our fellow cyclist, SO STUCK UP

bam49

to the OP - wear what you like an sod 'em, either wind them up some more or find some other roadies that are not so uptight about ' clothing rules ' :roll: I am a double world champ ( chump more like !), as I have a Quick Step World Champs jersey & a PBK one .. I bought them 'cos I like the colours- I can hardly 'earn them ' as i only took up cycling at 39 ... I have also bought various team jerseys in the past for the same reason - I like the colours and design, and like looking neat when I'm out on my bike ... If I told the guys in the office about ' clothing rules ' for roadies they would think we are sadder than we already are ...

brakelever

Does it really matter what jersey you wear when you are out , who the f*** are these self appointed shirt mafia anyway - just ride your bike and enjoy - some riders are just very anally retentive - must remember not to wear my giro shirt in case someone takes offence !

Anonymous

The thing is, some clubs have rules that you have to wear club colours or a plain jersey on club rides. Some don't seem to understand that. If you don't like it join another club.
If you are riding on your own or with mates etc. wear what you want but don't get upset if anyone takes the pi5s. Fortunately our club doesn't have such a rule.
I find the vociferous 'wear what you want' brigade as tiresome to listen to as the inverted snob 'I overtook a guy in Rapha on a carbon bike on my Apollo whilst wearing Aldi' brigade.
Both are very easy to wind up however.

dilemna

Wear only a thong .



A cycling club is just like any other club. You pays your money and agree to be bound by their rules and regulations. If not you don't join or leave. It is a private club they can set what ever rules they want. Simples.

If you want to wear what you like then ride on your own or with others who are similarly minded.

Ever heard the doorman say "No jeans, trainers or shell suits" or "Smart dress only" or "No tie, no entry". Your cycling club is no different.

An army private wouldn't be able to get away with wearing a sergeant's uniform so why should you. They would be court martialled. You are just being given a quiet word to dress more appropriately next time. People don't like being told when they are wrong. Sounds like you got off lightly. Did you manage to keep up or did you get dropped?

TBH I think you've got balls. I wouldn't be able to wear Team GB kit simply because it would mean I was attempting to be something I am not. If you are the fastest and best rider in the club who is not going to be with them long because you are off to bigger better pastures then maybe by all means, but really you should have a better appreciation of what the Team GB kit signifies in cycling. You obviously have NO idea what genuinely earning Team GB kit entails? First I believe you have to be selected for Team GB which means you have to be a pretty good rider with a fair amount of promise and talent which you do not mention. Would it be fair to say you could be a little deluded and a bit of a fraud or do you just enjoy winding people up? Just wear normal comfortable cycling clothing such as Endura kit and buy a club jersey and shorts when the time comes. If you cannot afford club kit but wear normal cycling kit most clubs will not bat an eyelid. You are setting yourself up for a fall and getting the backs up of those who run the club and established members. If anyone in my club wore Team GB kit who wasn't genuinely riding for Team GB thus representing GB, I would silently laugh my head off. All the gear no idea. What a bell end. Of course them being a newbie to the club I wouldn't be rude to them but drop subtle hints as to what was suitable kit. I think, unless they had skin as thick as a rhino, they would realise pretty quickly that perhaps it wasn't the best kit to wear.

meanredspider

dilemna wrote:

because it would mean I was attempting to be something I am not. .

I think it would mean that you are wearing a Team GB jersey not pretending to be a Team GB rider. Jeez - the whole of cycling is full of replica this and replica that - nobody's fooled. It's not at all like the army and to say so demeans the military.

NapD wrote:

I find the vociferous 'wear what you want' brigade as tiresome to listen to

I think the "'wear what you want' brigade" are only so vociferous because they're incredulous that this attitude exists. To link back to dilemna's point, it's like the club is playing at soldiers. I, for one, can't believe that people are so petty. Worry about something more important FFS.

Bunneh

People worry about pointless shit too much.

I'm off out in my running jacket which I use for cycling too, yay!

dilemna

meanredspider wrote:

dilemna wrote:

because it would mean I was attempting to be something I am not. .

