tornado60

This may be a dumb question but it seems like a lot of exercise clothing including bicycle gear is dark or black in color. I find this more true for pants. Has anyone heard a reason for this? I would think bright, and/or safety colors would be cooler and, well, safer. Just wondering.

Daniel4

Not just exercise clothing, most clothing, casual and formal including jackets and coats. It's fashion. I'm guessing if all these clothing had reflector stripes around the sleeves, pant cuffs and outlining the back and part of the front, they wouldn't sell.

LarrySellerz

I asked my LBS why they only have black bib shorts and they pretty much said its so your junk/bulge is not on display. I know a dude who rides with pink everything though and think its pretty sweet

Iride01 

People today don't seem to want to stand out. Makes them uneasy to have on color that might let them be seen.

I still can't get over the guy in dark exercise clothing that matched the MUP colors perfectly and doing pushups in a heavily shadowed depression that I almost ran over when cycling a year or so ago.

Though I will say white bibs or short is not a good look for the grime and yellowish colored drinks you might spill on them while cycling that gets mistaken by others as urine stain or worse.

Rolla

Black shorts have been de rigueur for cycling since they started making them. Moisture doesn't show on them.

There are plenty of brightly colored jerseys, socks, and gloves available for those who want to do the peacock thing.

seypat

Dark colors make things look sleeker, slimmer, etc. Black is a neutral color, so it goes with anything. Which makes picking an outfit for working out easy. It doesn't take much to make light colors look dirty, either. In the heat/high humidity of the southeast, white doesn't stay white very long.

alcjphil

You should google "Polish cycling team"
In the long ago past shorts were black so that you could wipe your hands on them after changing a tire or replacing a chain after it fell off the chainring without the black dirt and grease showing. At one time top professionals were required to wear black shorts by race organizers

seypat

Don't do it. The mods frown upon that. I see I was too late.

indyfabz

IKR. Other than shorts, I don't see a lot of black cycling clothing out on the road compared to the amount of colored stuff other than maybe gloves.

WhyFi

You can mention it - you just can't post the photo.

WhyFi

Non-black bibs are starting to become more popular, I now have (and love) navy and maroon bibs, but I do think that keeping things relatively dark is a good idea on the lower half. Anything goes on the upper half, though lighter colored technical fabrics can get pretty sheer. I'm not particularly prudish or shy, but do have one jersey that I only wear with a base layer underneath.

base2 

Leather saddles must be occasionally maintenanced. Conditioner, oil, beeswax, etc...often discolors bike shorts.

You've identified a legacy holdover from cyclings early days.

79pmooney

Black shorts give you a place to wipe your hands after a dropped chain or tire repair. Black shorts also worked better in the days of real leather saddles that got polish and oils to keep them alive.

But dark jerseys are mostly about style and sales. Sometimes bright comes into fashion. I try to buy up when that happens. Dark jerseys strike me as a death wish.

blacknbluebikes 

Rule 14 with nod to Rule 15.

DonkeyShow

I find lots of quality highlighter colored clothes on the clearance rack for cheap.

livedarklions

This! Nobody wants to look like they're incontinent.

Korina

Not just cycling clothes; looking at rain jackets, my option was dark grey or dark blue. Because who wouldn't want to be invisible in the rain?

urbanknight

I gotta ask, what color jersey do you match with those?

tomato coupe

He was probably referring to your junk, specifically.

wolfchild

I prefer to wear dark colored clothing on the bike or off the bike or for any other situation or activity that I may find myself doing....If I feel that I need some extra visibility on the bike, I put on a hi-visibility construction vest over my dark clothing.

WhyFi

I have a few. One is solid black, one verrrrry light gray (almost white), one that's mottled with some reddish colors in there and one jersey from the same manufacturer (Rapha) that I *think* is intended to be a match for the bibs - light gray torso, darker blue/gray sleeves and maroon trim.

zandoval 

Why is so much clothing dark colored? Because we are all getting FAT!!!

Lets get back some color...


https://www.logolynx.com/topic/woodstock


Peace, Love, Music... And lets not forget... Superior Fire Power... Ha

BlazingPedals

Black goes with everything. So it's black shorts/bibs/tights unless you're wearing an entire kit of jersey, pants, and probably socks. The you're probably worrying abut maching your helmet, too. At some point, you just have to say "no" and for most of us, that point is the pants. Besides, no color shows up in the dark and black shows up fine in the light; it's much better to have a flasher.

Chuck M 

In another thread it was argued colors and patterns incite dogs to chase you. I don't know if black was considered safe or not.

mstateglfr 

I see highlighter yellow shirts and jackets all the time when out riding. It is the most obnoxious color to me and totally unnecessary as there are plenty of other colors that can bring attention to you for safety.
Where do you live that you dont have a ton of people in bright yellow clothing? I just figured its the most common color everywhere.

I dont ride with dark tops...the darkest I have is a sage green jersey. I have only white helmets because my brain thinks that will help with being seen since it moves around and is at the highest point on the bike.
You dont need bright pants to be seen. Just use a light to be seen and wear dark pants since they dont show sweat, dont show grease, and dont show junk. Nobody wants hiviz yellow cycling shorts.