rainbow stripes - how could you even consider it !

[D_ess]

I have (and wear) a Campag cap with the stripes on it. I have (and won't wear) a World Champion Jersey I bought at the UCI's. I bought it to get Cadels signature on, mount it and hang it in my study. Chiara wouldnt let him sign it. And I though I was whipped

He had that policy at his book launch - book signings only, no personal items. He said its so people dont go flogging the stuff on Ebay for a profit.

He does a fair amount of charity work - no doubt the value of stuff he auctions for charity will be greater if he limits what he signs. That might be a new thing for him tho, so maybe he forgot, and Chiara reminded him. Shame, but for the best i spose.

Cyclingtips has an auction for a bike of his from last season atm too ...up to over $14000 last time i checked too...wonder how high it will go?

[D_ess]

I have (and wear) a Campag cap with the stripes on it. I have (and won't wear) a World Champion Jersey I bought at the UCI's. ......

Um, rainbow stripes... I'd wear 'em commuting on the MTB with toe straps and baggy shorts, not on the roadie tho. Don't really care either way what others wear though...

+ 1...caps are not identified as a "trophy" the way jerseys are...wear whatever cap you want i reckon...

also good point about wearing a "trophy" jersey out of context (eg. on a MTB wearing baggies)....it won't likely carry that element of "bigging youself up", which is the problem some have it seems.

I ... have a couple of WCS bits on the bike. .... I wanted white bar/stem and found the wcs stuff for a good price. Plus I was putting it on an entry level bike that no world champ would be found dead on

I wear team kit but draw the line at specific champion jerseys and state national team kits. I see team kit as something supporters wear and the others you earn them.

+1 again, i don't see a few stripes on a bike as an issue at all...if a company's won 3 championships they get to permanently put them on their bikes so where does that leave you...besides, they're tiny stripes and as per the caps, aren't really "trophy" identifiers.

Also ditto on the team kit - it IS a way to support a team, and show who you look up to in cycling. BUT, i'd wear it for training or group rides, not for competition (not that i compete )

I think it's sad that there are some really attractive jerseys for sale that have thin rainbow bands around the sleeves celebrating a win way-back-then that would be frowned upon by other riders.
I love the fact that 'my team' won the rainbow jersey in previous years and there is no way that any of us mugs who are flat out keeping up with the red triangle could even dream of earning one of these jerseys.

I'm not talking about someone turning up for a Saturday morning ride decked out in yellow including shoes. We cop enough crap from those who don't ride about our gear,it's a pity other riders are so critical of each other.

celeste boy

So, do you mean WC rainbow stripes or national champ stripes? If it's WC stripes i'd probably say that's the same as on bikes...ie it's ok, it's a small stripe and we know one doesn't run into ex-World Champs (usually lol...story above about the old guy is funny...and so true).....so i don't think it looks like you're bigging yourself up or disrespecting the riders who've earned that right ....

...but the national stripes are different hey? Cos potentially someone could be out for a ride and meet a former national champ...apart from not insulting the guy by wearing his stripes you haven't earnt, I'd like to know if i saw those stripes i was really meeting a national champ.

That said, there are a few full versions of national champion jerseys that just look wicked...the Swiss jersey and the current Belgian jersey just look the business...don't think i'd ever wear one, unless i was out for a ride with close mates? lol, nah....

[ldrcycles]

It's not a rainbow. The colours are in the wrong order. *ducks*

LMAO. But i'll point to toolonglegs photo and make the point that having a rainbow as our ultimate prize doesn't do much for all the blokes who call me gay for riding a bike...not that i care, my GF is hotter than all their imaginary ones put together :-p hahaha.

[leighthebee]

elitist claptrap.... wear what you want I say.

[Yongkun]

same applies for people wearing team jersey, i am sure 99.99% of them arent in the pro rank teams.

But who cares, just a piece of clothes, let the legs do the talking, not what you wear.

[Oxford]

I wonder how a person who has actually earned the jersey of a world champ actually feels about this discussion. I'm sure their POV would be very different since the amount of hard work and effort put into actually competing and succeeding is a little more than handing over a handful of $$$ to a retailer. I don't know any world champs personally, but I bet they would cringe at the thought of joe average riding around in the jersey. Its easy for people to say get over it, maybe these are the same people who think its OK to claim to be something which they are not? Are these the sort of people that would go and buy a trophy from a trophy maker and proudly display it aming out that they earned it? Probably so I'd say.

If we have any world champs in the forum, I'd really like to hear their perspective on this matter.

[David_G]

I wonder how a person who has actually earned the jersey of a world champ actually feels about this discussion. I'm sure their POV would be very different since the amount of hard work and effort put into actually competing and succeeding is a little more than handing over a handful of $$$ to a retailer. I don't know any world champs personally, but I bet they would cringe at the thought of joe average riding around in the jersey. Its easy for people to say get over it, maybe these are the same people who think its OK to claim to be something which they are not? Are these the sort of people that would go and buy a trophy from a trophy maker and proudly display it aming out that they earned it? Probably so I'd say.

If we have any world champs in the forum, I'd really like to hear their perspective on this matter.

I don't think they would give a second thought...They would know that no one is "claiming to be world champ" and just let them get on with having fun on their bike.

[Oxford]

I wonder how a person who has actually earned the jersey of a world champ actually feels about this discussion. I'm sure their POV would be very different since the amount of hard work and effort put into actually competing and succeeding is a little more than handing over a handful of $$$ to a retailer. I don't know any world champs personally, but I bet they would cringe at the thought of joe average riding around in the jersey. Its easy for people to say get over it, maybe these are the same people who think its OK to claim to be something which they are not? Are these the sort of people that would go and buy a trophy from a trophy maker and proudly display it aming out that they earned it? Probably so I'd say.

If we have any world champs in the forum, I'd really like to hear their perspective on this matter.

I don't think they would give a second thought...They would know that no one is "claiming to be world champ" and just let them get on with having fun on their bike.

Which is why I would like them to give us their perspective, not what we think they think, though I am guilty of that in my post.

[foo on patrol]

My 2cents worth. These jerseys have been around since my and possibly before my time as a competitor and were used only on training rides, never racing. I personally don't have a problem with them!

[skull]

I wonder how a person who has actually earned the jersey of a world champ actually feels about this discussion.

well a few years ago, when one of the LBS owners won a Masters race over somewhere earining him the stripes, he then made shop kit for sale with them on it and sold them. I gues he didn't mind to much, plus they were to quality knicks and jerseys.

[Royo]

I just got back into road cycling after a 12 year absence. Riding down the main road where I live (I ride solo) I caught some inquisitive looks from a few fellow cyclists. At the time I thought they were just admiring my new bike (its pretty awesome) but now I know the real reason.

Personally I wear the jersey because it looks cool, not to disrespect Cancellara and his achievements. I think he would be stoked if he saw me ride past wearing his kit. Id also have no probs wearing those WC shoes and see no diff riding a bike with WC colours, a WC jersey or WC draws. I think those that make a big deal out of it are the tossers. 'SNAP!'