Got bagged for wearing baggies.

[bychosis]

Was leaving work yesterday, ready to ride home on a roadie in baggy cycling shorts (with liner) and a long sleeve MTB jersey when one of the guys (a cyclist) asked me where my Lycra gear was and continued to give a good natured ribbing. I'd like to think I returned fire.

He had another go at me this morning (same gear) as he stepped from his car, suggesting that I wouldn't survive a run in with other cyclists, presumably because I was dressed incorrectly. My reply was 'they'd have to catch me first', which he paid - I know full well that I won't outrun a fast roadie, but average ones will get a run for their money.

I don't care what others think, I'm not wearing roadie gear. I've come from MTB riding and don't like tight fitting clothes as a rule.

Do you have to fit with the fashions or do you wear what is comfortable regardless of the peer pressure?

[reefer]

You obviously do care, as you posted…...

[Comedian]

Whatever works for you...

[takai]

Meh, people are always going to want to differentiate in groups and out groups. c.f. Social identity theory (Turner, John; Oakes, Penny (1986). "The significance of the social identity concept for social psychology with reference to individualism, interactionism and social influence". British Journal of Social Psychology 25 (3): 237–252.)

I regularly get drivel from a couple of "pro" cyclists when commuting in normal clothes with my Garmin on the bars of the single speed. *shrugs* its just identification bias.

[RonK]

Do you have to fit with the fashions or do you wear what is comfortable regardless of the peer pressure?

I would ask - what has wearing road cycling gear to ride a road cycle to do with fashion? I wear clothing which is practical for the type of riding I'm doing, not what any preconceptions about my "tribe" dictates.

[lobstermash]

I'd like to join your proud non-lycra wearer's non-anonymous group. IMO lycra gear is made for middle to long distance rides. If you're using your bike as transport (<30km), there is no excuse for wearing your kit (unless you want to).

In regard to achieving glory among your fellow cyclists, inappropriate gear is a win-win. If they're faster than you, it's because they've got the 'right gear'. If you leave them in the dust in baggy clothes on a folding bike, there are no bounds to the cred won that day.

[g-boaf]

You obviously care from the way you've written the post.

I wear what suits me. I'm getting towards the typical cyclist build so I don't mind wearing the tight clothing - it doesn't flap around and the lot I wear is comfortable..

I'm fast enough I suppose - but not a full on racer.

Glory for me is beating really quick people on strava on a bike that is likely heavier than what they've got.

[cyclotaur]

I ride one CX bike all year round, which allows (?) me to ride in whatever gear I like.

I summer I generally wear roadie lycra, but when touring or in winter (as long as the mudguards are on) I'll wear my baggy shorts with lycra inner. SPD/MTB/Touring style shoes all year round - who cares ?

[munga]

You guys wear clothes on your bikes?

[nescius]

Wear whatever you like, being comfortable the main thing and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

[HappyHumber]

[quote=bychosis]I don't care what others think, I'm not wearing roadie gear. I've come from MTB riding and don't like tight fitting clothes as a rule.[/quote]

And yet you care enough to ask our opinions?

Good ribbing is fine - but you don't always have to take the bait.

[roller]

beware the lycra debate in MTB clothing. . . .

[Nobody]

Do you have to fit with the fashions or do you wear what is comfortable regardless of the peer pressure?

I got bagged by a "I'm a pro" rider (obviously with his own insecurities) for having a disc brake on my CX. I must say it annoyed me, even though I know discs are better brakes for my purpose.

As to clothing, I'm in the middle. I've worn both T-shirts and cycling jerseys in the past with or without lycra/spandex shorts. These days my wife told me to get some cycling specific shorts as she was tired of me wearing out undies. So I wear some shorts over the top of the lycra. I tried the baggies but found they just have too much aero drag for me.

Glory for me is beating really quick people on strava on a bike that is likely heavier than what they've got.

Glory for me is not being on Strava. But that's another whole contentious topic (like this one).

[djw47]

I always wear baggies on my road bike. I've tried lycra and found it makes zero difference to performance or comfort. A decent padded set of baggies is perfectly adequate for me. At least I'm safe in the knowledge that anybody behind me doesn't need to see the tightly packed outline of my arse.

[Marx]

Baggies for the commute – handy to have keys/pass in pocket which nicks don’t offer (cycling jersey pockets become useless with a backpack.
Also all my old nicks which are too embarrassing to wear in public, find a 2nd life as liners under hiking shorts – the cheap alternative to bike specific shorts.

[briztoon]

Meh, I like wearing team kit which is a no no in some circles, and even worse, one of the kits is the Belgium national road champion get up. Or I have a Cyclones kit from my recent trip. I wear what I like the look of. Yes, it's lycra, but I'm comfortable in it. My riding is either a short 25km round trip commute, or ~100km rides.

After reading this thread, I'll consider buying a pair of baggies for commuting (when I get back on the bike). At the moment I wear lycra, but put on a pair of sports shorts when I park the bike and walk through work to the showers.

[queequeg]

I wear baggies with a liner most of the time, but use long Knicks in winter.
Can't say I have ever been ribbed about that, nor about my CX bike with discs + pannier bags.
I personally like baiting roadies on full carbon bikes dressed in full team kit, just to see if they are as good as they think they are. must really hurt their egos when I put the hammer down and leave them gasping for air

[winstonw]

I don't care what others think, I'm not wearing roadie gear. I've come from MTB riding and don't like tight fitting clothes as a rule.

if your road riding is similar to your mountain biking, no problemo.

