Well it would have been amazing if I had been wearing a long sleeved cotton top.

Jerseys can be had from Decathlon for about a tenner and seem to dry off the sweat much quicker than a normal t-shirt (which are also more expensive).

dont want to look like too much of a ‘cyclist’, although riding an expensive bike is a bit of a givaway

yeah me too. on the occasions where i have worn all cycle specific stuff i catch a look at myself in the mirror and think “jeez, you look like a muppet!”.

People who say that fashion shouldn’t come into it are on a different wavelength to me. I’m not going outside looking like a tool, whether i’m on my bike or not 😆

I quite like looking like a cyclist, what with being one and everything. I feel more of a tool riding it in ‘normal’ clothes than in specific kit.
I spent a fortune on my bike (for me, anyway) and I’m happy to spend a little bit more on proper kit for myself to make sure I’m as comfortable as possible when I ride, so I can enjoy it as much as possible.
Mainly loose fitting MTB tope and baggies, but occasionally dig the skinny lycra out from my old racing days if I want to feel all Euro….

I always just chuck on the t-shirt that’s about due a wash.

backhander – Member

Some people ride XC in t-shirts, some people ride XC in body armor – I know who look more stupid

Who?

well it’s hardly going to be the ones wearing a t-shirt.

I find football tops perform just as well as cycle gear so I buy last season’s tops for about £10-£15.

Sometimes I ride in a t-shirt, sometimes I ride in flip-flops, sometimes I’m really not going very fast.

But it’s ok to just go out for a gentle pootle, sometimes.

I’ve started riding in cotton T-shirt for medical reasons!

Have discoid excema (sp!)on my back. Only developed it in the last couple of years :-/
Always used to wear bib shorts(under baggies of course) and merino or technical top. This was making my back VERY itchy, hot and sore. Tried riding in non-bibs, and wearing a cotton T.
Sooo much more comfortable for me.
Might be different if worn under a jacket, but on its own a cotton T is fine. Doesn’t stink, doesn’t take any longer to dry, etc. etc.

It’s the way forward !

Some people ride XC in t-shirts, some people ride XC in body armor – I know who look more stupid

The people wearing T-shirts.

Wearing a little protection from injury seems pretty sensible to me. While wearing a sweat-soaked cotton T-shirt up in the hills, like typical fashionista idiocy.

Unless you’re wearing a hand knitted merino skin suit you’re not trying hard enough.

buzz, I suppose you describe XC as an ‘extreme sport’? 🙄

Mr Nutt +1 (as long as it has integrated socks)

A mankini is the only thing I wear come sun or snow. Why the hell do you need a t-shirt or a top??? You dry off a treat after the rain so no probs. Bloody soft you lot are!!

wearing cycling gear makes you ride faster otherwise you look like a slow prat 🙂

If it’s hot I ride (MTB) in a loose technical tshirt – never cotton.

“Cotton kills!” if you get wet, your bike fails and you lose a limb. Hypothermia and all that.

I dance on the edge in a 50:50 polycotton t-shirt. Dries quickly but feels fresher. I prefer merino to synth when in gets colder, but I find the merino a little warm for the balmier months.

Maybe the DJ/BMX scene is overlapping a little with mtb, or people just don’t know? I used to ride in jeans, t-shirt and hoody (when cold) before knowing about technical clothing.

I always wear a t shirt (and usually cut off jeans too) – it brings a little less attention than riding without 😉

in holland i commuted wearing only shorts and a camelback on a trials bike. Probably that looked weird

anyone waterproofed jeans successfully?

Alpkit.

As others have said if i’m doing some downhilling or dirt jumping then I’ll wear a t-shirt. I’ll usually wear jeans if it isn’t hot too. I usually wear a jersey (all of mine cost less than £15…) if I’m riding XC in the summer otherwise I sweat too much. In the winter I usually wear a t-shirt (I think I was one of few wearing a hoodie on the dyfi winter warm up :lol:).

Not sure I used the word ‘usually’ enough in that.

I’m a big fan of the Howies term: stealth-tech. I love my merino t shirt from Finisterre: looks like a normal cotton t shirt, but works like only merino can. Yum.

