Kit
There is a youtuber who goes by Shifter that I follow loosely. He has a lot of opinions about cycling, and we share a lot of those opinions. He lives in Calgery which is flat and is sunny more than half the days of the year. His needs are different than mine, and his privilege is immense. He shook my hand one time though so we are chill. We are practiclaly best friends.
Anyway, one of the things he likes to talk about is biking in the clothes you would normally wear. This is, I think, the most important and radical point on his channel. And he talks about it a lot.
Biking in your regular clothes for non-competitive biking excursions is honestly a rarity in North America. When I get to the office in the morning, I often get 2 questions:
You biked to work? In this weather??
Did you change in the locker room? Wait…you biked in that??
Yes. I wore the clothes I was already gonna wear at work. Wild.
Now, speaking of checking your privilege, I should mention to anyone who doesn’t live on the west coast that “work attire” means something Very Different over here than it does in a lot of places in the world. Our most formal “work attire” in Seattle would be considered “office casual” in a lot of other cities. If you see someone even wearing a button down (like, not a flannel. an actual button down) you might think “damn, that person is trying today”. Seeing a blazer or even, allah forgive me, a suit jacket and slacks is enough to make you do a double take. Are they going to a wedding after this? How are you going to hike after work in that?
So when I say “I bike to work and I don’t change my outfit when I get there” what I really mean is “no one is going to think its weird that i am at the office in jeans and a t-shirt, they are just happy that I showered.”
Idiots, honestly. I shower in the evening.
Anyway, lycra is the funniest thing in the world to me. It is the most unflattering clothing ever designed. Sure, it has technical functionalities. Lycra is aerodynamic. It breaths good and helps with sweat kind of. And it can help with chaffing, especially if you fill it full of anti-chaffing cream. And look, every body is different. If you really cant bike with regular pants and not end up with a rash, then you do you. But two things: 1. there is no way that is why most people are wearing it. We all know they think it makes them a more “serious” cyclist or whatever and 2. If you are just worried about rashes, then why the FUCK are you wearing the lycra shirt. You look fucking ridiculous. And I see so many stupid fucks on the bike paths in the summer in their “full kit” that they got COVERED IN SPONSERS as if they are in the fucking tour. Oh, are you sponsored bro? Really? All of you? This is embarrassing. You are all so embarrassing. Wear a normal fucking shirt for the love of god.
I rode the fucking Seattle to Portland bike ride, a 2 day and 210 mile bike ride, in 100 degree heat. You know what I wore? Regular shorts and a cotton t-shirt. No padding. No cream stuffed down my pants. And yet no rashes and I wasn’t overheating. I was just fine. Again, every body is different, and I’m sure there are plenty of people who need the shorts and the padding. Fine. But come on. I’m a sweaty fucking guy. I straight up don’t believe that I’m this super rare guy who doesn’t need these things. If you are uncomfortable on your bike, and you haven’t tried a bunch of different saddles, saddle heights, and handlebar setups, I would start there. A properly fitted bike should be ride-able all day long without making you sore (other than your muscles). Don’t go drop a couple hundred dollars on a lycra kit just because the pros do. You are not a pro.
And now to address the elephant in the room: clip-less pedals and the shoes people where to ride them. I’m sorry but there really isn’t a good excuse for them. If you think there is, I promise you, there isn’t.
“They let you use the upstroke as well as the downstroke”. No they don’t. However, cycling shoes do give you a power transfer efficiency bonus while you are pedaling during high intensity cycling, but not because you are clipped in. Cycling shoes are a lot stiffer than regular sneakers, and you end up losing energy to the bending of the sole of the shoe. You can get cycling specific flat pedal shoes (regular looking shoes with a stiff sole) that achieve the same efficiency gains if that matters to you. Unless you are competing or doing a lot of really long climbs, it probably shouldn’t.
“They let me jump my bike over curbs and on mountain bike trails easier” You are doing jumps wrong if you think this. Proper jump form is the same with or without clip-less pedals. And guess what? Doing crazy shit on a bike is MUCH safer when your feet aren’t literately clipped into the fucking pedals.
“They allow me to keep my foot in the optimal position for longer rides with perfect consistency” Ok, I can see this one being important for some people. Particularly long distance riders with bad knee pain. This is a rarity though and 90% of riders should really just get grippier flat pedals to keep their feet in place.
I’m really just so against clip-less because they are unironically very dangerous and way more people are using them than there is any excuse for. Mountain biking clipped in is insane to me. Seeing people fall over and hurt themselves at stoplights downtown because they were sold something they don’t need that makes cycling harder for no reason is sad. Hearing the clacking noise these roadies make when they come waddling in to the coffee shop looking like they just learned how to walk is annoying as hell.
Just wear your normal fucking shoes stop buying all this crap you don’t need so that you can “improve your cycling”. What are you fucking improving? Your speed? You aren’t, but even if you were, why? Who on this entire planet fucking cares? Improve your experiences instead, dude. Go bikepacking. Go explore the city with your friends. Be comfortable the whole time. Look your best. Feel your best. Focus on the experience, not on the things you can buy. Especially not all this plastic crap that you’ll need to buy all over again in a few years. Enjoy your life as free of consumerism as possible or I am going to fucking bully you and you fucking deserve it. Fuck you.
Side observation:
Subgroups with aesthetically pleasing styles get copied into other trends. Motorcyclists? You see regular clothes trying to cop that style all over the place. Leather jackets, thick denim, etc. Trucker jackets and hats have woven themselves into regular fashion. Skater fashion was, at least for a while, everywhere. Lots of regular clothes try to emulate cowboy styling. Lumberjack flannels. Hiker gorpcore. Carpenter pants. Baseball caps. The list goes on and on.
You know what you don’t see fucking ANYWHERE in everyday fashion? This:
