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Why do you need trousers on when working from home?
You are Winnie the Pooh and ICMFP
Tracksters look weird but they were designed for a specific purpose and were brilliant for it. On my many recent failed attempts at running I've hated joggers as being too bunchy and tights as being too pervy, Tracksters (just) seem to hit the best compromise.
Doubt I could still fit into the Ronhills I used to use for winter riding BITD. Elastic waist but not that elastic.
Canterbury Open Hem Stadium pants are the modern, semi-respectable FTW for WFH. No jobbie catcher ankles either which is essential IMO.
I still own a pair of the blue ones with red piping from the early nineties.
Coincidentally, I found mine while rummaging through the running drawer for a headband yesterday.
They have been up more mountains than I'll probably ever summit again and still look mint.
No chance I'll wear polyester trews for WFH though.
I have never in my life worn more than one pair of trousers at a time. What a silly idea.
I'm wearing a lovely warm pair of cotton-lined cords at the mo, if I didn't own these then some kind of undertrouser might work (still not sure about Tracksters though).
Do I recall you being one of our Aussie-based members? You're probably wearing jorts or board shorts right now eh?
This thread has prompted me to order a pair of Tracksters from Go Outdoors. The only place I could find XXL in stock. Still my go to trousers for jogging and cyling when it's too cold for shorts. Good for hillwalking as well most of the year.
Great for bike touring as well. Pack small if not being worn. Dry fast if they get wet or washed. Work down to below freezing worn over the top of a pair of 3/4 lycra shorts. Comfortable worn inside a sleeping bag. Not skin tight so work Ok as off bike wear on tour.
Once my new pair arrives I'll sort through the 4 or 5 pairs I've got and chuck one out.
found mine while rummaging through the running drawer for a headband yesterday.
Headband and Ron's. Strong look.
I'm in Oz wearing Howies shorts currently.
But I wore shorts for running all year round in England. Never found my legs really get cold.
Headband and Ron’s. Strong look.
Hell yeah, I even have orange socks to match the headband.
Full Parkrun ****er.
Great for bike touring as well.
Yep
Pack small if not being worn.
Yep
Dry fast if they get wet or washed.
Yep
Work down to below freezing worn over the top of a pair of 3/4 lycra shorts.
Yep
Comfortable worn inside a sleeping bag.
Yep
Not skin tight so work Ok as off bike wear on tour.
NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
I still have Tracksters I wear occasionally. Handy for putting on over my running shorts if I'm driving to/from a run, and also for slipping on after a cold water swim/dip. Mine are black with the white stripe.
On a course at Glenmore Lodge around 1990 they were practically mandatory for evening wear 🙂
I had a much thicker pair of Tracksters too - almost fleecy inside. I've no idea what happened to those.
Hillwalking fashion has reverted to closer fitting trousers again so they wouldn't look too out of place up a Munro these days.
I've got a pair of the newer, much lighter, Ron Hills. They've got zipped ankles and are a bit baggier than the original Tracksters. Not sure I'd want to wear them down the village but I use them as a very packable pair of trousers for the evening when bike packing. They also double up as leggings if its chilly at the start of the day riding.
I have only recently bought a pair of Tracksters of Vinted. Still not sure about second hand trousers!
They last for ever! I bought a pair when I was at university (91?) - and was happily using them between laps at Strathpuffer a couple of years ago. That's pretty good going.
I’m 47 but all I’m getting is jodhpurs from the descriptions so far.
Kinda.
Bikesters were what we all used to wear either over bib shorts on the road in winter, or under baggies off-road in the late 90's.
Bikesters were just tracksters with a higher back IIRC.
They were always £18 from those Cycling Discounts traveling sales that setup in your local sports hall twice a year in the days before CRC and Wiggle so you could get your years supply of drivetrain parts and a fresh set of Bikesters (with the DWR coating if you were posh and feeling flush).
Mrs WF will wear nothing else to work around the farm. Obviously supplemented with a pair of waterproof over-trousers depending on season. I still have 2 pairs of black ones that still see use on the very few occasions I go running in winter. But then there is an extremely low population density around here and I bet I could jog 10 days running and only meet 1 person, if that.