I think it would mean that you are wearing a Team GB jersey not pretending to be a Team GB rider. Jeez - the whole of cycling is full of replica this and replica that - nobody's fooled. It's not at all like the army and to say so demeans the military.

NapD wrote:

I find the vociferous 'wear what you want' brigade as tiresome to listen to

I think the "'wear what you want' brigade" are only so vociferous because they're incredulous that this attitude exists. To link back to dilemna's point, it's like the club is playing at soldiers. I, for one, can't believe that people are so petty. Worry about something more important FFS.

You miss mine and NapD's points. It is a cycling club that has RULES and REGS. They apply to all members. If you don't like these rules and regs then don't join or whinge when you are pulled up for not complying or are thown out. It really is that simple.
There are always people who want to be different for the sake of being different, to cause awkwardness and friction where there needn't be any or are just plain ignorant. Sure some members wear team kit past and present. They also ride eye wateringly expensive Cervelos and Colnagos. They get the p1$$ ripped out of them from time to time but it is all fair game and good natured. But if you know anything about the world of competitive cycling you don't wear your country's Team GB colours if you haven't earned them .............. Anyway why would you want to join a club if you DON'T want to wear their kit/uniform/dress? :roll:

Why doesn't the OP give Team GB a call to see if he can train with them ?

seanoconn

Seems that no matter what kit or bike you have you're going to offend somebody somewhere, so you either stay indoors or man up and pay no attention the knockers.

We get enough abuse from motorists and passers by without fellow cyclists sticking the boot in.

mattshrops

seanoconn +1

the only real difference between the two groups of people is ONE group is trying to tell the others what to do. the other group aint. the end.
and fair ienough if thems de club rules - do you want to join?

meanredspider

dilemna wrote:

You miss mine and NapD's points. It is a cycling club that has RULES and REGS. They apply to all members. If you don't like these rules and regs then don't join or whinge when you are pulled up for not complying or are thown out. It really is that simple

And I think you miss my point which is much broader. Just because they are the rules and regs, doesn't make them right any more than saying you can't be female, black, gay, left wing, French, left-handed, Muslim etc I'm sure there were clubs (may still be) that had these sorts of rules. This is much more petty (part of the reason why it's so silly) but just because it's a rule doesn't somehow make it immune to criticism. Whether the OP signs up to it or not, doesn't mean that the rest of us can't say "WTF" and have an opinion that it puts cycling as a sport, a hobby, and a simple mode of transport in a bad light with the broader public.

disquieting_museeuws

I find it hard to relate to all the angst some people have about these matters. When I started riding in the mid-80s you just turned up on a decent bike wearing decent clothes fit for purpose - if that meant a 'fan' team jersey no-one batted an eyelid* (unless you were racing of course). You wore lycra-based clothing because it was the best to use (ever tried wool tights?), you didn't have existential arguments with yourself about whether you should wear it or not. And then there's the whole leg shaving debate - the vast majority agree after a couple of races that it's a no-brainer as the practical thing to do - let's just flaming get on with it and enjoy our cycling!

* Apart from the odd tw@t that you get in any walk of life at any time.

Tom Butcher

I'm in the wear what you like camp. As others have said - nobody is trying to pass themselves off as a GB rider and I know for a fact that BC has in the past handed GB kit out to office staff for commuting in - is someone going to tell me having an office job at the velodrome means you've "earnt the jersey" - so if BC aren't bothered why should anyone else be.

As for this being held against cycling clubs - please no - I'm in a club and I think telling someone they are inappropriately dressed is as silly as most of you do. By all means call the guy who said it a prick, hold it against that particular club, but don't tar all clubs with the same brush.

ps - what club was it btw ?

Stone Glider

Except for the cognescenti on this forum and others, as far as the world at large is concerned; we ALL look like idiots. So relax.


As a side-blow, doesn't the team issue change year-on-year? So, if I turned up on a club run in the previous year's issue I would look wrong? Not a current member of the squad? Or a fat old man having a gentle joke?

