Gravel bike clothing

I know I’m opening up myself to ridicule and/or wear what you want responses!
but I’d like some recommendations on gravel bike clothing.

I’d like to get some shorts and tops for gravel bike riding. Preferably stuff which will look ok if I pop in to towns or pubs on my ride.

So yes probably closer to hipster than Lycra clad cyclists 😂

stuff which will look ok if I pop in to towns or pubs on my ride.

You mean like lycra?

No! 😂

I have some running ts that are pretty comfy for riding in hot weather and are slim without being tight Lycra. A couple of synthetic and one that’s wool-ish depending on what it is puts you off Lycra.

Kit aimed at hiking is one notch baggier again in my experience.

I also quite like the alpkit technical shirts. Eyeballed the ‘gravel’ one in their Inverness store while on holiday earlier this year. I’ve barely worn it on the bike, lots of use off it though.

Any reason you can’t just wear mtb kit?!

Im pleased to see most brands now is pretty low key on branding etc… So very wearable all the time.

Rapha do an explore range which might be what your looking for. Personally I just wear my mtb kit on the gravel bike.

Endura GV500 kit?

I’ve got a few different pairs of shorts that I wear for gravel riding – Galibier, Rapha, Dakine.

They’re a slimmer cut than my MTB ones.

I tend to just wear a technical t shirt rather than a cycling jersey. Like MTB, tops tend to get snagged on brambles etc.

For bibs – I’ve recently got a pair of Rab cinder. They’re excellent and seem to be more durable than other bibs. Quite bulky to wear under baggy shorts though so I’ve just been wearing them with a t shirt.

Endura Humvee shirt?

Do people really wear checked shirts to ride in? You’re lucky to get me in a shirt for a wedding, christening or a night at a fine dining restaurant 😂

My gravel clobber for today’s ride over the Downs will be a rapha tech t-shirt and Assos fitted baggies. Bibs underneath.

If not going full roadie I’d go with slimmer, lighter material baggies in a  not shouty “colourway”.

The top is harder because if you need jersey pockets then to me a plain road jersey is always better than a t-shirt or looser fit as baggy jersey + stuffed pockets = 😖 (or you could hide it under something like the Humvee shirt).  If everything lives in a frame bag / seat pack then less of an issue.

Partly depends also where you’re riding. My gravel bike is seemingly becoming more of a comfy back road bike than a proper off road bike = more road clothing so I’m less prickly about the roadie look than I would have been unless I’m doing a slower paced ride with a lot of cafe time with my dad or younger son.

Full Tweed,it works so well at many levels

Do people really wear checked shirts to ride in?

RD to the forum 🤣

Rapha cargo shorts and the Rapha classic jersey. I like a roadie jersey to allow me to store kit in the rear pockets.

I don’t particularly like mtb baggies for gravel. I’m sure it would function fine, just prefer the tighter fit of road clothing.

I noticed whilst window shopping on the Canyon bikes site last night, that they do some decent looking (and subtle branding) riding gear now (gravel, MTB and road).

They’ve got a sale on right now too. These gravel shorts are £30, reduced from £82, if you’re a small or medium.

I’ve taken to wearing lightweight baggy shorts but with slight relaxed road / touring top.
Tops are from Pearl Izumi or Alpkit merino or Endura Airstream. Mrs_oab has Stolen Goat or Madison tops and Polaris 3/4 or shorts.
My shorts are Northwave or Galibier gravel/touring, but Alpkit also make some. All with undershorts.

lightweight baggy shorts but with slight relaxed road / touring top.

Same, it’s the same for all my riding. Road, MTB, gravel, same kit crosses over. Tops with pockets are handy but a 1/4 frame pack carries stuff anyway. Fitted shorts work better than padded lycra shorts for me. Light LS shirt in the summer. Flappy and un-aero but cooling.

Loosen your clothing and your mind will follow, my man.

Do people really wear checked shirts to ride in?

Yeah, I’ve a Morvelo one that just about perfect for drizzly autumnal days.

There’s quite a few gravel brands that you might want to look at; Vulpine, Velochio, Rapha, Rab, Victory Chimp. all do either slightly adjusted roadie or slightly adjusted MTB for gravel riding.

job done

https://www.fjallraven.com/eu/en-gb/men/fjallraven-specialized/sf-sun-field-suit-m?v=F22031%3a%3a7323450870034

I just wear some Cargo Bibs and a Tech T or roadie top, loose shorts, even fitted, just annoy me.

Ignore the marketing, anything goes on gravel. Bib shorts and baggy T or lycra top and Humvees. Peaked helmet or peakless. Filthy MTB or pressed Castelli. You don’t need a beard and check shirt. 😀

I wish STW would get some more of the flannel shirts they were selling a while back. Perfect for gravel I’d have thought.

Itr is more important to me to wear what is best when actually riding. Nothing is better than lycra for that. What I look like if I went to the shop is irrelevant. If my primary aim was going to shop, going to pub I would wear normal clothes and just ride a town bike.

I would be amazed if anyone (other than family or friends)noticed what I wear while cycling.
Bikes,and the equipment on them gets my attention long before the rider,or what they are dressed in.😃

Itr is more important to me to wear what is best when actually riding. Nothing is better than lycra for that. What I look like if I went to the shop is irrelevant. If my primary aim was going to shop, going to pub I would wear normal clothes and just ride a town bike.

Ditto all of this, especially during the summer. I’m basically dressed as a roadie on what is simply a road bike with slightly chunkier tyres, makes perfect sense.

