Replica Tour Jerseys – yay or nay?

DT78 – Member
After having a couple of beers (excuse…) I find I’ve placed an order for 3 discounted tours jerseys – the black yorkshire TDF one, red vuelta leaders one, and the pink giro one…

I blame those adverts over there ——>

Secondly will I look like a prize tool wearing them?!

Beer induced purchases are the best IMO, clearly you had a hankering for the jerseys in the first instance and beer just brought down the barrier to facilitate the button press. Happy with that. 😆

Would I wear them No, no but you can 😉

Would I wear Team Kit? Yes. I have always followed Euskatel myself, reasons in the main are they a group of Lads local to the area riding in a team with a “mates” attitude to riding and hacking. I love that. So, I’ve various Euskatel jerseys and use them fairly regularly when riding, just the jersey mind not the full kit.
I’m happy that others support Trade Teams and wear thier Kit, the TdF and other Tour Leaders jerseys I’m not so keen on though.
But in the end, wear what you like, at some point it’ll be covered in mud/blood/sweat and tears and become part of You.

Beer induced purchases, gotta love em’ 😆

When racing off-road, I still wear my club kit – and we are a road club. It’s just to get the club noticed and “out there”.

snap.
wearing club kit allows you to recognise your fellow members – you might not know everyone in the club and sometimes you get non-members trying to tag along which can be dangerous when group riding.
when people are representing a club/ town by wearing a jersey, they tend to act more responsibly.

It’s a bit like wearing a replica football/rugby/cricket top.

You just wouldn’t would you?

He did look very ‘pro’ but it was his GB squad jersey that made me think he might well be GB squad. I think he felt a bit uncomfortable having been asked (and it was a genuine question).

On this, I ride with a boy who’s supported by the GB team. Races for ’em on the track but ain’t good enough to get on the commonwealth team. Does his training rides in his GB kit. Maybe the lad thought you were taking the piss.

Like TiRed I wear my club kit pretty much exclusively in the summer (it’s not suitable for the winter) because it advertises the shop who’s put a bit of faith in me, looks after my bike and offers endless answers to my dumb arse questions! Most club riders will do the same.

Only big fat fatties are allowed to wear polka dot jerseys, it’s the law.

Not a big fattie but I was given the Pru Tour polka dot jersey by some mates precisely because I am rubbish at climbing. I wear it with a huge dash of irony.

I have a 1985/86 Carrera shirt that still gets worn in the winter. It is looking a little grubby now but will not fall apart so I guess I’ll keep wearing it until it does.

I’ll wear any top thats cheap/reduced. I’m not fussed. I bought a TDF one as it had “Yorkshire” on it. Possibly the best team in the world.

Off road I use football shirts – anything that wicks/works. If a yellow Tour tshirt was very cheap- YES I’d wear it. I don’t buy into the rules. Its about riding your bike for enjoyment not rules/conformity etc. Lighten up.

I wear it with a huge dash of irony.

Do you have to also wear an expression to convey that to the snorting cyclists that pass you? 🙂

So what’s the coolest top? See a few of these about:

I quite like that ^

They’re shirts, made for cyling in, with pretty colours – nothing sacred about a few “rainbow stripes” unless you’re some sort of fetishist – just wear the jersey you like the look of and enjoy your ride.

usually just buy what Prendas have on offer

Cycling Jerseys

I bought a track champion Jersey at the Worlds at the Velodrome but couldn’t bring myself to wear it, so it went on ebay.

I do have a nice 2012 GarminSharp jersey that I wear on the track and road tho.

Recent good find was the Sportful gruppetto stuff – same as team kit in build and materials, but not in team colours. I got this :Sportful Jersey[/url] and it’s the best bit of kit I have bought in the last year or 2

If you’re an adult then either wear plain kit or a jersey you’ve earned or from the club/team you’re in.
Under 18s, wear what you want/can afford/your favourite rider does.

Replica rainbow/leaders jerseys wouldn’t even be available if I were in charge. I once saw a bloke in a Fondriest-era Lampre World Cup leaders’ jersey. Where the hell did he get that from?! 😆

Can’t see a problem with it, although I’ve got so many jerseys from doing various sportives and the like it’s going to be a long time before I actually need to buy one… My mate often wears full Movistar kit, but then he works for them and got it as a freebie.

I don’t really care what other people wear. I have one team kit that I won (2010 era BMC) but I rarely wear it these days. I wouldn’t buy a GC leaders jersey personally but I don’t judge people that do, it’s just clothing.

