For sake of fairness

[Nigeyy]

Well I've got to be honest, I am getting to the point where when I do see a pro-roadie lookalike, I'm wondering what they are going to do. Irrational? No, because I seem to be experiencing it. However, are all cyclists who are pro-roadie lookalikes like that? No.

And I *need* lycra to prevent chafing and be more comfortable. Trust me, I'm no speed demon nor attempting to be!

Start from the other end. What benefits does wearing lycra give other than facilitating riding harder than ordinary clothes such that it would be irrational to assume someone dressed in lycra intends to ride harder than someone who isn't?

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

I can do 10 miles quite comfortably in a pair of jeans because I keep to a gentle pace. Your lycra and padding is only necessary because you don't want to slow down. Lycra implies aggressive cycling because unless you are doing real distance the only reason for it is to go fast.
That's purely rational. What would be irrational is to wear special dress-up clothes for a journey that doesn't justify them.

Prejudice, then. Making irrational assertions about someone's behaviour purely based on a totally unrelated choice of clothing. You prefer to wear jeans to cycle, I prefer to wear cycle clothes. So what? I'll be the judge of what clothes are justified by my own needs, thank you.

Irrational assertions like "fast = aggressive". In fact, although I'm not really that fast, I do find that my ability to keep up with traffic a lot of the time means I come into conflict with other road users far less frequently! Perhaps some people would simply like to get to work on time without getting up in the middle of the night.

I remember another amusing case of prejudice when a reporter went up to someone in a hooded jacket and said, in his BBC accent, "why do you feel the need to wear this hood?", to which the subject replied "it's rainin' man, innit?" (which it was).

 

[boydj]

Lycra is only practical for a specific subset of cycling: ie going fast and/or going far.

When I see a mamil in town I assume either he's all gear and no idea or intends to ride unsuitably aggressively. And I am a cyclist.

That really is a load of bollox. I commute in lycra shorts, usually under baggies. If I'm cycling for over half an hour at a time, I will sweat at anything above 5mph. If I have a hill to climb, then I'll sweat. If I want to stick in an extra ten miles on the way home, I'll sweat a lot. I wear lycra shorts because they are designed to be comfortable cycling at any speed. I couldn't imagine anything more uncomfortable than doing my 9 mile commute in a pair of jeans. And I'm certainly not racing or riding aggressively.

 

[Bicycle]

This thread has become bizarre and weird.... I just love it.

I wear lycra.

Before lycra was commonly available I occasionally wore old-style woolen cycling shorts.

Mostly I wore jeans or (when riding any distance) cotton trackies.

These days I generally wear lycra.

It makes so much sense because it is much more comfortable than anything else I've ever worn to ride in (across 40-ish years)

My children wear it too (12, 15, 17; none of them a MAMIL or very aggressive).

I do cycle in casual clothes, but not far. Maybe to the shops or to see a local friend. I just wouldn't do 10 miles in jeans and certainly wouldn't want to do the 10 miles home.

Similarly, when driving I once thought a 2CV was the height of mechanical sophistication.

It was then (in some ways)... it isn't now. I now expect air-con (not a flap under the windscreen). I expect 80 mph cruising (my first 2CV did 55).

I expect a quiet interior and a good stereo..... seat belts on all seats, remote locking, choke-free cold starts.... times have changed.

Lycra is wonderful stuff and doesn't make me aggressive or 'all-the-gear-and-no-idea'.

Of course, I look absurd in it as I am very grey and am short for my weight... but it is nice to ride in and low-maintenance.

Just like modern cars, modern bicycles.... When I read that someone who sees me in lycra assumes I'm aggressive, it makes me want to cry a little tear...

My only 'anti-lycra' stand is that I never match.... shorts, gloves and top must always clash. I can't bear to see people in a proper, matching set of lycra, particularly the colours of a well-known team. But that's not a serious prejudice - more of an indictment of my own messed-up head.

 

[gambatte]

My $0.02
Not to do with speed, its comfort. I've never had any problems with chafing. Jeans can be restrictive. I also use lycra shorts for running.
The other thing about commuting in lycra is most cycle clothing tends to be quick drying. Denim's anything but that. Its a hell of a lot easier finding somewhere to dry out a pair of lycra shorts than a pair of jeans if you're caught in a shower.

 

[abo]

Here's the rear view:


View: http://youtu.be/bTVNl6KX150


That's two lycra louts for you, surely? I think they were having a race, perhaps? LOL!

Hmm they made you ride through the horsesh*t too I see...

 

[brokenbetty]

Prejudice, then. Making irrational assertions about someone's behaviour purely based on a totally unrelated choice of clothing.

It's not prejudice, it's experience. Drawing conclusions from what people choose to wear is entirely rational exactly because it is a choice.

I do feel sorry for the poor sweaty bods who apparently can't leave the house without dissolving, but I have exerienced a very strong correlation between overdressed cyclists and aggressive cycling, and it's backed up by the attitudes of my mamil friends compared to the other cyclists I know.

 

[abo]

What is the need that lycra meets? Chaffing. What causes chaffing? Riding hard (ie fast) or for a long time. If you don't do either you really don't need it.

Bikes were invented about a century before Lycra shorts. Presumably for about 100 years people just looked at them thinking "I'd love to try that but I just haven't got the right clothes"

OMG... Ok he wants to ride fast. With a 25 mile daily bike commute I don't blame him, I don't think I'd fancy spending half the day on the road riding at a leisurly place *every day*, personally I'd rather get the commute out of the way quickly and do something else.

 

[al78]

Start from the other end. What benefits does wearing lycra give other than facilitating riding harder than ordinary clothes such that it would be irrational to assume someone dressed in lycra intends to ride harder than someone who isn't?

