Originally Posted by
gthomson
Hope this is not a repeat thread but just wondering what people wear when riding their vintage road bikes? I go full kit when I ride my newer road bike but kinda like to chill out on my older bike with gym shorts, shirt and runners. I always think I should be wearing more appropriate footwear so wondering what would be traditionally worn with metal rat trap pedals and leather straps?
I have a retro vintage Peugeot riding jersey on order from some online over seas web site but don't expect to see that any time soon. When it does arrive, I want to upgrade my wardrove a little to match the era.
A little history, as I remember it. Footwear depends on era and enthusiasm level. Before clipless pedals came out, if you had an expensive racing bicycle, you almost certainly would have worn cycling shoes with slotted cleats. More casual century riders and tourists might ride either racing cleats, or touring shoes like Bata or Avocet. Newbies on Super Mirages would just wear tennis shoes or something.
Club riders and racers would have worn wool jerseys and shorts right up to around 1980, when 'skin' (lycra) shorts started to catch on. They had already been out there for a couple years, but rare. People continued to use wool jerseys with the lycra shorts. I've already covered shoes. Synthetic jerseys were around by then, but didn't really catch on to the mid 80s. Maybe you trained in wool but had a fast polyester jersey for racing, or something. It was a slow transition, unlike the shorts. It seems like in '79 everyone was in wool shorts, and by the end of 1980, no one was.
Back to the present day and what
I ride...
Last few months, I've mostly been wearing non bike clothes, hiking shorts, T shirt, etc. If I'm riding a lot and am reasonably fit, I just wear normal bike clothes. I don't do silly pro team jerseys. Plain colors and simple designs only. I still very often wear wool, and in fact I need to get me another wool jersey. Wool shorts though? No thanks. I started on them and am not going back. The stretchy kind are way more comfortable.