I find football tops perform just as well as cycle gear so I buy last season’s tops for about £10-£15.

Plus you have the added bonus of really offending the delicate sensibilities of many STWers. 😀

Don’t get why you’d do it..

Cost has been ruled out, you can get a proper jersey for next to nothing.
Looks? Can get jerseys that look pretty much exactly like a plain t-shirt.

Cotton is rubbish as a material for exercise, someone even said they wore a wicking baselayer under a hoody, what exactly is the point in that? Where’s it going to wick to?

If I’m going for a ride, I want to enjoy it, so why not choose something that will be the most comfortable.

“buzz, I suppose you describe XC as an ‘extreme sport’?”

No not at all. A bit more skills/risk than year-round hillwalking perhaps. It might depend on what you think XC is. For example, that lovely looking Enduro DH racing course on the home page, looks like a typical XC trail to me. I included two DH tracks in this morning’s XC ride – enjoyably challenging for my ability level and on Boardman HT, but not extreme like say, hard Alpinism or big wave surfing.

Cotton T-shorts are sh1t for active sports; everyone knows that. I don’t understand your reasoning behind that snide XC remark. Apart from a FAIL at being snide.

project – Member

45 quid for most cycling jerseys, unless you want very small then the price comes down, now why dont Primark and Matalan do cycling jerseys.

I;’m a medium and I’ve never paid more than £25 😕 Fox, Altura, Raceface, Royal… Seems to me you’d have to really go out of your way to spend more than that.

I’ve been known to ride a bicycle while wearing a cotton shirt. With cuff links. I am yet to die.

No hands! by miketually, on Flickr

http://www.howies.co.uk/product.php/4190/16/

I remember when I was a kid I used to bomb around the woods on my bike all day, and go for long road rides all in cotton t-shirts and jeans and my school daps, and it was fine.

I’ve been known to ride a bicycle while wearing a cotton shirt. With cuff links. I am yet to die.

I assume you work in IT?

I assume you work in IT?

Why do you assume that? I teach IT, but I don’t work in IT.

Pft. You work in IT, Miketually, don’t pretend you don’t.

It’s like, if you’re a teacher, school secretary, local education authority administration, dinner lady etc, you work in ‘Education’.

Sorry, but that’s how it goes. You work in IT. Ha ha! 😆

(Points and laughs in a cruel and unkind manner)

Is that an IT-shirt you’ve got on there?

(See what I did there? Good, in’t it?)

I work as a teacher, in a sixth form college. I’d say that means that I work in education, right?

I don’t even own a Skoda or an Audi, so I can’t work in IT.

Hmm…

I’ll have to think about that one….

And I failed my GCSE in IT 🙂

…No, fair enough you work in Education. I’ll let you off.

If you worked in some tech centre type hole, I’duv had you.

Why such disdain for IT anyway? I mean, so many jobs and professions come under the IT umbrella, so why the hate?

Probbly some sort of class indicator thing that we seem to love and loathe so much.

Cos you’ve got yer high end fields, like yer Politics, Finance, Law, Medicine and that, then yer Education, Health Care, Engineering, Design, and IT, and then after that, yer Catering, Hygiene, Retail, Transport and Construction.

All of them have socio-economic stratification within themselves, but there does seem to be certain status attached to particular fields, above others.

I mean, I know someone who worked in Hygiene who made a fortune and is quite wealthy, but also people who work in Law, who are scraping by. Funny, the significance we attach to professional fields, innit?

I can think of 2 world class XC riders I’ve ridden with who wore t-shirts occasionally WHILE RIDING BIKES. shameful. if only they’d known that synthetic trail centre gods would be judging their non-armored feebleness

world class XC riders I’ve ridden with

WOW you’re AWESOME.
Behold the new surf mat.

If you worked in some tech centre type hole, I’duv had you.

It’s even in a big old building and used to be a grammar school. Should wear tweed really.

I’ve recently fallen in love.

http://www.primalwear.com/p-331-the-ritz-blue-ls-cycling-jersey.aspx

WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT.

normal t shirts dont have useful pockets, zips, they get wet easily and dont dry, they flap about, and are generally annoying.