One thing I’ve found from riding a road bike summer evenings after work. You need quite a few tops don’t you? Whatever you wear you look like a berk to everyone or a MAMIL to yourself so it doesn’t matter what it says on the top. As long as its LOUD to help you be seen by drivers. Hence my first comment- I’d have a Tinkof Saxo top.

Being seen by drivers far outweighs a road cyclists rules on fashion.

So whatevers loud n cheep- bring it on. Lots too so theres always a clean top available and not all drying/still in the wash pile or machine.

I had to rewear lycra shorts this week. Not nice.

I really like the Sky kit, I think it’s simple and effective, it’s also easy to spot their riders in the Peloton.

That being said, I wouldn’t wear it on the road.

I’ve got *ahem* a couple of different jerseys but wouldn’t wear something which I don’t feel I’ve earned, I’m not anti them, but they do become targets when out riding. My favourite cycle jersey is my Ventoux one, it looks good and I know that I’ve earned it

I took particular delight in passing a rider wearing the World Champ top heading up the Lautaret a few weeks back 😉

What is the big issue with wearing the Sky kit?

disclaimer – I don’t have any team kit. Most of my lycra-esque cycling kit is from aldi and lidl!

What is the big issue with wearing the Sky kit?

It’s a little issue rather than a big one for me, but it’s just a bit ubiquitous.

Like wearing Superdry clothes I suppose. Bit of a default option.

And I don’t like black for road clobber.

Love this from Damitamit’s link…

Another friend was cycling a familiar road in Essex and saw two cyclists ahead wearing Sky kit. He set out to reel them in and, hopefully, burn past them – his intention being to make the point that just because you wear the replica kit does not mean you can peddle a bike as fast as Geraint Thomas. Try as he might, he could not make any impression on the gap between them and it was only when the two Sky riders stopped at a layby that he was able to pass them. His nodded to them as he puffed by and was greeted with a friendly ‘Good Morning, mate’ from none other than Ian Stannard – Team Sky rider and current incumbent of the GB National Champion jersey!

Replica Kits? I’m really not sure, there’s a fella at work who’s got the full SKY get up for commuting and it does simply scream “New golfer”… He’s a nice fella, but his clobber does affect my opinion of him… Sorry.

The way you dress on a Road bike sends a “Message” for others to interpret, its up to you if what others think bothers you or if you want to influence their opinion of youby the way you dress, personally I don’t think I could really pull off a replica team kit, I prefer to wear plain jerseys

Retro Team kits I think I could Maybe go for:

and I strangely facny an pink ONCE top like this:

Not entirely sure why…

But I still think retro kit send a bit of a message, a sort of “I know my cycling heritage, don’t you know”…

Novelty Jerserys with your favourite beer or a witty slogan/nifty design are OK IMO, who’s really going to be offended or take exception to those?

Wearing a tour leader/polka dots/WC replica jersey just looks **** though, nobody sees it “Ironically” even if that’s how you meant it, it looks a bit egotistical and stupid, unless you actually hold the title don’t wear the kit…

That said there’s always something worse:

These problems go away if you do have half-decent club kit. 🙂

I’ve got a wiggle rain jacket that’s part of the team kit, but that’s all. I’ve also got a few old style “woollen cycling tops” that I wear, one of those has rainbow stripes on the sleeve cuff, but I didn’t know wha that was all about until my dad told me.

Defunct teams or old kit only IMO, leaders/point/KOM/world champs (really want the orange Molteni Jersey but can’t because it has the rainbow bands ) all off limits – but not bothered what others wear. Brooklyn jersey next on the list.

Although the Lotto kit this year is mighty tempting.

This for me too, though I have the Molteni jersey(never really considered the WC bands tbh) and I’ve been wearing the Lotto jersey this year too.

A word of warning though old jerseys will shrink with age, I’ve a PDM and Gatorade one and they are very very tight now.

For some reason I find jersey only acceptable, full kit a no no but I care not what others do. I’ve a few less well known team jerseys too which I seem to find ok, wearing Postal,Disco,SKY stuff seems to rankle. A whole load of inverse snobbery going on there I guess.

And I really really like Strava but for some reason I’d never buy a jersey either.

What is the big issue with wearing the Sky kit?

For people who have been cyclists/following cycling for a long time the jersey suggests the wearer knows very little about cycling but likes to get behind mark cavendish/froome/wiggins because they are English and win stuff whereas a lot of ‘fans’ don’t follow a team but the whole spectacle that is the pro-tour, they will have riders they admire and riders they don’t but will always enjoy the race as it unfolds and not moan when sky do not win, they will follow the other races too not just the TDF.
You only have to read the naive comments on the sky Facebook page to see what the majority of the fans are like, they know very little about cycling but everything about the team. Cycling is bigger than Sky.

