New to road. Why wear lycra?

rockmonkeysc

Hello. Im new to road cycling and just got myself a nice Boardman road bike and I must admit a road bike is a very efficient way to make my 17 mile commute, its only 15 minutes faster by car.
I have been mountain biking for several years so I just wear my padded baggy shorts and a loose mtb jersey with my mtb spd shoes.
Does lycra give any real advantage? I really dont feel that my clothing slows me down.

djm501

Not really but lycra doesn't flap about in the wind an so is more aerodynamic, doesn't get caught in the chain and can wick away your sweat quite nicely.
Wear what you want but ridden in the cold and/or wet yet? You may want long trousers and tights beat wearing trousers and clips any day.

rockmonkeysc

I wear tights for mountain biking when its cold.

diy

It wont make any real difference on a 17 mile ride, but there are benefits of bib-shorts over mtb baggies, due to the less upright position, you will find a bib, stays in place better and puts less restriction around your middle.

Road jerseys also have handy pockets and are a bit longer for the above reason. That is it really. Depending on your setup, you might find the visor on an MTB lid a bit restrictive once you get comfy riding in the drops or with lower bars.

When I took up road cycling I was determined not to "need" the road gear, but bit by bit you swap over. I still ride with my mtb shoes, but they are pretty XC. The other thing you'll notice is the wind when its cold. You need a lot more clothing to ride in the cold on a road bike than you do an MTB. All down to the wind chill.

ct8282

I'm not long into Roading and last week I bought a pair of bib shorts. I had read many many threads and posts from people raving about bibs but now I've got a pair I can hand on heart say that they are amazing. I was wearing baggies before and not having the material flapping in the wind and hanging loosely is just so much nicer and more comfortable. The pad stays put and you don't find yourself adjusting the shorts at all.

Now it may be coincidence but my average speed and top speeds have all jumped up since wearing bibs so my guess is the improved aerodynamics certainly helps, but in general I just feel much better on the bike. The complete lack of fidgeting and not having any pain in your butt just makes the whole process of cycling much better and you can really focus on your pedal strokes and power.

I would never go back to baggies. Period!

diy

I wouldn't wear my bibs on the trail, maybe a big XC ride, but definitely not trail riding, they'd get destroyed in a couple of outings.

handful

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Hello. Im new to road cycling and just got myself a nice Boardman road bike and I must admit a road bike is a very efficient way to make my 17 mile commute, its only 15 minutes faster by car.
I have been mountain biking for several years so I just wear my padded baggy shorts and a loose mtb jersey with my mtb spd shoes.
Does lycra give any real advantage? I really dont feel that my clothing slows me down.

I know you from the mtb section so Welcome to the 'dark side' or 'light side' as we are in the roadie forum. I do both types of riding and have a drawer full of both types of gear and suspect you will too! There is definitely less flapping with lycra and more comfort on longer rides but if I'm honest I would say there is probably not much if any difference in performance and like diy my transition was gradual.

mike6

Welcome to road riding. I came from mtbs also. Wear what you like, but lycra bib shorts are more comfortable than baggies, especially on a long ride. Never wore baggies myself, cant see any use other than a fashion thing. Also, when I was mountain biking, the first thing I did was remove the peak from my helmet, what is the function of that peak? No one has been able to explain that to me.
Still wear my spds though.

rockmonkeysc

To be honest road cycling will only be for commuting, it doesn't have the same appeal for me as mountain biking plus downhill racing is far safer than road!
I will make the most of it as a way of building fittness and it does set me up well for the day.
I may try some bib shorts, the peak does catch some of the mud from your back wheel which would end up in your eyes.

sloppyschleckonds

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I wear tights for mountain biking when its cold.

Enough of your cross dressing antics.

rockmonkeysc

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I wear tights for mountain biking when its cold.

Enough of your cross dressing antics.

White fishnets. Black ones when its really cold.