I once beat Ron at Rivi Pike fell race in Horwich. I was delighted. He was about 20 years older than me mind!
@MrSparkle that is extremely impressive given Ron's palmares, 20 years age gap or no.
If you can find a copy of his two autobiography volumes (long out of print), they are well worth a read. He was an incredible athlete, running a sub 2h10m marathon, setting a then-course-record time of 2h10m30s at Boston in 1970, and competing in two Olympics. And this is in spite of some absolutely mad training methods (because he was a scientist and loved experimenting). He'd do stuff like three 3 mile runs in a day with pints at lunch time.
And he had a PhD in textiles and - obviously - founded an incredible running wear company. I have so much time for Ron Hill gear. He was a true OG. I was sad he passed away in 2021.
Because I’m ancient, I’ve bought some “old man” running shoes…
They are actually the comfiest trail shoes I’ve owned and because no one else buys them, they’re always available at a discount!
Back in 1969 my girlfriend (now my wife) and I went out to Athens to watch the European Athletics Championship. For what ever reason Ron and his family were on our flight from Stansted. Our flight was delayed so Ron went for a run around the airport so as not to miss a training session.
It was great experience to watch Ron run into the historic Panathenaic Stadium to win the European Marathon Championships. Very historic as it actually started in Marathon.
Back in polytechnic in the 80s I did a bit of orienteering. Full leg and arm coverage was mandatory (limiting infection spread from everyone tearing themselves on the same brambles?) so the “uniform “ if you didn’t have club kit was RonHill tracksters and a Helly Hansen smelly polyester base layer with the wide stripes. Unless you were Jim Buckley of our crew who wore wool tweed trousers and a gabardine mac, with a can of beer in each side pocket for half time refreshment.
... Helly Hansen smelly polyester base layer with the wide stripes
Wearing mine right now.
Helly Hansen smelly polyester base layer with the wide stripes
Still got a few of these!
I bet I could jog 10 days running and only meet 1 person
In Tracksters? Mr Cause, please meet Mr Effect... 🙂
I've got mine on again. I've 2 pairs of blue with red go faster stripe and 2 pairs of black with the white stripes. There's NOTHING they're not good for (except looking kule...).
So was there anyone hillwalking in the 1990s who didn't have a pair of Tracksters and a smelly Helly?
I had a much thicker pair of Tracksters too – almost fleecy inside
That'd be a pair of Trollsters, I've got a pair somewhere.
Bikesters were what we all used to wear either over bib shorts on the road in winter, or under baggies off-road in the late 90’s.
I must confess I've worn them more recently than that. The Bikesters are the only Ron Hills I've ever actually worn out, they used to go through at the arse after a couple of years of saddle action.
I'm sure the majority will think I'm clearly beyond help because I can't see what's so bad about Ron Hills, particularly if you'd contemplate wearing those awful cuffed trackie bottoms that seem to be all the rage these days as a valid choice. And if you've ever worn or contemplated wearing skinny jeans then well, you can put your Ron Hill hate right in the bin next to your self respect.
STW calendar with us all wearing Rons & Hellys? They'd sell like hot cakes! 😆
So was there anyone hillwalking in the 1990s who didn’t have a pair of Tracksters and a smelly Helly?
Or mountain biking!
Finally, finally a STW fashion thread that I can get behind!
I'm waiting for the Howies or Hebtroco or some nonsense alternative recommendations, usually ending in "just go with the 'qlo" .But whilst Heatech thick tracky bottoms are what you actually need at this time of year, I have to approve of the old school sensibilities.
I've not actually worn any rons for a couple of decades, obv, but my wife for some reason remains wedded to them. But then she carries them off, and is also wedded to me which goes to show there is absolutely no accounting...
Bikesters were what we all used to wear either over bib shorts on the road in winter, or under baggies off-road in the late 90’s.
I think I slowly replaced mine through the 2010's with proper bib longs that also keep your front and kidneys warm.
The last couple of pairs got relegated to dingy sailing, cut down to just above the knee they make great sacrificial over-shorts to protect expensive wetsuits from all the pointy/snaggy bits of deck hardware and non-slip or just worn under baggies like on the bike to keep hiking pads in place and keep the sun off.
smelly Helly
You can still buy very similar Helly base layers at Screwfix.
reeksyFull Member
You canpull trousers over the top without having to sort a bunched up leg at the knee.