I did buy some Endura ‘gravel’ specific shorts, they’re just lighter, closer fitting baggies and they’re a bit splash proof (not fully water proof), I pretty much only wear them on the MTB.

wear what is best when actually riding. Nothing is better than lycra for that

I think it’s the default from accepted wisdom that you need to pad your ass but it’s not been my experience. The longer I ride the more issues padded shorts are likely to cause, happier/comfier since ditching them for any ride duration. Personally I wonder if lycra shorts are a culture / fashion thing as much as a comfort necessity – part of that Pro roadie look to the extent that riding a road bike in close-fitting baggies seems odd to many other riders.

I’ll have some of what you’re been smoking jameso. Unpadded shorts are fine for a ride to the pub and that’s about it.

I wear whatever suits the conditions no mater what bike I’m on, although I generally ride on my own so don’t stop to go anywhere as such.

One thing I found straight away on the gravel bike was that the peak on my helmet sort of got in the way- probably as I was bent over a bit further than on mountain bikes.

As I find riding with peaks pushed all the way up a tad stupid looking, I now use a road helmet for anything other than mtb riding.

I’ll have some of what you’re been smoking jameso. Unpadded shorts are fine for a ride to the pub and that’s about it.

I’ve recently gone back to (thin) pads and finding them a bit annoying.

Before going back to them, did a 69k road/gravel/off road on the emtb without pads and was absolutely fine

I have a pair of Kalf shorts that were gravel wear before gravel became a big thing. Ideal for touring as they could be worn when not riding too.. Lightweight, stretchy semi-fitted. Usually worn over padded bibshorts when riding.

Some of the old Endura MT500 range was perfect. Although designed as “lycra for MTB” it was also just that bit more robust than standard road stuff.

I’ll have some of what you’re been smoking jameso. Unpadded shorts are fine for a ride to the pub and that’s about it.

Ha :) I’ve done enough long rides, back to back days, road and off-road etc w/o padded shorts, haven’t ridden in them for almost 10 years. It felt odd at first but it’s fine. ime a bit of chammy cream is the important bit for the longer rides, not the chammy itself. Anyway.. wear what you like. Just saying that there’s options, bike kit doesn’t have to include lycra shorts.

I’d go with slimmer, lighter material baggies

Just to be awkward, I find the lighter material baggies to be worse on the gravel bike (actually on the MTB too). Lighter fabric is bunchier/flappier/rustlier than something heavier. I got some reasonably fitted Altura baggies for gravel and touring type riding but just can’t adjust to having ANY loose material on the legs at all, even on the MTB baggies just seem like added discomfort for style points 😂

Back to bibs, will use the baggies only when messing around on the pump track with my five year old, which is fitting as it’s about the only time I’ll ever drop my saddle height as well 😎

Just remember to have your dangle mug there still…

Someone  mentioned the STW flannel shirts up there. They are indeed great, but if you want one now you can buy direct from the maker. Edit, they’re not actually made from flannel, not sure that would be great for cycling in. https://www.clubrideapparel.com/

I’m good without padded shorts for 2-3 hours, want them for a full day out mind.

Endura Humvee II shorts over bibs/padded shorts for me for commuting or family trundles. Pockets are useful and the fabric seems bulletproof..

Family bimbles, longer off road I’ll have storage on the bike so I can wear general outdoor tops, shorts over padded shorts.

Sunday morning loops, roady gear as travelling light and more comfortable (and aero ;) )

I’ve found that road jerseys don’t crash well and have torn holes in a couple recently.. there is an obvious solution to that though :)

I’ve got some Rivelo baggies that are lightweight but not flappy or rustly. Favourite riding top is a dakine casual riding t shirt.

Ha 🙂 I’ve done enough long rides, back to back days, road and off-road etc w/o padded shorts, haven’t ridden in them for almost 10 years. It felt odd at first but it’s fine. ime a bit of chammy cream is the important bit for the longer rides, not the chammy itself. Anyway.. wear what you like. Just saying that there’s options, bike kit doesn’t have to include lycra shorts.

Interesting points Jameso, without being too indelicate can I ask roughly where you sit on the silverback to whipet scale? I’m probably towards the larger end of the scale at 85kg/5’10” and I’ve found I benefit from the right pad on longer road/gravel/MTB rides, the wrong pad can be put up with for a couple of hours, and might not ruin my undercarriage if I slap some chammy cream or even just vaseline on.

With lycra and pads the enemy is chaffing, and that can come from fabric/pad bunching or just terrible seams on cheaper shorts (IME), it’s not always immediately obvious that a pair of shorts is wrong

Younger (lighter) me was pretty comfortable without padded lycra, older me is fine riding to the pub or maybe 3 miles at a gentler pace in normal clothes, but much further/harder and it certainly causes issues, being chunkier puts more pressure on all contact points, especially your arse…

@cookeaa A bit over 6′, 75kg. Agree that there’s a world of difference between pads in shorts, in the end I just got a bit more picky about my saddles instead and bought a few packs of some polyester boxers that fit well. Definitely do not try this with cotton pants.. even the rapha merino boxers were a bad idea.

Today, for a 30km social* ride, I wore the STW club ride chequered shirt, and light baggies over bibs. Most others were in road/CX club kit.

*how can you have a ‘social’ ride that goes past 3 pubs and an ice cream shop, without stopping??

I tend to enjoy riding in castelli skinsuits, being Spain no-one takes much notice and it’s way comfy in the hot weather.

I think you’d struggle to beat Lycra in the hotter climes the issue is whether you can get away with it.

I think i’d probably die of a heat stroke with a checkered shirt and shorts over bibs at the moment.