AchillesLeftKnee

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I may try some bib shorts

As someone who came from MTB*, I reckon you'd be absolutely nuts not to. They're superb on road, and I wear them off-road most of the time as well. No chaffing** at all, the pad stays put regardless of what you're doing, they don't cling when wet (they just, er, cling), they dry really fast, and are just so bloody comfortable. Also, no need at all to go out and blow a fortune on Really Good Ones if you're just doing shorter distances. They all do much the same thing, and even my majestically crappy £18-off-eBay pairs that get used for stuff that's likely to kill lycra in short order (off-road, spin bike) are, IMHO, miles more comfortable than baggies.

The other major benefit is you get to look like a wrestler.


* Kinda. More a case of road, MTB, road, long knee hiatus, road, knee hiatus, MTB and road...

** Not strictly true, but very close to strictly true.

apreading

mike6 wrote:

...the first thing I did was remove the peak from my helmet, what is the function of that peak? No one has been able to explain that to me.

When I was out ona ride with a mate who didnt have a peak and it started snowing, he couldnt see where he was going and got a v cold face, while my peak was able to shield me from the worst of that. Does a similar job in rain too.

Monty Dog

The only reason MTB riders wear baggies is fashion - as a functional garment they're ridiculous, roaming pad, snagging on the nose of the saddle and the waistband restricts breathing.

mike6

apreading wrote:

mike6 wrote:

...the first thing I did was remove the peak from my helmet, what is the function of that peak? No one has been able to explain that to me.

When I was out ona ride with a mate who didnt have a peak and it started snowing, he couldnt see where he was going and got a v cold face, while my peak was able to shield me from the worst of that. Does a similar job in rain too.

But it snows and rains on the road and you never see a roadie with a peak. I suspect, like the baggies, it is probably a fashion thing.

shortcuts

I have lycra shorts but always (atm) wear track suit bottoms over them. More of an 'image' thing I think as I have skinny legs and at 59 years of age just can't bring myself not to cover the lycra. When, I wonder, will I have the bottle to stop doing that and embrace the MAMIL persona? :shock:

apreading

mike6 wrote:

apreading wrote:

mike6 wrote:

...the first thing I did was remove the peak from my helmet, what is the function of that peak? No one has been able to explain that to me.

When I was out ona ride with a mate who didnt have a peak and it started snowing, he couldnt see where he was going and got a v cold face, while my peak was able to shield me from the worst of that. Does a similar job in rain too.

But it snows and rains on the road and you never see a roadie with a peak. I suspect, like the baggies, it is probably a fashion thing.

NOT wearing it is more like a fashion thing - it DOES work. Roadies wear a peaked cap underneath the helmet (or instead of) if they want a peak like http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueP ... tAodploA9g.

markhewitt1978

Proper jerseys and proper cycling shorts are just more comfortable. And when you're spending 5+ hours in the saddle comfort is everything.

simonhead

The real reason roadies wear lycra is that it leaves little to the imagination when you are chatting a girl in a beer garden. Eventually you will find your cycling gear creeping into your normal clothing, it starts with socks, then jerseys and eventually you will find yourself in a pub on a saturday evening in November in jeans, cycling jersey, softshell, with your winter gloves in one pocket and your beanie in the other.

AchillesLeftKnee

shortcuts wrote:

I have lycra shorts but always (atm) wear track suit bottoms over them. More of an 'image' thing I think as I have skinny legs and at 59 years of age just can't bring myself not to cover the lycra. When, I wonder, will I have the bottle to stop doing that and embrace the MAMIL persona? :shock:

Oh, get yer legs out! I mean, it can't be worse than the bloke below, can it? He's got his skinny legs out, and he's wearing pro kit, and he's got the cheek to be wearing a proper yellow jersey, and he's riding a Dogma so is bound to upset the Anti-Dentist Front.

shortcuts

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

shortcuts wrote:

I have lycra shorts but always (atm) wear track suit bottoms over them. More of an 'image' thing I think as I have skinny legs and at 59 years of age just can't bring myself not to cover the lycra. When, I wonder, will I have the bottle to stop doing that and embrace the MAMIL persona? :shock:

Oh, get yer legs out! I mean, it can't be worse than the bloke below, can it? He's got his skinny legs out, and he's wearing pro kit, and he's got the cheek to be wearing a proper yellow jersey, and he's riding a Dogma so is bound to upset the Anti-Dentist Front.

LOL.

navrig

Comfort, comfort and comfort.