I have never in my life worn more than one pair of trousers at a time. What a silly idea.
I've recently worn Ronhills under other trousers while watching a rugby match on an exposed terrace in South Wales at around 6 degrees, and also while birding in a hide at a similar temperature. Both are the coldest places on earth when you've not moved for a while.
I also still run in mine in the winter, not so much because of air temperature, but to stop water and sand running down my bare leg. It's winter in Wales, so it's wet everywhere, and I tend to run on the beach. (So nobody ever sees my Ronhill clad legs other than the gulls.)
STW calendar with us all wearing Rons & Hellys? They’d sell like hot cakes
Slim, smouldering 1990s me or current me? May have had too many hot cakes since then to fit in the Helly now.
Anyone else notice that RH Tracksters have a very similar shape and cut to the "slim fit trail trousers" we all think are the best thing since sliced bread?
I think I've owned four pairs of Tracksters, mostly two pairs in use at the same time. The first would have been when I was about 15, when I started rowing. I've still got two pairs and I seem to remember throwing at least one pair away due to holes.
I'm 62 now so that's how long they last. I wear them for running and cycling in the winter.
Headband and Ron’s. Strong look.
Hell yeah, I even have orange socks to match the headband.
Full Parkrun ****.
and a huge (Magnum PI) tash to make it complete. 🙂
When I joined the Army in the late 90s the colours of the Regiment were green and orange, conveniently the same green as the Tracksters available at the the time.
The Commanding Officer was an orienteering / biathlon racing snake so looked OK in them (well, as OK and anyone is able to look in them) and decreed that the Regimental tracksuit would be green Tracksters and a matching green sweatshirt with embroidered cap badge.
The image of several hundred soldiers labouring their way around the COs Friday run in that outfit with varying degrees of muffin tops (nil to loaf of bread size) exploding out over the waist band the Trackster is a vision I'll unfortunately never be able to forget.
Went for my first run of the year at lunchtime - so my first call when I got home was still in tracksters and a smelly helly
over the years I’ve worn mine for everything - running, DIY, gardening, outdoor stuff, sailing, long car journeys - any time sartorial elegance isn’t an issue but convenience and comfort is.
I’ve got a few pairs of modern and crushingly expensive outdoor walking/climbing trousers but whether they “look” better than tracksters surely can’t be a thought anyone has ever had
1. Who doesn’t have a pair at the bottom of the pile.
Me. I do, however, have some Nike thick tights with zips at the ankles, with reflective piping and a sort of woven lining to the fabric, which made them thicker and warmer. Used to wear them on the bike during the winter, with baggies over the top.
Those I still have in a drawer upstairs. When it’s too cold for my knees to tolerate shorts, I wear Danish Army combat trousers, which are 3/4 lined, so I don’t embarrass myself wearing the tights. Although I do have some Troll climbing pants, I could wear the tights underneath those…
Although I do have some Troll climbing pants,
Jesters?
So was there anyone hillwalking in the 1990s who didn’t have a pair of Tracksters and a smelly Helly?
Me. I have self respect
I still have mine and the blue helly base layer.
Wore the trackies under the Astars pants for the first ride on my new bike on saturday
Tracksters were great.
Hmmm... Lots of blurry-eyed nostalgia on here re Tracksters. Apart from looking absolutely hideous on pretty much everyone - VPL and the rest - they possessed an astonishing ability to stretch to five or six times their normal dimensions when wet, which is a bit of a disadvantage in the UK, at which point it was like running / walking wearing a set of sopping wet dishcloths loosely draped around your legs.
Pretty much any sort of Lycra-based tight is better for running. Pretty much any decently-fitting soft shell-type trouser is better for walking and climbing unless your primary driver is to look like some sort of tired relic from the 1980s.
And yes, I used to wear them back then too, as did pretty much every walker / climber / runner I knew 🙁
Apart from looking absolutely hideous on pretty much everyone – VPL and the rest
You have just reminded me of following a friend down trails in the late 1990s with a wee worn on the saddle hole in his Tracksters butt wobbling around in front of me...