Cycling "uniforms"

Surf-Matt

Had a blast yesterday on my MTB and cycled past a load of roadies (I also know one of them) - what made me laugh is how we all have our own uniforms depsite both riding bikes!

Roadie - tight, bright, lots of skin on show, hi tec, no way you'd wear the kit anywhere off the bike
MTBers - muted colours, baggy, long clothes, wearable off a bike

Do MTBers that also ride road bikes have separate outfits and what happens if you wear MTB clothing on a road bike or vice versa? Does it all go pear shaped?!

robmanic1

Baggies just look wrong on a road bike, I reckon you can get away with a bit of lycra on a hardtail.

Same thing with peaks on your helmet isn't it, who made that rule? Oh, and the old back pack or water bottle debate.

miss notax

Oh dear, I must buck the trend then as I wear lycra on my MTB :shock:

I tend to wear muted colours, but i'm only 5ft 4 so if I wore baggy stuff I would probably look like a 12 year old wearing her Mums clothes..... :oops:

Agree that on blokes there comes a point where too much bright lycra gets a little OTT!

MrChuck

I do both but only have a few bits of MTB- specific kit, mainly baggies to go over the same lycra I wear on the road. Most road stuff does fine for the MTB too but not necessarily vice versa.

Mr Wu

What about MTB's that wear cross MTB gear? !

For example, I ride a XC bike (but go everywhere on it) yet wear a full face SSO DH helmet, whilst most people may prefer the open face giro's and the like, i personally dont. I come off alot and like to think that my head, chin and teeth are a little more safe... I do got alot of funny looks of folk. Also wear DH tops as the cut of them is much easier for riding in i find...

stevieboy

I split my MTBing into XC and AM so for XC it's lycra lycra and more lycra for AM it's baggies and pads!

I do feel more comfortable wearing my AM gear off the bike though, something about sitting in a cafe with lycra, it's a bit wrong, unless you roll on 1" tyres

Daz555

I wear a heavily vented p*ss pot lid with the peak removed, and baggies with built-in @rse pad. Apart from gloves, non of my other stuff is MTB-specific; in fact none of it is even cycle-specific.

I doubt I'll ever wear skinny tops or shorts when out on a bike.

zero303

Yes very much uniform based - although I find the high cadence continual pedalling of road bikes mean lycra makes sense.

It's amazing how uncomfy those MTB shorts can get when they're constantly rubbing your thigh above the knee 55 times a minute on each leg.

I may start lycraing up for marathons too - started to get pretty uncomfy clothing wise in my typical MBUK-esq clobber at the HONC 100km a few weeks back...

homers_double

Baggy shorts and one of the many loose fit bike T's. I prefer the proper fabric to a standard T as you tend not to sweat as much, of if you do you dont end up with a cold damp cotton t shirt.

Lycra is for gays anyway.

projectsome

jjeans/trousers and t shirt on work journeys.

tracksuit bottoms and longsleeves in winter/shortsleeve in summer on trail

projectsome

jjeans/trousers and t shirt on work journeys.

tracksuit bottoms and longsleeves in winter/shortsleeve in summer on trail

prawny

I have both uniforms, baggies with a pad and a loose t-shirt on my MTB and lycra and techy jersey on my road bike.

I wouldn't want to wear muted colours on the road because of the risk of traffic but I wouldn't choose to dress like a tool for hanging around in a pub or the woods.

Nik_B

Surf-Matt wrote:

Do MTBers that also ride road bikes have separate outfits and what happens if you wear MTB clothing on a road bike or vice versa? Does it all go pear shaped?!

Laughing my bum off at this! Can I use it as my sig?

Finbar Saunders

I mix and match everything. Lycra on MTB, baggies on road bike, peak on helmet on road bike, CamelBak on road bike, 661 gloves on road bike, road jersies on MTB. I paid my money for that stuff and I'm going to use!! Especially if comfortable or functional.

But if going out for something proper I dress accordingly.....so lycra always when doing a group or training ride on the road bike, baggies for XC (although often with lycra underneath). Helmets look horrible on my head and I found one that looked decent on my head at the bike show, with the peak on. So I bought it. Then one day I caught site of it on my head with the peak removed and since that day the peak has never come off again!!

Grimy

I was on the way back from llandegla a fortnight ago and we passed a group of about a dozen roadies all wearing identical club gear. Bleeding hilarious, they did look like a bunch of plonkers. lmfao. I can understand football teams and the such wearing the same color to idenify each other on the pitch, but 12 blokes in there matching pink lycra is just gay.

Surf-Matt

Nik - of course

Just funny that such a similar activity seems to require such different clothes.