Pokerface

I seriously doubt there are any clubs out there that outwardly have a rule that says you can't wear a GB team jersey if you aren't a member of the squad. I also doubt that any club has a written rule that says you can't wear other pro replica kit.

I think there are just some people who think you shouldn't (not "can't") wear national team kit if you're not on the team as a sign of respect to those that have actually earned the privilege to legitimately wear it. I also suspect that this attitude is more prevalent amongst older riders who perhaps still feel prestige is something that should be earned and not just bought in a shop.

It doesn't have to be any more obtuse or controversial than that.

And for the record (at the risk of being called all sorts of names), as someone who has actually earned the right to wear my national jersey - I don't particularly mind if Joe Public goes out and buys their own to wear. I would prefer they didn't but would never make a fuss about it.

When I joined my national team - I didn't wear my kit until my first race, despite being given it in advance. And didn't wear it afterwards for quite some time. After I'd gotten a few races under my belt, I felt comfortable wearing it (as I felt I had 'earned' it).

dilemna

meanredspider wrote:

dilemna wrote:

You miss mine and NapD's points. It is a cycling club that has RULES and REGS. They apply to all members. If you don't like these rules and regs then don't join or whinge when you are pulled up for not complying or are thown out. It really is that simple

And I think you miss my point which is much broader.

No, it's a simple issue regarding club kit. There is nothing broad about it .

Just because they are the rules and regs, doesn't make them right any more than saying you can't be female, black, gay, left wing, French, left-handed, Muslim etc

This is totally irrelevant. It is against the law to discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, disability ...... and rightly so. AFAIK cycling kit hasn't yet attracted the attention of legislators !

I'm sure there were clubs (may still be) that had these sorts of rules. This is much more petty (part of the reason why it's so silly) but just because it's a rule doesn't somehow make it immune to criticism. Whether the OP signs up to it or not, doesn't mean that the rest of us can't say "WTF" and have an opinion that it puts cycling as a sport, a hobby, and a simple mode of transport in a bad light with the broader public.

Unbelievable. I suspect the "broader public" as you describe are unaware of this turmoil and injustice that you write of that is currently occurring in cycling clubs or if they are aware they simply couldn't give a fig.

markos1963

I don't have a problem with people wearing what they like whilst out training/sportives etc I wear an Euskatel shirt myself as I like to burn the retinas of following car drivers.

But surely if you join a club you are agreeing to the rules of the club. If you don't like those rules then either leave the club, join another one or if you really want to make a difference stay with the club, get involved and then get voted on to the committee so you can change the rule to suit yourself.
Too many people bleat on about how poor clubs are but are too lazy to do anything about it. They expect the 'pr76ks' and 'to$$ers' who run their club for nothing to arrange club 10TT's and chaingangs and sunday rides but then come on to forums to slag them off rather than confront them themselves.

My club ASKS its members to wear a club shirt on rides when the weather is ok because we have recieved a substantial sponsorship from two local businesses and they would like to see a return on that deal. Fair enough I think.

As for someone having a quiet word with a new rider about dress code,well it all depends how it was done.

Frank the tank

littleking02 wrote:

I was riding yesterday wearing my GB TEAM JERSEY with one club. And one of the leaders came from behind and quietly whispered 'this sort of jersey is not expectable'. It’s not until later on I realised he was being serious. When I asked for a reason he simply said...YOU HAVEN'T EARNED THE JERSEY.

How many of us wear England shirt? we are not pretending like we are waiting for a phone call from Fabio for England call up, we are just fans! I really can't understand some...some people need to grow up!

There must be some kind of royalty paid from the sale of each shirt/kit. If only people who had "earned the privilage" were aloud to wear it why have an industry producing replicas?

I personally wouldn't wear GB/trade/world champions jersey, but it has nothing to do with having not "earned the right" more to do with I prefer ordinary attire. I would just tell him "I'll wear what I like, thanks".
Where is the line drawn? You're not coming on our bike ride on that bike, it's in team replica colours. Do me a favour. :roll:

bails87

Roadies have a reputation of being stuck up d1cks. This guy isn't helping.

