I find it miserable for 2 miles.

Really? I ride 5-6 miles to work and back all the time in regular clothing and it’s absolutely fine.

I don’t regularly ride for 5+ hours but I have done in the past in my regular clothing and it was also fine.

I think the thing people aren’t admitting here is that they like dressing up in the lycra because it makes them feel like a ‘proper’ cyclist (and therefore superior to non-‘proper’ cyclists).

My comment re things in baggy shorts ‘weighing you down’ was a genuine query, although perhaps I phrased it wrong, I meant more that it’s bouncing up and down with every pedal stroke. I know when I’ve worn overshorts and put things in the pockets they absolutely do my head in.

have big bag of jelly babies in the front pocket of my fox sergeants, tis fine, never notice them. And the map pocket on endura shorts actually works well for maps.

There is nothing more satisfying then overtaking a “look how speedy I am” lycra-wearing chopper while wearing baggies.
This is a true fact.
Lycra doesn’t mean you’re quick, it just means you think you’re quick. It also means you’re dressed like a complete ‘tard.
Another true fact.

I meant more that it’s bouncing up and down with every pedal stroke

I can understand that on a road ride but find it much less of an issue on the mtb.

But then my mountain biking only really gets as far as a 15-20 mile blast around the woods and in the pub for an hour or two.

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image? At the end of the day, we are a bunch of adults riding around the woods on bicycles and be that wearing skin tight gay glothes or baggy dude clothes, we look like utter belms to each and every person out there who doesn’t ride a bicycle for fun. Remember, if you think you are cool, you most definitely are not.

Exactly. Image is nothing, we arent cool, we all look like bellends etc.

So why do you worry about what people are going to think if you wear lycra shorts?

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image?

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread!

There is nothing more satisfying then overtaking a “look how speedy I am” lycra-wearing chopper while wearing baggies.

But the thing is, the baggy wearers have to try sooo hard to do it.

my mrs looks cool in her “Ripley” tops 😀

njee20 – Member

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image?

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread!

And Hora.

I ride 100 miles + per week, most on the road (commuting), and wear baggies on both my MTB and my road bike 😯

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread!

Are you including yourself in that?

I bet all the lycra-lovers also shave their legs – ‘for practical reasons’ of course.

mind you i wonder if we can match those who are wrapped up in the image with those who write have a dump on every thread about saving weight?

Really? I ride 5-6 miles to work and back all the time in regular clothing and it’s absolutely fine.

Yeah definitely, I find it horribly uncomfortable, like I say it just chafes and what not, and I sweat like a pig in a normal shirt, which then get saturated, and less comfortable.

I recently had about half a dozen blokes on full sussers, all armoured up, let me (a vision of lycra jeyness, complete with roadie cap and helmet) go first on the way into Energy at Afan. When I said I might get in their way, one responded, ‘no mate, you look fast!’

So if you wear lycra people think you are fast, even downhill (which, for the record, in not particularly) 😉

Wear what you like folks. I live near Afan and ride round there all the time in lycra. Nearly everyone else wears baggies but none of them throw rocks at me or owt.

njee20 – Member

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image?

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread! TBH I’m one of the worst for it
FTFY

😉

People ride a bike for ‘The Image’?
Jesus H Corbett.

Sadder than my mum’s funeral.

best of all i dont look like a gimp!

I imagine you feel like one though!

Are you including yourself in that?

No, I know that to the general public I look absolutely ridiculous. I cycle because I love it, not because of what other people will think of me. I’m happy with how I look whilst doing it, and I wear the most appropriate kit for the job.

Hora is a law unto himself. He combines the worst of the lycra image with the worst of the baggy image, with a bit of day-glo thrown in for good measure. He looks like Fiddles the Erotic Clown, cycling to his next children’s party.

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread!

So all the roadies I see wearing full team replica kit that matches the colour of their bike, helmet and gloves – they’re not riding for the image, but people who wear ordinary shorts on a bike are? 😕

So all the roadies I see wearing full team replica kit that matches the colour of their bike, helmet and gloves

To be fair, they’re the worst of the lot.

