Commuting clothes

[Dudeman]

Hi all,

I've just bought my first road bike and also moved house, further away from work and I'll be riding to work for about 45 mins so the difference was that I was wearing regular clothes riding to work as its only 6km away. But now that its further and the weathers getting warmer, I'm going to get a good workout and work up a sweat and I'll be wearing my kit now. I've heard about washing your shorts/bib after each ride so my question is what does everyone do with riding to work and then back? Do you just wear the same kit back home, that you've gotten sweaty in already? Can this be a problem? My concern is after learning the hard way why proper shorts are important after getting saddle sores and I never want to get them again due to neglect lol. Any ideas/advice appreciated. Cheers!

[DavidS]

I ride almost an hour each way to work and back. I'm not crazy about wearing lycra shorts so I ride in normal shorts and a bike jersey. Saddle sores are not a problem, I have a Brooks saddle which works for me. The bike jersey is fine for the trip home, it can be a bit sweaty but I'm going to sweat on the way home more than on the way in since it is generally warmer in the afternoon. Also the jersey is dry since most workplaces are air conditioned.

I would say don't ride that far in your work clothes, a short distance may be fine, but you are right to want to wear different clothes on the bike. What you choose to wear is your choice, but I don't think you need a different set of clothes for the trip home or wash them at work.

DS

[warthog1]

I wear cycle specific clothing to and from work.
Knicks and leg warmers plus jacket or jersey and arm warmers.
I hang it up in the shower cubicle at work and it is dry for the trip back home.
I couldn't commute in work clothes as I wear a specific uniform and it would just end up too sweaty.

[bychosis]

Same kit to and from. My commute is shorter, but still pretty sweaty. Mist have to dry it out as best possible. I'll often wear the same kit for a couple of days provided it's been dried out properly after each trip. Might be stinky, but I change/shower soon after arriving anyway.

[nickobec]

My ride to work is 40km about 1 hour 20 minutes, sometimes with an added 35km group ride or 18km TT.

Most times I cheat and work back late and catch train home, but sometimes I don't, I just wear the clothes I commuted in for the ride home. I hang my kit in the shower room and it is dry by the return trip, unless it rained really hard. Do keep spare sclothes at work for bad days, only ever used the jacket. Happily ride home in same kit I rode in, no known ill effects are 10+ years

[cancan64]

I use cycling bibs and jersey... same set to and from work... I can ride anything from 30km to over 50 in the morning and can be drenched in sweat when I get to work... I am limited for space here so just hang them up under my desk to try and dry... most times they are dry when I head home albeit very smelly but if its raining most times they are still wet.. home can be anything from 30 to 100km and have no ill effects ... so far. I do use cheap kits for short commutes (70km there and back) but if I know I am extending the commute I will wear quality bibs

[Thoglette]

Do you just wear the same kit back home, that you've gotten sweaty in already?

Usually, yes. As others have mentioned, getting back into wet gear is unpleasant (at best). Depending on the weather and how hard i (don't) ride I can get a coupla days out of shorts (no cremes for me).

Tops are cycling specific simply because nothing else dries out quickly enough. Changed daily because of the pong . Cotton is an awful material and is best avoided. And I've not got a linen t-shirt so can't comment on that.

While expensive, wool based gear (e.g. from Ground Effect) is in another league for winter and can be worn for a long time before getting smelly. (There's a lot of nice things said about the equally expensive Castelli winter bits - e.g. Perfetto/Cabba but I've not tried them)

[Newcastle Dave]

I was lucky with my previous job. 23km commute each way, shower at work and the company supplied a locker for fresh clothes etc. Also we had a clothesline outside on a roofed balcony, so sweaty (and I really really sweat) lycra and wet towel put out each day to dry. If lycra was especially sweaty in summer, a quick rinse in the shower.

I now work from home, so no problems

[AUbicycles]

Don't overlook chamois cream, it will prevent saddle sores.... and office chair chaffing

But seriously, a good idea particularly if you are not going to or able to shower at work - most have anti-bacterial attributes which make sense.

[slowK]

I wear the same kit for the ride to and from work. Wintertime is not an issue with smelly kit for the ride home. As Thoglette said, merino gear is fantastic for its no-odour properties, and I can easily get 2-3 days of riding between washes. (I have two jerseys from torm.cc and they are fantastic.)

In warmer months I find that synthetic jerseys smell more, although some brands with antibacterial treatment may be better than others.

[Dudeman]

Thanks for all the comments guys, seems to be fine wearing same shorts on my way home. They're dry by the time I leave. Not

Yeah I think I need to get some chamois cream.. first I learned the hard way why cycling shorts are good, now even with them after a couple of 40-50km rides I think I'm getting some sores again lol.

Can anyone reccomend some good cream? does it really matter what I get?

[g-boaf]

Do you just wear the same kit back home, that you've gotten sweaty in already?

Usually, yes. As others have mentioned, getting back into wet gear is unpleasant (at best). Depending on the weather and how hard i (don't) ride I can get a coupla days out of shorts (no cremes for me).

Tops are cycling specific simply because nothing else dries out quickly enough. Changed daily because of the pong . Cotton is an awful material and is best avoided. And I've not got a linen t-shirt so can't comment on that.

While expensive, wool based gear (e.g. from Ground Effect) is in another league for winter and can be worn for a long time before getting smelly. (There's a lot of nice things said about the equally expensive Castelli winter bits - e.g. Perfetto/Cabba but I've not tried them)

One of our lot on the Europe trip had Castelli Gabba, seemed to be pretty good on the coldest and most rainy day up in the mountains. And that day was an absolute drenching for 154km, absolutely freezing.

I had a Castelli "Rosso Corsa" jacket, it is usually well warm enough but even it didn't do enough. I ended up putting a wind breaker on under the jersey and then the jacket over the top of that to avoid freezing on the descent off the second mountain. But it was still pretty cold. Here, I've never had problems with freezing cold like that.

One thing that is good if you are riding in hot conditions are those Rapha 'pro-team' base layers.

Can anyone reccomend some good cream? does it really matter what I get?

I use Skin strong slather, but the Assos stuff is probably equally good too. Rapha has their own one. As for the sores, use an anti-bacterial wash.

[Tim]

Can anyone reccomend some good cream? does it really matter what I get?

You can buy the cycling specific creams which are relatively expensive but sound as though they work.
In my case I buy dirt cheap baby anti-nappy rash cream. Skin Basics, Zinc and Castor Oil Cream works wonders on my bum. The discount pharmacy chains sell large and small tubs cheap and it works. There are no nasty chemical additives in this product at all, just zinc, castor oil, peanut oil and beeswax.
I seldom suffer saddle sores nowadays but very definitely used too.
Bepanthen for the rare outbreaks.
Anything with a silicone base is meant to be good too. Dimethicone is the pharma name.
Clean shorts every ride or day.

[nezumi]

If drying time is the issue, is it possible to leave your bibs at work overnight, so that you ride in wearing one set, and can ride home wearing yesterday's, which have had time to dry?
e.g.
Mon AM: wear blue bibs, carry black.
Mon PM: wear black, leave blue overnight
Tues AM: wear green
Tues PM: wear blue, leave green overnight
etc.