I really like that Molteni shirt. £55 a good price?

Molteni Arcore Retro Jersey

Corr there are some really nice shirts on that site 😯

And I really really like Strava but for some reason I’d never buy a jersey either.

Same here, it’s Castelli and I’m sure its quite good kit, I even like the colour but all those logos just tell everyone that you’re an “Internet Racer” which TBH ain’t cool… Even if they’re all at it too.

TBH the absolute “Vanilla” least obtrusive and likely to offend Jersey has to be a £5 Decathlon jobbie:

Nobody’s going to get upset at that surely…

I wouldn’t wear leaders, WC, or national squad jerseys, although the WC bands on that Molteni one ^^ wouldn’t put me off. Team kit is different- I don’t have any and I don’t plan on getting any, but I wouldn’t have a problem with wearing it.
That said though I can’t get that wound up by other people wearing it- they can do what they want.

EDIT: Team jerseys are OK but matching shorts/jerseys are pretty naff IMO!

whereas a lot of ‘fans’ don’t follow a team but the whole spectacle that is the pro-tour,

Oddly that’s not the case on the continent. People tend to be fans of their “local” team or specific riders in my experience as well as those just watching a race.

What is the big issue with wearing the Sky kit?

I have a friend who designed the Team Sky kit for Rapha – but would not dream of wearing it herself. Not because she is not proud of it, but because she knows the riders and it would be weird. I think the newer you are to the sport and more divorced you are to racing yourself and the riders in question, the more it probably seems acceptable to wear it.

Yellow/pink/green/poka dot/white/rainbow etc are for those who have earned them imo.

I have a friend who designed the Team Sky kit for Rapha – but would not dream of wearing it herself. Not because she is not proud of it, but because she knows the riders and it would be weird. I think the newer you are to the sport and more divorced you are to racing yourself and the riders in question, the more it probably seems acceptable to wear it.

Brailsford rides in Team Sky kit and Tinkoff rides in Saxo-Tinkoff kit. Neither of them are neophytes but neither of them rides for the team.

hora – Member

…Corr there are some really nice shirts on that site

remember to “pay your dues” before wearing them though, or the heritage cyclists will get you 😆

Why would you want to wear one, unless it’s a simple retro one maybe.

The modern ones are just about logos surely? The pros don’t want to wear them! They’re contractually obliged to.

Brailsford rides in Team Sky kit and Tinkoff rides in Saxo-Tinkoff kit. Neither of them are neophytes but neither of them rides for the team.

I think you can probably see the difference. Brailsford might not ride for Sky but as the GM he is sufficiently embedded to have to wear ‘the uniform’. No idea who Tinkoff is – founder of the bank?

I have replica TdF leaders yellow jersey from back in 2007, won it in a Haribo competition.

I’d never have bought one, but I do wear it on occasion. Fashion police haven’t confiscated it off me yet for false ownership!

pjbarton – This is quite nice, but possibly the exception that proves the rule…

If they’re being offered for sale then you’re entitled to buy and wear them 🙂

I haven’t got one as I’m tight so wear a functional Decathalon one but if I was more of a roadie I’d buy one fo’sho 🙂

Personally I like to keep it nice and plain. Team Sky jerseys definitely seem to be the most popular at the minute

Yeah, that’s a pretty good modern one – on a red bike. I just struggle with the whole ‘trying to look like a pro’ thing.

Our club kit – clearly influenced by some retro tops.

personally I think the saxo tinkoff tops could be a lifesaver on the road they were glow in the dark luminous !

Want glow in the dark… what you want is this… Neri Sottoli

I could be on a 100miler base building ride….
😆
I like your style 😉

I first acquired team kit cos it was 40 percent cheaper than black, boring Castelli kit and because I’d never used Bibbys before. The bibs worked out ok and I moved onto acquiring Mernio, retro jerseys from they 60s and 70s.

This combined with me being an old get means I can ride in a retro, merino, Bianchi jersey, for example.
😛

As for tour jerseys and rainbow colours. I prefer not to wear tour jerseys and don’t. But faced with the chance to own a good retro merino jersey, which unfortunately has rainbow colours on the sleeves or around the collar. I’d rather they weren’t there, but it’s not like the retailers I’ve found, offer the choice nor do the manufacturers seem to know that most might like the jersey without the rainbow colours. Hey-ho.

Edit:
I don’t have to worry about bike brand matching kit. My frame is devoid of decals and paint, come to think of it, its also very, VERY, shiney.