I do loads of 2-5mile journeys and TBH I wouldn’t even bother raising my saddle to be able to sit down for that sort of distance, let alone get changed out of my everyday clothes

So all the roadies I see wearing full team replica kit that matches the colour of their bike, helmet and gloves

Don’t forget having your bike stickered up with your name and an England flag 😉

So all the roadies I see wearing full team replica kit that matches the colour of their bike,

These people are wrong too, there is even a level of wrongness amongst lycra wearers you know.

TBH I wouldn’t even bother raising my saddle to be able to sit down for that sort of distance

**swoons**

🙄

As a Gentleman mountaineer, I took up MTB as another way to enjoy the mountains and procurer some magnificent clean air. A Gentleman in the mountains, no matter what his means of access, should be appropriately attired at all times, specifically in a manner which befits his modesty, public decency and upholds the good name of the British Alpine Club.

I’d go so far as to suggest, that persons who display lycra in the mountains are not actually mountain bikers and have no ‘mountain’ background, but road cyclists, out of their depth, inappropriately dressed for such an activity and deliberately displaying their sausages.

No, I know that to the general public I look absolutely ridiculous. I cycle because I love it, not because of what other people will think of me.

That’s TJ you’ve described, only the first bit is true for you. 😉

**swoons**

you should try it some time, you might actually find yourself having some fun on your bike for a change. 😉

To be fair to Hora he goes through phases. I particularly enjoyed his ‘Nam veteran phase. He even developed the 1000 yard stare. I reckon he did this by recalling childhood abuse at the hands of his tennis coach. Who used to wear tight shorts. Hence he can’t wear lycra. Its too painful. Literally

but people who wear ordinary shorts on a bike are?

But there not “ordinary” shorts are they, they are bike specific baggy shorts. For balance i have done 80miles in jeans in the past, a deeply unpleasant experience, hence i went out and bought some lycra shorts and they were a revelation, this was £15 Caratti specials, so nothing special in the least. No seams, no restrictions, much cooler. etc.

The only time i wear baggy shorts is waterproof overshorts and to be fair i hate them, but they do what i bought them to do. hot, flappy, and restrictive.

I mean how many miles do you do per week? If your doing 150+ then you’ll be wearing lycra, you wouldnt want to do it in baggy shorts. Any less than 100 per week and I’d say your not a serious cyclist really, just someone that’s basically bought into a lifestyle.

😉 I ride about 150 miles a week, usually a lot more in summer. Always in baggies whether I’m on the road bike, cross bike or mountain bike. Never, ever had a problem with wearing baggies, I can spend all day in the saddle and kick out a 200 miler in baggies.

HTH.

I wear them because I’ve found coming off in lycra leaves you naked and I really do feel quite exposed with my genitals on show.

Road or MTB racing – padded lycra only as otherwise I get too hot and none of the reasons below come into the equation.

For more serious/technical riding I like padded lycra with baggies/overshorts as they:

1. Offer more protection if you come off and stop your lycra getting holed.

2. Offer more protection from mud and water (esp if waterproof) so I don’t get as wet and uncomfortable on longer rides and also stops the pad being destroyed by grit, etc. They also stop brambles, nettles, etc from destroying my legs as much. Help keep me warmer in the cold too.

3. Hold a map and compass where they are readily to hand without getting in the way.

4. Reduce the rubbing that can occur on rougher rides. Smooth terrain is fine in lycra but baggies give an extra layer of movement that I find reduces chafing over choppier ground.

Please note that these are MY opinions of why I wear them in response to the OP. You don’t have to agree but neither do you need to persecute or disparage me or others for our choices that, at the end of the day, do not affect you in any way, shape of form. Both sides need to get over themselves.

you should try it some time, you might actually find yourself having some fun on your bike for a change.

I can’t even put my seat down in the first place! I have plenty of fun on my bike though, if I didn’t I’d not ride it… I’m not too sure how I’d have more fun by making it harder though.

If you’re not riding naked you’re not doing it right..

shall we broker the subject of peaks on helmets? Or is that for another thread?

But there not “ordinary” shorts are they, they are bike specific baggy shorts.

I sometimes wear ordinary shorts on the bike :gasp:

Like these:

Is that OK?

Obviously it’s not OK. Call yourself a cyclist? Pah. You’re just a thinner version of Ray Mears.

I’m not too sure how I’d have more fun by making it harder though. actually trying something different/new

😯
*is not even slightly surprised*

But there not “ordinary” shorts are they, they are bike specific baggy shorts

Lol. The difference is?