it to be), pair of light fleece gloves and light gore tex shell mittens, two pair socks for off the bike, shoes or sandals for off the bike. It reads like a long list, but it's pretty minimal. And, of course, there are some trips when I can leave behind the cooler weather gear.

for 15 days you need nothing!

go LIGHT!

wash by hand when needed.

that looks VERY attractive.

When touring utility always trumps being pretty.