seypat

That happens with most any accessory not deemed clothing. Hats/caps, the pads in your helmet, the sports watch you wear, your sunglasses, etc, etc. I usually try to wash that stuff while I'm taking a shower

Duragrouch

Yes I was joking, I know race bikes don't have kickstands. I also thought it should be a crank arm.

I recall from the first of Nolan's Batman series, while driving the Batmobile, Batman rotated from conventional sitting reclined, to some "battle mode" where he was on his stomach, head forward, which didn't make sense to me but looked cool. It wasn't until one of the later movies that the Batcycle separated from the Batmobile (a pretty good engineering trick in reality, whereas most of the other things in the movie, were more reality based).

Duragrouch

"Stank" on anything: Normal washing works fine, but if less possible, a spray with dilute ammonia will often kill, it's a simple antibacterial. This is basically just window cleaner without any blue dye or a tiny bit of soap as a surfactant to make the liquid spread out and not ball up. I use dilute ammonia as a general purpose cleaner, 9:1 diution in a spray bottle, a bit higher concentration if needed. A couple sprays in sport shoes and leaving overnight can do wonders, sometimes you don't need to totally wet, the evaporating vapors also can work. For any carpet or upholstery cleaning, dilute ammonia is great, as it requires no separate rinsing, it just evaporates, whereas any kind of soap or detergent requires a lot of rinsing. I'll spray on spot, then wet larger area (for carpet I use a garden sprinkling can with hot water and some ammonia), then suck off with a wet vac (shop vac, cleaned out, filter removed). Spots that don't clean, hit with a stronger cleaner (like citrus cleaner for drops of oil from bike). Usually I buy the lemon-scented ammonia at the big-box home/construction store, dirt cheap, like$1.50 for a gallon IIRC. Always check small hidden spot to make sure cleaner is safe for what you are cleaning.

79pmooney

In my racing days I made a conscious effort to remember to not let go of the handlebars until after I hit the road. But after that, glove leather was nice sacrificial stuff to have.

The pros now and gloves? Some (both pros and amateurs) never liked gloves. Some never go without. Many follow the trends. Gloves will come back. Someone will figure out an advertising angle and reap the growing market. Get their gloves on a rider who's seen. The benefit of gloves in crashes will never go away.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yeah, never ever, ever put your hands out like that when you go down. Holding onto the bars in his case not possible, but tuck and roll! Most of the guys I ride with have that tell-tale broken collar bone bump from doing approximately this.

One of the riders in my group was a no-gloves guy. You know, one of those riders who just never goes down, right? But then he did, and right in front of me and did put his hands out. It's fine thing until it isn't.

rsbob 

With his gloves off, the Grammar Police busts yet another. No one is safe out there, so mind your Ps and Qs boys and girls.

Trakhak

As George Carlin said, everyone who cares less about grammar than I do is an idiot, and everyone who cares more than I do is a maniac.

EJM73

I like gloves because I use white bar wrap. It keeps the wrap cleaner for longer. Just wash your gloves frequently. Also, they are great for wiping sweat off your brows.

PeteHski

Very few people (including pros) would crash often enough to reliably make conscious decisions like this. Unless you are a stuntman crashes are very unpredictable one-offs with no guarantees and very little conscious thought processing.

Trakhak

Another guy on Bike Forums said that if he raced, even in the Pro Tour, he'd easily avoid crashes because he'd once taken a motorcycle handling course.

Zaskar

And I could kick his ass because I watched a couple episodes of Walker Texas Ranger.

Crazy that this topic popped up - a few of us were talking about this last week. Right now, my finger is bandaged (stitches) and I can't get a glove on. So, I'm riding without gloves. Even in the cool temps, the morning dew and humidity makes the bar tape feel slick. In the summer, the sweat makes it even more slick. For me, it has nothing to do with protecting my hands when I crash and everything to do with keeping a comfortable grip and NOT crashing.

WaveyGravey

I only wear gloves when riding in cold weather.

Carbonfiberboy 

You're right - no conscious processing. Google "training by watching". Our DNA is a lot smarter than most folks realize. This goes all the way back to knapping flints. If we watch someone do something, our "shadow fibers" learn the activation sequence so that we can do the activity ourselves for the first time and succeed. We can also train these fibers by imagining ourselves doing that thing. Performers do this all the time. It works. I've done that for falling, training myself to do the right thing by imagining myself falling as I rode. The first time I ever fell, I went down with my hands on the bars, landed on my shoulder and pressed my helmet into the pavement to take some of the weight of my shoulder as I slid on the asphalt. Needed a little Tegaderm but no other damage. Same thing with my other couple of falls. No damage. "Tuck and roll" works and you don't even have to practice it on mats in the gym, though that does help. I've also fallen onto concreter from a scaffold. No damage, same thing.

Strongly advised for everyone.

t2p

I’m at the other end of the scale - always wear gloves and most times full finger gloves (even on hot days)

possibly because I’m accustomed to wearing gloves / full gloves on a motorcycle

often wear the gloves pictured above - $7 per pair …good inexpensive glove … available on Amazon and eBay … when they get trashed or smell I throw them away and move on to the next pair

Sierra_rider

With a background in motorcycle riding/racing, wearing gloves just feels natural to me. That being said, I'll sometimes go gloveless on shorter rides...no really good reason, I'm just trying to address the tan lines at my wrists. My identity as a smug cyclist means I take pride in my tan lines at the sleeves, however, even I think the wrist line looks weird.

Fredo76

My oval tan spots with the tan freckles on my knuckles were a fashion statement in high school.

In my mind, at least. ;-)

genejockey 

So, you get into the shower wearing your helmet, gloves, sunglasses, watch, etc, but no clothes? That must be a sight.

ArgoMan

May 3, 2003. A guy named Frank from South Jersey started the trend.

rsbob 

Reminds me of the original cycling gloves. I sported ovals on the back of many hands for years.

rsbob 

Don’t need that visual.

jadmt

Can’t wait until helmets get dumped…..who needs em…..

Biker Pete 

I ride in the Florida heat. Those times I’ve forgotten to put my gloves on I’ve regretted it - sweaty hands makes for an uncomfortable slippery grip on the bars and hoods. Also, when I ride my 70s bike with skinny high pressure tubular tires, I like to wipe the tires while I’m riding with my gloved hand after going through a gritty patch of road. And then there’s that hand protection thing in case of a crash or fall (it’s happened).

rsbob 

Fortunately they are UCI mandated.

jadmt

the racers need a stronger union.....

PeteHski

How would it affect your personal choice if the pros did stop wearing helmets? I presume you don’t wear a helmet anyway.