How in the hell does wearing a certain shirt affect anyone else, as long as it's not obscene then it really doesn't matter. No non cycling member of the public would see a group of roadies cycle past and think to themselves "good lord, one of them was wearing a team GB kit, and he's never raced for them, how outrageous".

Take up MTBing instead, we do it for fun and people are accepted regardless of their bike, speed, weight, height or clothes.

Stuff like this is the reason I don't want to join the local cycling club.

dilemna

markos1963 wrote:

I don't have a problem with people wearing what they like whilst out training/sportives etc I wear an Euskatel shirt myself as I like to burn the retinas of following car drivers.

But surely if you join a club you are agreeing to the rules of the club. If you don't like those rules then either leave the club, join another one or if you really want to make a difference stay with the club, get involved and then get voted on to the committee so you can change the rule to suit yourself.
Too many people bleat on about how poor clubs are but are too lazy to do anything about it. They expect the 'pr76ks' and 'to$$ers' who run their club for nothing to arrange club 10TT's and chaingangs and sunday rides but then come on to forums to slag them off rather than confront them themselves.

My club ASKS its members to wear a club shirt on rides when the weather is ok because we have recieved a substantial sponsorship from two local businesses and they would like to see a return on that deal. Fair enough I think.

As for someone having a quiet word with a new rider about dress code,well it all depends how it was done.

Good post.

meanredspider

dilemna wrote:

Unbelievable. I suspect the "broader public" as you describe are unaware of this turmoil and injustice that you write of that is currently occurring in cycling clubs or if they are aware they simply couldn't give a fig.

It's neither turmoil or injustice - it's just pathetic :roll: . As I've said over and over - these people should worry about something more important rather than have snipes at guys hoping to enjoy a good ride. The "broader public" would just laugh at it like they do at golfists

I just feel sorry for the OP that he had to come across such a knob.

Chip \'oyler

Pokerface wrote:

I seriously doubt there are any clubs out there that outwardly have a rule that says you can't wear a GB team jersey if you aren't a member of the squad. I also doubt that any club has a written rule that says you can't wear other pro replica kit.

I think there are just some people who think you shouldn't (not "can't") wear national team kit if you're not on the team as a sign of respect to those that have actually earned the privilege to legitimately wear it. I also suspect that this attitude is more prevalent amongst older riders who perhaps still feel prestige is something that should be earned and not just bought in a shop.

It doesn't have to be any more obtuse or controversial than that.

And for the record (at the risk of being called all sorts of names), as someone who has actually earned the right to wear my national jersey - I don't particularly mind if Joe Public goes out and buys their own to wear. I would prefer they didn't but would never make a fuss about it.

When I joined my national team - I didn't wear my kit until my first race, despite being given it in advance. And didn't wear it afterwards for quite some time. After I'd gotten a few races under my belt, I felt comfortable wearing it (as I felt I had 'earned' it).

Well said

dodgy

Frank the tank wrote:

littleking02 wrote:

I was riding yesterday wearing my GB TEAM JERSEY with one club. And one of the leaders came from behind and quietly whispered 'this sort of jersey is not expectable'. It’s not until later on I realised he was being serious. When I asked for a reason he simply said...YOU HAVEN'T EARNED THE JERSEY.

How many of us wear England shirt? we are not pretending like we are waiting for a phone call from Fabio for England call up, we are just fans! I really can't understand some...some people need to grow up!

There must be some kind of royalty paid from the sale of each shirt/kit. If only people who had "earned the privilage" were aloud to wear it why have an industry producing replicas?

I personally wouldn't wear GB/trade/world champions jersey, but it has nothing to do with having not "earned the right" more to do with I prefer ordinary attire. I would just tell him "I'll wear what I like, thanks".
Where is the line drawn? You're not coming on our bike ride on that bike, it's in team replica colours. Do me a favour. :roll:

I think there's some confusion in this thread. The GB National Team cycling shirt is not for general sale, those who have one are either members of the GB National squad, or who have bought one from illicit channels such as eBay. Some members of the national squad (or perhaps support personnel like physios or what have you) have possibly sold them online, maybe to support their meagre income :?:

If you look on eBay you will see either fakes, or genuine articles - but the GB National team as an organisation are not making anything out of it.

