[Closed] "Lycra is considerably quicker"

Well, if you wear lycra you get disqualified and therefore don't win. So.

Baggy clothes aren't great when you crash but lycra is utterly useless beyond belief. Considering that BMX riding/racing involves a lot of falling off, for the sake of parents/friends/spouses/A&E cleaning up tarmac/gravel/dirt rash I'd say that keeping away from lycra is a good thing. If no-one is allowed to really chase aerodynamics you keep the playing field more level. Do we want everything to develop into F1 levels of aero gameplay?

And bmx in lycra skin suits would look crap 😀

Now, if it's about going faster,

Keeping it real is winning. #tigerblood

So, armoured/aero kit instead then?

Much like DH - Why is image more important than winning?

If results are decided by 100ths of a second, why is it more important to wear teh pyjamas of gnar than to wear clothes that [i]might[/i] give you that extra 100th of a second and therefore mean that you win?

Again, is looking all of teh ossum more important than winning?

I appreciate that the sport has said it is, but is it?

I don't understand - if lycra was allowed, surely they would all wear it. Where's the winning advantage there?

Scuzz, I suppose therein lies the crux of the issue. Why isn't it allowed?

Is it because image is more important than results?

If so, that's simply wrong, IMHO.

I saw a chap keeping it real on the A421 today. He was in his Tri bars, but was wearing parachute'tastic baggies.
His choice s'pose.

taking it 2 da streets... took my mate on a road ride today, he wore baggies and trainers I wore lycra and disco slippers. Obviously I have the aero advantage, but being an over weight 30 year old I'm not sure I really gain anything measurable. TBH, I dress like a roadie as "thats what roadies wear". I know there is more to it than that, and I get a sore Barse when I wear baggies for a long ride, but ultimately I wear what I wear becuase I want to look like everyone else!

If a sport is in the Olympics it should be about going as fast as humanly possible, irrespective of what you look like. They should be allowed to indulge in some lycra every four years.

I'm not sure wearing the latest TLD gear makes make you look any better to the public.

And anyway, what is keeping it real? Real as in like it was in the 80's? No thanks.

R979 - Member

If a sport is in the Olympics it should be about going as fast as humanly possible irrespective of what you look like.

You should tell that to the huge number of events that aren't about this at all.

One of the problems with skinsuits/aero is that it's incompatible with a lot of the protective kit available. And as soon as some people throw away the protective kit for competitive advantage, everyone ends up doing it, and that trickles down from the elite level to the knobber level.

Sure, it's partly about the look but if you look at downhill, I reckon there's an increase in people wearing protective kit at all levels, which has been partly led by the fact that pros are no longer racing in clingfilm.

If lycra is so dangerous why are roadies allowed to wear it?

Gee Atherton managed to become world champ wearing a skinsuit and wearing pads

[img] [/img]

Standard UCI joke ruling banning them, in a sport which is effectively an individual TT and podiums are decided on 10ths of a second not using a skinsuit to save quite a few seconds is laughable and devalues the sport.

If lycra is so dangerous why are roadies allowed to wear it?

If being a roadie was that dangerous then they'd wear fullface helmets and armour. But they don't. Going back to the F1 comparison, that sport is constantly 'handicapped' by rules restricting technology which would allow the cars to go much faster.

It doesn't affect the (relative) results because everyone's wearing the same thing. Like it or not the image of the sport is what helps it to make money and DH and BMX take their styling cues from motocross rather than the velodrome.

If a sport is in the Olympics it should be about going as fast as humanly possible, irrespective of what you look like. They should be allowed to indulge in some lycra every four years.

One word: swimming skinsuits 😉

One of the problems with skinsuits/aero is that it's incompatible with a lot of the protective kit available.

And as soon as some people throw away the protective kit for competitive advantage, everyone ends up doing it, and that trickles down from the elite level to the knobber level.

Sure, it's partly about the look but if you look at downhill, I reckon there's an increase in people wearing protective kit at all levels, which has been partly led by the fact that pros are no longer racing in clingfilm.

That's two words surely 😉

Well I wouldn't like to be sliding down the road on my arse at the sort of speeds they do clad only in lycra

GW - Member

No it isn't

You can wear a skinsuit over a pressure suit, hard elbow pads etc and still all get the benefits, can you?

No. I couldn't 😳 but almost every elite DH racer in the world could and until a few years ago always did for world champs.

Well it will be quicker than 'baggies' (which aren't actually all that baggy anymore anyway) but make you look like:

[img] [/img]

Not from what I remember from the last of the skinsuit world champs... Kneepads but not much else.