Go out on a roadbike for a longish, hilly ride in anything but lycra and eventually you will start to feel uncomfortable. It could be due to:

build up of sweat and moisture,
sore backside,
too much resistance around the knees from baggie trousers (there's a song in there),
too cold from windchill on damp clothing,
too hot because your clothing is bulky and you cannot take it off to help temp control.

etc, etc.

davep1

I used to have a pair of "touring shorts" about 20 years ago, kind of baggy, handy pockets on each leg as well as the usual pockets, but with a pad in the crotch/butt area. They also had a seam which went vertically from this pad up the back of the garment, and I didn't know but it was causing me a problem which took a few weeks or even months to come out. In what you might call my...er...lower back, or crack for want of a better word, this seam was rubbing and it turned into a nasty sore which the medical people call a pilonidal sinus; and the only way to sort it out is to hack it out and let it heal over a 2-3 week period. Not nice!

But I just find lycra comfier now, when you start riding you don't think about it, but when I wear baggies on the bike, the flapping above my knees does my head in. And the jerseys with the long back, pockets, and zip at the front for cooling are just good for the job.

jamie1012

It feels better.

Mindermast

There no need to wear lycra on a race bike, but it turned out to be a very useful fabric for this purpose and therefore most clothes are made out of lycra and similar materials. The main objective of sports-wear is to be comfortable, deal with sweat and let the wearer move freely. Bikers also want low wind resistance, therefore it should be fairly skin-tight. On a road bike, you also need a longer back and it turned out, that the best place for a pocket is on the back of the jersey. Finally, padded shorts allow for much longer rides. I wouldn't know any advantage of lycra socks, but I am not sure if they even exist in the cycling world.

Padded shorts make a real big difference. It doesn't need to be pampers style, even a thin pad (formerly made from soft leather) helps. And this is supposed to be the only layer between you and the saddle - no wrinkles, no annoying seams, no sticking to the skin and no raw meat on the inside of the thighs. So padded shorts are extremely useful, while anything else is just useful but not necessary. Actually, the rear pocket of the jersey is very useful to carry small snacks and the like. Money and mobile phone is better kept in a saddle-bag, along witht the spare tube and the tyre levers.

The more you ride, the more you will find out, what is useful and what is not.

mike6

apreading wrote:

mike6 wrote:

apreading wrote:

mike6 wrote:

...the first thing I did was remove the peak from my helmet, what is the function of that peak? No one has been able to explain that to me.

When I was out ona ride with a mate who didnt have a peak and it started snowing, he couldnt see where he was going and got a v cold face, while my peak was able to shield me from the worst of that. Does a similar job in rain too.

But it snows and rains on the road and you never see a roadie with a peak. I suspect, like the baggies, it is probably a fashion thing.

NOT wearing it is more like a fashion thing - it DOES work. Roadies wear a peaked cap underneath the helmet (or instead of) if they want a peak like http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueP ... tAodploA9g.

No I dont. If its really cold I wear a thermal skull cap, thats how you keep the head warm. Some pro's wear there sponsors caps under the helmet. If its just for rain and snow why do mtb riders have them attached all the time.

diy

While my bibs are more comfy, I really don't get the problem with poor fitting baggies. I find the short liner a pretty good fit. I also find that baggies are better in muddy, brambly conditions where bibs would get destroyed. The peak keeps the sun and the odd branch out of your eyes.

ct8282

diy wrote:

While my bibs are more comfy, I really don't get the problem with poor fitting baggies. I find the short liner a pretty good fit. I also find that baggies are better in muddy, brambly conditions where bibs would get destroyed. The peak keeps the sun and the odd branch out of your eyes.

Well you must be riding on some funny roads. I'm sure the op said 'new to road. Why wear Lycra?'

diy

My comment was more in response to baggies being a fashion thing.

overlord2

apreading wrote:

Roadies wear a peaked cap underneath the helmet (or instead of) if they want a peak like http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueP ... tAodploA9g.

I prefer a buff looks cooler and performs better than a cap, and can be bought at the market for £1.00. And can be used as a bandage in emergencies win-win.

chris_bass

I wear lycra because it isn't socially acceptable to cycle naked...... Apparently