Forum menu
backhander - MemberSome 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 - Member45 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.
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/4982523892_80808e482f.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_mc/4982523892/ ]No hands![/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mike_mc/ ]miketually[/url], on Flickr
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 [i]teach[/i] IT, but I don't work [i]in[/i] 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 [i]in[/i] '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 [i]in[/i] 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.
Why do you assume that? I teach IT, but I don't work in IT.
hmmmm, let me weigh up the evidence:
You are wearing spectacles
You have a beard
You are wearing a stripy shirt on a bicycle
Your bicycle seems to have some form of shopping basket on the front
You took a photo of yourself riding your shopper in a shirt and posted on an internet forum
😆
That just proves that I'm awesome 🙂
What a bizarre thread. Synthetics give me nipple rub, merino is just as sweaty as cotton except you start to smell of sheep. Who cares if people wear t-shirts? It is really not a big deal.
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?
Useful anecdote.
Someone who is bright, motivated and useful will carve out a good career doing anything. The difference is that to get to a reasonable position in any of the professions you generally have to show those characteristics as a bare minimum from when you start exams at 16 onwards. You have to attain a certain standard just be let through the front door, and that standard is above the general average (unless you go to an utterly useless university i suppose).
The professions attract a higher percentage of those people because when you are young you don't think "oh, i've got a great idea that's going to make me really successful in the world of hygiene". You pick a career path that is most likely to challenge you and allow to you realise your potential.
Some of the most successful people I know never set foot inside a university, but they are hardly representative of the population as a whole. They would have succeeded not matter what they chose to do.
I think many university courses are unnecessarily long, law for example, and that people would benefit from time in industry (doesn't have to be law) before commencing a shorter and more intensive course (like the way the GDL is structured). This would allow people who have a good all round aptitude to qualify into the profession with less fuss. At the moment there are a lot of black letter lawyers (not as racist as it sounds!) who are technically excellent, but lack business acumen. However many people don't bother with law as a second career because it is long, expensive and takes ages to get into a position of any influence. Big ticket commercial law needs a balance of the geeks to draft the tricky clauses and people who can actually understand what is trying to be achieved overall. The number of people who are equally gifted at both is quite low.
I think many university courses are unnecessarily long, law for example, and that people would benefit from time in industry (doesn't have to be law) before commencing a shorter and more intensive course (like the way the GDL is structured). This would allow people who have a good all round aptitude to qualify into the profession with less fuss. At the moment there are a lot of black letter lawyers (not as racist as it sounds!) who are technically excellent, but lack business acumen. However many people don't bother with law as a second career because it is long, expensive and takes ages to get into a position of any influence. Big ticket commercial law needs a balance of the geeks to draft the tricky clauses and people who can actually understand what is trying to be achieved overall. The number of people who are equally gifted at both is quite low.
So you're against riding in t shirts...?
So you're against riding in t shirts...?
Pay attention, i said AGES ago that I ride in a t-shirt 😆
Also, your input in this thread is irrelevant, you wear a King of the Mountains jersey 😉
People have started riding in t-shirts in order to look less like pro riders; the pros were fed up of being chased down and dropped (?) by middle aged STWers on rigid 29ers, which is why they are going low-key.
But then there are also some lawyers who choose particular legal fields over other, more lucrative ones. Such as Education Law for example. Such conscientious types are rare, I know.
Then there's IT and there's IT. There's developing the next GoggleTwitFace, and there's fixing non-techy people's PCs for a few quid, or unlocking mobile 'phones. Probbly more people getting rich doing the latter, I'd say...
And in Design; there's me, what is proper talented and passionate, and there's Wolf Olins, who done the Olympic Logo. They charge more than me, and they produce utter poop. 😀
Also, your input in this thread is irrelevant, you wear a King of the Mountains jersey
But I did wear a t shirt underneath it promise.
But then there are also some lawyers who choose particular legal fields over other, more lucrative ones. Such as Education Law for example. Such conscientious types are rare, I know.
Everyone starts out at law school with great ambitions of becoming a top flight civil rights lawyer, criminal litigator or generally doing good with their legal skills.
Problem is, once you've clocked up a fair bit of debt, all the big commercial/corporate firms pop along and offer you 3 times the money for a far sexier job. At law school it is immensely attractive to work for a big firm doing huge deals. However, when you actually get there, you realise that you've just sold your soul to the highest bidder 😈 They need the most intelligent people, but they also need people who will just taking a good beasting and not grumble. Free thinking individuals need not apply 😆
I quite like my area of law, it's quite noble compared to most other areas of corporate/commerical law. Deals last for years so I get to know the client businesses well, it's huge money (rarely short of £1bn), and almost of all it's tangible and (generally) for the public good. In recent years i've done the legals for the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, High Speed Rail (both here and abroad), hospitals, schools etc