I used to wear normal non MTB stuff (surf short, T shirt, etc) but now have:

Endura Singletrack (shorts for warmer months, 3/4 length for when it's cooler)
Two wicking tops (long sleeved and short sleeved) by Finisterre and Patagonia
Padded fat butt pants (Altura)
Any old socks
Specialized Taho shoes.
Skid lid (Giro)
Spesh pro gloves.
Altura Night Vision jacket for when it's cold or really wet.

it does actually work a lot better!

chrisga

Baggies all the time for me. MTB and road.....
Trust me, you would not want to see me in lycra!

Torres

I wear the same stuff on the roadie as i do on the mountain bikes. The only difference is i take the peak of my helmet, otherwise i find myself struggling to see when i'm down on the drops.

Ditch Witch

Surf-Matt wrote:

Had a blast yesterday on my MTB and cycled past a load of roadies (I also know one of them) - what made me laugh is how we all have our own uniforms depsite both riding bikes!

Roadie - tight, bright, lots of skin on show, hi tec, no way you'd wear the kit anywhere off the bike
MTBers - muted colours, baggy, long clothes, wearable off a bike

Do MTBers that also ride road bikes have separate outfits and what happens if you wear MTB clothing on a road bike or vice versa? Does it all go pear shaped?!

It's like skiers and snowboarders

dave_hill

sarah75 wrote:

Agree that on blokes there comes a point where too much bright lycra gets a little OTT!

And white lycra too, where the heck did THAT come from... :shock:

Furbes

dave_hill wrote:

sarah75 wrote:

Agree that on blokes there comes a point where too much bright lycra gets a little OTT!

And white lycra too, where the heck did THAT come from... :shock:

From the bike pervs , no doubt That stuff is see through if you're all sweaty (or so i'm told) :!: :!:

Surf-Matt

I wear lycra sometimes. Under a wetsuit - it's called a "rash vest" and is not something to flash in public.

Lycra is wrong.

Nik_B

Looks good on women...or is that pvc? :?

FSR_XC

Matt

Bright stuff is worn so tw*ts in motorised tin boxes have the best chance of seeing you.

BTW I wear lycra on the MTB too :shock: (when racing)

You wanna see my tri gear, :oops: now that's skin tight! :oops:

Pawprint

Mr Wu wrote:

What about MTB's that wear cross MTB gear? !

For example, I ride a XC bike (but go everywhere on it) yet wear a full face SSO DH helmet, whilst most people may prefer the open face giro's and the like.......... Also wear DH tops as the cut of them is much easier for riding in i find...

Im the same, really not a DH bike, but wear all the gear and pads when riding pretty much everything
I switch between the helmets though, depending on the weather and the riding.

Ditch Witch wrote:

It's like skiers and snowboarders

Indeed it is!

Northwind

I always look a bit free-ridey... I wear pads all the time because I have osteoperosis (brittle bones), so I buy freeride/dirtjump clothes rather than XC kit as it wears better with pads. But I'm not very extreme so it looks a bit odd

On the road I wear the mtber-on-the-road uniform of whatever random old crap comes to hand, and my xc helmet.

Surf-Matt

FSR_XC wrote:

Matt

Bright stuff is worn so tw*ts in motorised tin boxes have the best chance of seeing you.

BTW I wear lycra on the MTB too :shock: (when racing)

You wanna see my tri gear, :oops: now that's skin tight! :oops:

Of course it helps to be a gayer in denial...

Only joking - just find it funny how different the outfits are. A few fit looking ladies in your club though. Fit female figures are very much allowed to wear lycra...

Raymondavalon

I commute and do long asphalt rides on an adapted MTB, but it's always baggies and t-shirt for me. I do wear a long sleeved shirt when doing off road though.
The only lycra'esque stuff I wear are my beloved butt saving padded Endura undershorts.

Chaz.Harding

I wear lycra on my roadie (it black and dark-ish red Army kit, so it does look cool... Honest!! 8) ) and I've found I can go sooooo much faster if I ditch the sails that I wear for MTB. But normally thats just some shorts, t shirt, and skid lid - all baggy (apart from the helmet )

Glad I'm not the only "Gay-er in denial", Surf-Matt :P

switchback18

Anyone remember the denim lycra some of the road teams used to wear? Wrong is all I can say.

Me? Baggies, merino & Endura waterproof stuff, mostly black, except for a red Stealth jacket, wish I'd bought black now...
If I had a road bike, I might wear lycra, black though.

blakef111

Me, baggies and lycra team Jersey (tarty i know) on the xc bike with peaked helmet
Full lycra and peakless on the roadie
and jeans/ shorts and a t-shirt (most of the time) on the jump bike with a p*ss pot lid,

debating matching team shorts for the xc bike though, reckon it mite save some time / weight?