But the reasons roadie gear has evolved to what it is has been outlined on this forum many times before, and here again:
- reduced drag at higher speeds
- reduced noise so you can hear traffic better = safer
- things don't flop around in the pockets of tight lycra jersey pockets, nor fall out and risk the safety of those riding behind you.
- reduced chance of clothing snagging on saddle or bars when moving from saddle to out of saddle and back.
- reduced chance of shirts coming untucked and flapping around and snagging on passiing traffic or other riders.

I am totally ok with overweight people wearing lycra for cycling.
I think if there's a questionable and unfortunate attitude, it is by those who think lycra is in any part a fashion statement.
If it is fashionable to ride a bicycle, or do something healthy, who'd bag that?

Now, if something deserves to be bagged, it is riders using ipods on roads and busy shared paths. It's as anti-social as hoons driving around with boom boxes doof doofing so loud they wouldn't hear an emergency vehicle.

[g-boaf]

I wear baggies with a liner most of the time, but use long Knicks in winter.
Can't say I have ever been ribbed about that, nor about my CX bike with discs + pannier bags.
I personally like baiting roadies on full carbon bikes dressed in full team kit, just to see if they are as good as they think they are. must really hurt their egos when I put the hammer down and leave them gasping for air

This is where it gets a bit silly. Leave the racing for actual races on closed courses otherwise it gives the motoring or pedestrian haters more reason to demand that we must have rego because we are all uber-aggressive, TdF wannabes going too fast and racing dangerously on the streets or the shared paths.

I deliberately go slow when these types want to race. I go as slow as possible (say 10-15km/h) and make it very clear that I'm in no hurry. It drives them mad when you don't play their mind games.

[queequeg]

I wear baggies with a liner most of the time, but use long Knicks in winter.
Can't say I have ever been ribbed about that, nor about my CX bike with discs + pannier bags.
I personally like baiting roadies on full carbon bikes dressed in full team kit, just to see if they are as good as they think they are. must really hurt their egos when I put the hammer down and leave them gasping for air

This is where it gets a bit silly. Leave the racing for actual races on closed courses otherwise it gives the motoring or pedestrian haters more reason to demand that we must have rego because we are all uber-aggressive, TdF wannabes going too fast and racing dangerously on the streets or the shared paths.

I deliberately go slow when these types want to race. I go as slow as possible (say 10-15km/h) and make it very clear that I'm in no hurry. It drives them mad when you don't play their mind games.

It's a bit zen to be both "too fast" then be told off by a motorist for being "too slow".
If I am commuting home, is every rider going faster than me actually leading me out in a race? I quite often try to match motor vehicle speeds...is that racing or keeping up with traffic?
Most of the time I am simply riding my normal commute pace, which just happens to be higher than most other cyclists. If I am pedalling away from lights faster than someone else, that is not racing.

[Scarfy96]

Wear what you want to wear and ride how you want to ride. It isn't a competition. Commuting is just that, commuting. Wear what you feel comfortable in and you think is appropriate and who gives a rats wally what anyone else thinks. If you are comfortable riding in a pink tutu wear that. I ride in full lycra, mtn bike baggies, or street clothes depending on what/where/with who/ and how far I am riding.

[bychosis]

It was all in god fun, and the person in question is always giving asand receiveing similar.

I dont see the problem with wearing what makes you comfortable. Some like road cycle kit, others dont. I will also poke some good natured fun at riders turning up to our social MTB rides in tight fitting roadie style gear.

I welcome a bit of banter from those with different opinions when in good humour. I don't care much for zealots though

[barefoot]

I'm a big fan of wear-whatever-the-hell-you-like-and-to-hell-with-the-haters.

Commuting, I just wear my office-style business kit, because it's only 6km each way. Saves getting changed. But if changing for the ride and wearing baggies works for you... all good.

That said... as a MTBer of *ahem* some experience [1]... I have never understood the baggy pants thing.

One of the least fun experiences MTBing is getting snagged on the nose of the saddle when I need to slide over the back for a steep descent, or getting snagged on the back of the saddle when I need to get back on.

Any loose clothing that makes me more likely to get hung up on any part of the bike or the surrounding terrain is a really bad idea, as far as I'm concerned.

I've owned a couple of pairs of baggy-with-liner pants, which I got rid of, and still have a pair of Ground Effect shorts with a padded gusset, which are good for casual rides around town with the family where I'm happy for a bit of padding but don't want to look like Lycra Man off the bike. But for serious rides (insert serious ride sound effect), it's knicks all the way. On or off road. Black.

Now I'm riding road a bit, and collecting a few jerseys (having discovered quickly that, without a camelback, there's nowhere to put stuff if you don't have pockets in your shirt), I default to wearing them off road as well. Also mostly black, because I lack imagination.

tim

[1] By some measures, I independently pioneered MTBing when I talked Dad into putting a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub on my BMX in the mid '80s. But realistically, it was another decade or so until I started riding proper MTBs... wearing black knicks, a t-shirt and a bum-bag of tools and spares. Then Camelbacks were invented. Then, some time later, baggy pants.

[Mulger bill]

99% baggie and proud of it. I don't give a rats what anybody else wears, just as long as they are out there in the wind.

Sorta tight baggies, tho' the ol' Endura Humvees, never snagged.

Tim, how does a low rise MX bar, knobbies and standard saddle on a 3x Repco Dragster circa 1976ish sound?

Shaun

[ldrcycles]

I wear clothing which is practical for the type of riding I'm doing, not what any preconceptions about my "tribe" dictates.

+1. 99% for me would be "lycra" (the last time I checked a jersey tag it's only 10% lycra, the rest is cotton or something, so a bit misleading to call it lycra) simply because it's what I find most comfortable. Perfectly happy to do short rides in jeans though. I've never liked riding in shorts, I just don't like the feel of it and find the legs usually ride up which makes for "interesting" viewing with my tan lines .