TimothyH

From Above Category Cycling...

I found the article contemporary and very practical, well written given some of the drivel which passes for writing these days.

Q36.5 is nice stuff. The Flower Power jersey might attract hummingbirds.


-Tim-

Bah Humbug

Good god. "Don't think of these as 'rules'... but they bear a lot of resemblance to those 'rules', complete with the judgement of those whose tastes differ from mine."

69chevy

Maelochs

Personally, I don't see myself as an individual, but as an ambassador for whatever other people think I should do, to the people who might see me doing that. If I didn't have other propel telling what to think and act and dress, I wouldn't be able to live. Thank goodness for articles like this one.

Colnago Mixte

I think those pictures are really feeding that guy in the ad's narcissist tendencies. Someone might need to do an intervention on him.

He could become suicidal the day he realizes he's not Peter Sagan, he's just some unattractive weird-looking skinny guy.

Rock71

I think some of the larger towns / cities developing and promoting a bicycle culture have made it more important to " fit in ". Where i'm at, there are a lot of stops along the MUP for cyclists, the local watering holes (with more than enough bike racks) right down to bike shops. So, of course people stopping at these places feel the need to fit in, shorts, jerseys, shoes, helmet, the whole ball of wax. But your also right, people that are not into the cycling culture think we look like a bunch of goons. Oh yeah and only black and white gloves and damn near knee high socks? what kind of goon is this guy? Lol Of course for safety's sake i pretty much have went to all black and yellow or lime green. I also love cycling caps, its almost become an obsession to find the new and weird or outrageous. He didn't talk about them.

TimothyH

A lot of places like that in Atlanta.

Revolution Doughnuts and Octane Coffee Bar are examples. There are many pubs and cafe's around the Beltline and one is as likely to see someone in a cycling jersey as they are a businessman after work. A coffee shop just opened on one of my routes with a bike rack inside. They sell gels and honey stinger waffles at the counter. It is all becoming very natural.

Last winter a pretty lady in a convenience store said to me, "Are you biking? You look nice." I'm sure it was the flouro shoe covers.


-Tim-

winston63 

Right on.

The only way to look "good" to non cyclist is to forgo cycling kit altogether. The rest of the details are meaningless - oh, and I should add that knee high socks look ridiculous and not just to non-cyclists

canklecat

Nothing wrong with looking good doing what you enjoy. Heck, Velouria's entire Lovely Bicycle blog was mostly a fashion/lifestyle blog wrapped around bicycling. And she looked damned good doing it.

Best way I can look good while riding is to stay upright. Flopped on the pavement is not a good look on me.

TimothyH

You guys tell me what we should wear. Cargo shorts, flip flops and an untucked undershirt like half the men walking around out there?

I see guys dressed that way all the time, some of them with very nicely dressed women at their side and wonder how easy it would be for the first guy wearing a sports coat with ten bucks in his pocket to steal his girlfriend.

Any of the guys in the article are dressed better than most guys walking around.



-Tim-

Maelochs

I look so damned good no matter what i wear or what i do, i feel like I am being unfair to all the other people on the planet.

if a guy could take my wife away with a little money or some nice clothes, he could have her. Who would want a woman so superficial ... besides an equally superficial guy. Everyone would be happy then, right?

Dan333SP

ddub

Dear TimothyH my wife said that statement is sexist. And that women don't think that way. I just had to ask her if a tenner and a suit would make a difference (insert smiley here). YMMV

seypat

Are we going to be subjected to a weekly TimothyH fashion thread now? Ugggghhh!

smashndash

I think the "rules" of looking good on the bike are exactly the same (and exactly as well defined) as off the bike. Especially if we're talking about normal people. Why would their taste in aesthetics change suddenly when it comes to bicyclists? If you want to look good on the bike, get jacked/shredded/swole/lean/dad bod or whatever physique you think looks good off the bike. Wear minimal/Hawaiian/street/logo/prep or whatever you think looks good off the bike. I personally love wearing minimal stuff off the bike (tends to not go out of style as quickly) and therefore try to do the same on the bike.

TimothyH

Back when low socks were the thing. I'll try to get something more recent off my Match.com profile.


-Tim-

Jadesfire 

Good Lord- I think I've read more about fashion and lifestyle on this forum this week than I have in the past year of casually watching HGTV (and no, not just from Tim). And that article, to me, read like something out of Glamour...just with bicycles in the photos.

Here's my .02:
It's a bicycle. I enjoy building and riding them. I also accept that I look like a total dweeb to 99.8% of the population that sees me when I'm out on it, no matter how much I spend or what companies I order from. My main concerns are safety and comfort, and I'll buy colors and patterns I like- not what I think will look most attractive to random strangers in the hopes of making the sport "more relatable and accessible." If the clothes are what attracts people to the sport then A) they've got other problems; and B) when they've spent all the money living up to some "standard," puke their guts up after their first five mile ride, and never take the bike out of the garage again- only then will I ask for their number...to make an offer on the bike.

Seattle Forrest

Do you really think it's appropriate to dress like that when you use the internet?

Seattle Forrest

Beth says a suit is like men's version of lingerie.

TMonk

I feel more fredly for having read that article.

I'm a racer and so I wear what I get for free. Outside of that it's whatever I find in the defects bin or clearance rack. It doesn't always match.

Bah Humbug

1) How insecure are you? We're all in the trust tree here; you can be honest.
2) I walk around with my nicely-dressed wife while in Lululemon shorts and a singlet. Put on a sports coat and try to steal here. Double-dog dare ya. It'd be funny to watch.

kbarch

Proper fit, harmonious colors and lines, and a controlled degree of modesty/daring appropriate to the occasion are what it takes for any kind of attire to look good. It doesn't work reliably if one merely attempts to follow rules like "no blue gloves" or whatever if one doesn't know how they achieve the goal.

Funny thing about that piece - it started out sort of philosophical, with some valid general points (or so it seemed), then it lost all credibility by its transparent eagerness to promote products and its obsession with James.

If you ask me, mix-and-match team kit and whatever socks you randomly pulled out of the drawer is totally appropriate for a morning pre-work-workout, or even an afternoon of hooliganism with a few riding mates, but if some former champion is in town for a charity ride, you might want to put on your "Sunday best." Sure, sometimes we really "don't care," but if we ever do, and we expect anyone to believe it, looking like we care is a practical necessity.

GeneO 

Gawd I thought you were older than a millennium!

TimothyH

The reveal inside the jacket, the silk liner certainly is. IMO. Its "a little something special."



I guess the cycling equivalent is the colored base layer. The Castelli below looks great peaking out from under a dark, monochrome kit, especially when riding gravel.






-Tim-

woodcraft

I'm not that great of a dresser, but agree with this.

Plus, when the codpiece comes back in style, we'll have the jump.