Which was also when the suits were most developed and giving the most advantage. Or so I'm told anyway, I know bugger all about aerodynamics but supposedly the competition skin suits give a lot more aero advantage than just wearing any old lycra.

umop3pisdn - Member

Standard UCI joke ruling banning them, in a sport which is effectively an individual TT and podiums are decided on 10ths of a second not using a skinsuit to save quite a few seconds is laughable and devalues the sport.

Most of the riders didn't like wearing them either. As I said above it doesn't change results because everyone will be the same amount slower. Devalue the sport? Don't be so melodramatic.

IMO skinsuits do look silly in DH.

loum - Member
"If a sport is in the Olympics it should be about going as fast as humanly possible, irrespective of what you look like. They should be allowed to indulge in some lycra every four years."
One word: swimming skinsuits

Good point.

I take it you don't remember any further back then Northwind?

and who told you that bollox? (I take it you are referring to the Chris Porter/Mojo skin suit year?)

same as the reasons for DH:
- the sport is about image and looking cool
- clothing manufacturers want people to buy their branded clothing - they're more likely to buy baggy shorts and jerseys for wearing on and off the bike rather than skinsuits
- can you see kids wearing skinsuits down at the track?

Ive crashed on a velodrome in lycra ,now that hurts ,but I wouldnt wear anything else to ride a bike in .On or off road

Is it because no self respecting bmxer would be seen dead in lycra?

also the rubber suits that Team GB used on the track in Beijing were outlawed because they changed the body shape of the wearer.

When I was a ****less youth, I'd hammer around on my DH bike wearing jeans and a t shirt, laughing at the XC boys with their cockerels on display, the road boys with shaved legs and the old duffers on touring bikes with mudguards and (s****) frame mounted pumps.
When I was a ****less youth I didn't buy an XC bike, a road bike or a tourer because, well, they simply weren't cool. I did have a DH bike and a BMX.
These days I have no shame and get a bit of a kick giving the ladies a treat whilst fully lycrad up. Hence I now ride XC, road and touring in my bibs.
Simply put, lycra is a good way to not attract people to the sport. Why do you think they did it in DH?
Besides, everyones on a level playing field so makes no difference to the result, but probably ends up in higher BMX sales figures and thats what keeps are hobby afloat.

GW - Member

and who told you that bollox? (I take it you are referring to the Chris Porter/Mojo skin suit year?)

That was from Chris Ball.

the Mojo skinsuits were worn with armour underneath and they were actually baggy in places. The alternative lycra was not any old lycra but a roadriders skin suit. makes you wonder why is wiggo doesn't wear a baggy Mojo skinsuit in his timetrials, eh?

Mr Porter made a big deal out of his skinsuits at the time (as he has about anything new he's stumbled upon throughout his career in the mtb world). the use of a skinsuit did indeed give an advantage over mx style clothing at Ft Bill but unfortunately all the self generated "hype" surrounding them ultimately helped shoot him in the foot.

CaptainFlashheart

Now, if it's about going faster, and therefore about winning, what is more important?

"Keeping it real" and looking all of teh rad ossumnezzzzz
or
Winning

Discuss.....

If you want to look at myriad rules banning/limiting/inhibiting aero advantage for little more than aesthetics then look at road and track cycling, where, ironically, aerodynamics is an infinitely bigger factor.

GW - Member

the Mojo skinsuits were worn with armour underneath and they were actually baggy in places. The alternative lycra was not any old lycra but a roadriders skin suit.

Not quite sure why you're fixating on Mojo here tbh?

BMX in Lycra would look silly, same as show jumping in Lycra would look silly. It's not just "image", it's a recognition of the sport's roots.

Promoting the sport is a level par with "winning" in my view and therefore making everyone dress like sex pests is not a good move. What looks cooler to kids, Sam Hill wearing moto gear or Bradley Wiggins in his banana hammock?

I think its great that lycra is banned from BMX as it gives normal folk hope that a lycra free world is more than just a pipe dream.

when the suits were most developed and giving the most advantage.

I also assumed you'd know about Chris Bs relationship with Mojo

I do- but we weren't talking specifically about mojo's suits so it's not relevant.

Good rule, like above plenty of other sports don't do it so why should BMX, from the DH side there were loads of guys ditching pads and that just isn't clever. Also not long before all the kids at a regional race start wearing it.

FWIW the "baggy" stuff isnt that baggy really

* Imagines jockeys wearing the same gear that the speed skiers wear *

If a sport is in the Olympics it should be about going as fast as humanly possible, irrespective of what you look like. They should be allowed to indulge in some lycra every four years.

Guess they should legalize EPO then, or use gears, bigger wheels and suspension. **** maybe a motor as well? I mean, your going as fast as humanely possible if a human designed the engine right?