Mr Dog

A para earns the right to wear his beret. A cycling team jersey is sporting apparel, nothing more.

Frank the tank

Mr Dog wrote:

A para earns the right to wear his beret. A cycling team jersey is sporting apparel, nothing more.

Some cyclists spend a career trying to earn the world champs jersey/yellow jersey or whatever, if joe public wants to purchase a replica let them. You know if you've won the shirt on merit and if you fit into that catagory of rider I'm sure this kind of debate wouldn't even register on your radar, you have nothing to prove to anyone, much like a red beret wearer.

Tom Butcher

dodgy wrote:

I think there's some confusion in this thread. The GB National Team cycling shirt is not for general sale, those who have one are either members of the GB National squad, or who have bought one from illicit channels such as eBay. Some members of the national squad (or perhaps support personnel like physios or what have you) have possibly sold them online, maybe to support their meagre income :?:

Or were BC office staff given them to commute into work in.

As I said - if BC aren't bothered about earning the shirt why should anyone else be ?

Mr Dog

+1 with the clarity of that post I will say no more on the subject. Thanks Frank.

dodgy

Tom Butcher wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I think there's some confusion in this thread. The GB National Team cycling shirt is not for general sale, those who have one are either members of the GB National squad, or who have bought one from illicit channels such as eBay. Some members of the national squad (or perhaps support personnel like physios or what have you) have possibly sold them online, maybe to support their meagre income :?:

Or were BC office staff given them to commute into work in.

As I said - if BC aren't bothered about earning the shirt why should anyone else be ?

Who knows? I don't care, just pointing out that you can't go into JJB tomorrow morning and buy the GB National cycling strip, that's all.

FWIW, I don't care what anyone else wears. It's never even once registered.

Pokerface

Tom Butcher wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I think there's some confusion in this thread. The GB National Team cycling shirt is not for general sale, those who have one are either members of the GB National squad, or who have bought one from illicit channels such as eBay. Some members of the national squad (or perhaps support personnel like physios or what have you) have possibly sold them online, maybe to support their meagre income :?:

Or were BC office staff given them to commute into work in.

As I said - if BC aren't bothered about earning the shirt why should anyone else be ?

Are you SURE they were given actual racing jerseys? Or just a similar one?

When I worked there (not that long ago) there was no way in hell you could get one of the jerseys unless you were on the squad. Maybe policy has changed since then and they are giving them out like cheap Christmas gifts. I could be wrong.

petemadoc

This whole jersey thing is all very strange and confusing to me :?

I've got a team sky jersey because they're a British team. I've got a team Liquigas jersey because wiggle had them going for £35 a few months back. And I've got a load of other non team jerseys.

So could someone please explain where and when I'm supposed to wear these or is this just and argument about the GB national squad jersey?

jibberjim

PeteMadoc wrote:

So could someone please explain where and when I'm supposed to wear these or is this just and argument about the GB national squad jersey?

Some people see the GB nations squad jersey as something different from a trade team jersey and believe it's special. So Sky or Liquigas are they say different. Personally I see no difference they're just a jersey, I do think it's a little strange to wear them other than because they're cheap as you're not riding for the team. But I see little wrong with it.

World Champions stripes, or national champions stripes I do think it's inappropriate to wear on rides, particularly UK ones since you may well meet someone who legitamately is allowed to wear it and the right to wear the jersey is the award for winning the race. Basically if you're not allowed to race in it, you shouldn't wear it. You can race in trade team jersey's.

There's a few debates on this thread - are Team GB jerseys special, are they the same as a trade team jersey or the same as a national champions jersey. I'd say that given you're free to race in one, they're not special at all, ride in one. It's not as if there's a lot of history behind the jerseys.

There's also the seperate debate about clubs, and here I'm very much behind the idea that club rules and customs be honoured if you want to join them - and no the jersey thing won't be written down in the rules, but the customs are important to. If you want to ride with them, honour them.