Do you commute to work in lycra?..

[Velorum]

Under no circumstances.

I wear baggy 'hiking/walking' gear.

In a moment of rash enthusiasm 20 years ago I bought some lycra shorts. Dreadfull. Such clothing does not feel natural to me when I am in public and I would rather cycle in drag than wear it.

 

[paul]

Always every time. Wicks away sweat and dries quickly. spare kit doesn't take up so much space and is lightweight to carry. Can also increase the distance home for a training run, (which I do at least half the time) without wearing restrictive clothing.Cycling by racing road bike every day I find also that most (not all ) car drivers on the way home, town and countryside route, (22 miles)tend to give you more space on the road if in full lycra kit and also can join the local cycle club evening runs without feeling the outsider without lycra kit.

 

[fossyant]

Points and laughs! Ahaaahahaahaaahaaa!!! Modesty shorts.

Yeh well.... I had 20 odd young ladies dancing on the grass outside my office this afternoon....bet you didn't............

I'd happily do tights, but I fear my legs would be too much..... too many poor ladies passing out..............

Unfortunately, they (my legs..not the students) have gorilla hair on...... so cover up the sheer piston power....... I suffer very hairy legs - I ain't arsed these days shaving, why, cos I don't race......

They were an ass to shave...Mrs Fossy would not be happy these days if I hacked off the forest - too many thorns...............

 

[Bromptonaut]

No way.

The cycle bit of my commute is 2 miles each way on the brommy done in work clothes. If it was further/faster I'd consider something else for comfort or to avoid a shiny bum in my work kecks but at 49yrs and 9 months I'm outwith the lycra generation.

 

[fossyant]

I forgot to mention.....

I colour match the bike ...sorry..............red stuff....work bike........cos it's red.

Weekend bikes - then I match = blue/red depending upon the bike I ride....tart...nearly, I don't ride Assos......

 

[BentMikey]

LOL, this is why I wax my legs, pure posing. It gets the girls to touch and to compliment. I'm just as much of a colour matching tart as you are, btw.

 

[goo_mason]

Yes, because after trial and error I found that it was by far the comfiest kit to cycle in, and since I sweat pretty heavily it's ideal for wicking it away rather than getting heavy & chafing.

 

[simongrant]

yep,lycra all the way,16mile round trip 6 days a week,got the comments/sniggers etc for the first few days but they quickly realised i didnt give a toss lol,now no one bats an eyelid when i walk in fully kitted up,besides cycling shoes look very stupid in normal clothes,at least on me anyhow,there is a reason why cycle clothing is made a certain way,because it works and works well.

Simon

 

[HonestMan1910]

Lycra all the time, for the same reason as most - light and easy to dry.

 

[gavintc]

but at 49yrs and 9 months I'm outwith the lycra generation.

Well at 52 yrs and 5 months, I consider myself firmly in the lycra generation and happily wear it for the commute, including a 45 min train journey.

 

[asterix]

As I am not employed at present I don't commute at all and was never a long-distance commuter as after living 35 miles from work I decided never to have that much distance between work and home again.

When I did cycle commute (for +plus 20 years) I wore casuals. In winter it was tracky bottoms, T-shirts and further layers to suit the temp; in summer either tracky bottoms or shorts and that T-shirt again. Sartorially at least, I am clearly a lost cause.

When out for a leisure ride I wear lycra but WRT commuting, I think the recent CTC magazine article on slow bicycle riding, casual clothes, etc makes a lot of sense for many.

 

[jimboalee]

I'd look pretty silly riding my Apollo County sit-up-and-beg Sturmey 3 speed in full Lycra Palo Alto CC team kit.
I'd look pretty silly riding my Spesh SWorks in a Land Rover flouro jacket and Adidas Track trousers.

But whatever I wear, there are Lusso Progel shorts underneath.

 

[John the Monkey]

Cars and drivers are not the enemy.

True.

I love cars and I love to drive.

Not me - what a bloody chore the whole business is.

As to the OP - I wear lycra kit with Endura Hummvee shorts over the bib shorts.

I wear the baggies because they're handy for my train ticket &c. I wear the lycra because one end of the commute is 12 miles or so, on fairly fast roads. The less baggy stuff I wear, the more comfy it is hanging with the traffic at 20mph or so, and the less I notice how dreadfully sweaty I get...

 

[Bodhbh]

No. I'm a relative newbie so perhaps will undergo a conversion at some point, however, I've never been uncomfortable in baggies/t-shirt/hiking gear on long or short rides, fast or slow, so it don't see much point going thru the self-conscious issue without a stronger motivation. Maybe if touring in some wilderness area where practicality/weight/quick drying >> everything else, that I think would be the thing that pushed me into trying it.

 

[BentMikey]

Not me - what a bloody chore the whole business is.

LOL, true enough about driving in central London. It's a bit more fun out away from the worst of the congestion.

On another note, you guys wearing baggys, do you realise how much it slows you down? On the recumbent down Leaves Green hill, I routinely do just over 40mph wearing lycra. If I wear baggy clothes, I don't get much over 30mh.