Lycra is ideal for wet commutes as it does not absorb much rainwater and it dries very quickly. I wear lycra trousers on my commutes when it is raining because I do not like the feeling of soaking wet trousers against my thighs for 30-40 minutes.

Another advantage is that due to its close fit, there is no danger of anything getting snagged in the chain (yes I know you can wear ankle bands, but these have their own issues and I don't like the feeling of trouosers tucked into socks).

One snag about lycra trousers is they don't have pockets (or mine don't anyway) so if it it too warm for a jacket, I have to put my keys and money in my rack bag.

 

[coffeejo]

You know when you say something without thinking...........

 

[Holdsworth]

I used to commute in jogging pants, it wasn't for me, too baggy and got caught in the chain wheel a lot even though I use ankle clips, and they were uncomfortable for anything more than 2-3 miles. I have also tried jeans, I find these much too restrictive when in the saddle and they killed off a lot of the enjoyment from free-moving legs, I don't like struggling against a fabric which has no give in it on the upstroke. Also they chaffed the hell out of my inner thigh doing a gentle-ish 5 miles/20 minutes to Nantwich.

I sweat and awful lot when exercising so I needed something more breathable. I used to wear a jacket to work when it was cold but I found I just boiled in the bag and the whole inside was lined with sweat and smelt non too pleasant. I then got a winter cycle jersey, much better on the back in particular, I still get a sweat patch but I feel more comfortable all in and well worth the looks disadvantage. At least no-one's going to say they never saw me with a bright red torso

I have also moved on to lycra longs and shorts for going anywhere other than town or to the shops. They are only basic cheap ones, I got the longs for a tenner from Decathlon, but they do me well for my commute of a little over 9 miles each way. Next I want to try some bibbed ones to see how they compare for cooler weather.

I don't wear lycra for looks or to get all of the gear, it is for comfort and practicality. I don't take part if TTs, have club membership (although I do cycle at weekends when I can and did my first sportive last month) or cycle aggressively or extremely hard so I can't see how me wearing a certain fabric puts me in the category you describe.

I am sorry but I believe, along with most others here, that your assumptions are a load of bull and have no proper basis, just wild generalisation of some people based on the actions of a small minority.

 

[brokenbetty]

OMG... Ok he wants to ride fast. With a 25 mile daily bike commute I don't blame him, I don't think I'd fancy spending half the day on the road riding at a leisurly place *every day*, personally I'd rather get the commute out of the way quickly and do something else.

That's exactly what I said. People who wear lycra do so because it allows them to ride harder (ie faster or further) than they otherwise would be able to. I'm not saying they shouldn't do so, just that it's entirely reasonable to point out that lycra-wearers ARE riding differently, because if they weren't, there'd be no point in wearing it.

I invite anyone to share my commute for a day. You'll very quickly see a strong correlation between cyclists' clothing and behaviour. Given that people dress to fit their activity that's hardly a surprise, except apparently on this thread where I think a few people are suffering from the old "but I'm a good guy, they can't mean me" syndrome.

 

[Arfcollins]

It's not prejudice, it's experience. Drawing conclusions from what people choose to wear is entirely rational exactly because it is a choice.

I do feel sorry for the poor sweaty bods who apparently can't leave the house without dissolving, but I have exerienced a very strong correlation between overdressed cyclists and aggressive cycling, and it's backed up by the attitudes of my mamil friends compared to the other cyclists I know.

You wear your jeans for a 10 mile steady journey, lets say 10mph for the sake of argument. (Please do correct me.) At what distance/speed can an unaggressive cyclist such as you or me wear lycra without being classified as aggressive? Would 20 miles be a lycra journey, or maybe 10 miles at 15mph? I'd appreciate your help here as I'm obviously not too good at choosing from the wardrobe in the mornings and I wouldn't want to give the wrong impression to other road-users.

 

[brokenbetty]

You wear your jeans for a 10 mile steady journey, lets say 10mph for the sake of argument. (Please do correct me.) At what distance/speed can an unaggressive cyclist such as you or me wear lycra without being classified as aggressive? Would 20 miles be a lycra journey, or maybe 10 miles at 15mph? I'd appreciate your help here as I'm obviously not too good at choosing from the wardrobe in the mornings and I wouldn't want to give the wrong impression to other road-users.

You'd find that cart easier to manage if you put the horse in front

 

[ferret fur]

It's not prejudice, it's experience. Drawing conclusions from what people choose to wear is entirely rational exactly because it is a choice.

Really? How do you know that it isn't your prejudice showing through? In the same way that car drivers only notice RLJs and not the cyclists who stop at lights. Maybe you only notice the 'aggressive' riiders wearing lycra & not the nice normal people who choose not to wear clothing designed for cycling in. After all, you wouldn't want to stand out as 'not being normal' would you?
Sorry, but this is the most ludicrous piece of nonsence I've seen on this board (& I don't wear lycra to commute but funnily enough Ron Hill trackie bottoms seem to be 'lycra' to my workmates).
For a start chafing is the result of your skin rubbing on another object. If you have (more) sensitive skin or the fabric is wet through sweat or perhaps... rain then you are going to get chafing. It is a function of the number of times your leg passes the saddle. It will also be affected by the size of your thighs and the shape of the saddle amongst other things. In fact the higher gear you are in the fewer number of rotations you will make for any given distance. So it will affect you as much, if not more if you pootle along in a low gear. If your skin doesn't feel uncomfortable after 10 miles in jeans that's just great. But for an awful lot of people it would and I personally wouldn't go more than a mile or so in jeans. Apart from anything else it wrecks the jeans.

Prejudice is looking at a situation and drawing a conclusion based on your own preconceptions and ignoring any other possible interpretations. I rest my case.