Sticky bottle controversy hits the Giro d'Italia as fans question stage winner Filippo Zana's team car help; Reaction to British Cycling transgender policy update; Giro queen stage; Paris taken over by waves of cycling commuters + more on the live blog

Owd Big 'Ead wrote:

Paris looks fantastic.
Noteworthy that there's no lycra on show, take note UK cyclists.

Wear lycra if you want, it's your commute and (I hope) your clothes.

Just follow your arrow wherever it points* as long as it adversely affects no one.

*There's a song about this.

I've seen a few comments about wearing lycra - I feel like I have missed something?

I wear lycra shorts/leggings under some running shorts. My work clothes would end up soaked in sweat if I wore them and tracksuit bottoms end up falling down cause they are wet or getting caught in the gears.
Am I making a cycling faux pas?

Wear what ever makes the ride comfortable and enjoyable and f**k what anyone thinks.

That's a shame - I was really hoping someone would have come on with
"well actually, if you do x,y,z your cycling life will be much better"

Owd Big 'Ead wrote:

Paris looks fantastic. Noteworthy that there's no lycra on show, take note UK cyclists.

Give me a million to move back to where I was born and brought up and gentrified out of and yes, I will ditch the lycra on my commute...in the meantime I will wear lycra on my almost 40 mile round trip.

I understand what you are trying to say but honestly, very few people choose to go through all the faff on putting on cycle specific clothes that society often mocks unless there is a valid reason and/or need. In the 11 years I've been cycling / commuting very few utility cyclist champions have ever actually thought about this. They have just moaned and mocked. Not helpful.

I too have a relatively significant commute round trip(can't top yours - mine only comes in at 35 miles).  There's no f*cking way I'm doing it in work clothes (and getting there in a reasonable amount of time).  I might turn up to a Board meeting having tried it one day though, I'm sure it'd be a good look 

I do wear baggy MTB shorts on occasion, but then again usually paired with bibshorts - is stealth lycra acceptable to the fashion police do you think?

Wow! Those are amazing distances! People are surprised when I tell them I cycle 14 miles round trip - they won't believe me when I tell them people cycle 35+ miles!

I remember reading about a person walking down the street, minding their own business, when suddenly - BAM - dressed head to toe in skin tight clothing. Another victim of Stealth Lycra.

EddyBerckx wrote:

in the meantime I will wear lycra on my almost 40 mile round trip.

Isn't that the point:?  Nobody is expecting you to wear your normal clothes on a forty mile round trip.  They're just saying that you don't need to wear lycra for a two mile trip to the shops and back.  I think.

Owd Big 'Ead wrote:

Paris looks fantastic. Noteworthy that there's no lycra on show, take note UK cyclists.

So we have to wear lycra or we'll be shipped over to France?

hawkinspeter wrote:

Owd Big 'Ead wrote:

Paris looks fantastic. Noteworthy that there's no lycra on show, take note UK cyclists.

So we have to wear lycra or we'll be shipped over to France?

Wait - is this the latest measure to deter migrants on boats?

Or is this while thing a bit "no true Scotsman..."?

chrisonatrike wrote:

Wait - is this the latest measure to deter migrants on boats? Or is this while thing a bit "no true Scotsman..."?

Lycra kilts? Surely they're not going to be comfortable for cycling in.

I wear Lycra because I look so good in it.

Kapelmuur wrote:

I wear Lycra because I look so good in it.

Owd Big 'Ead wrote:

Paris looks fantastic.
Noteworthy that there's no lycra on show, take note UK cyclists.

Wear what works for you - anything's good if it helps you get cycling. Well, maybe not mankinis.

I think it's more an observation that where mass cycling *does* exist (cycling as transport, for anyone) most people appear to dress for the destination. And a push-back against a stereotype (MAMILS / sporty lycra louts etc).

Probably at least as much lycra in eg. NL (and still a fair bit of PPE-wearing in Scandinavia) but it's less noticeable in the mass of humanity on bikes wearing "normal" clothes.

My commute is 9 miles each way. I never wear lycra/spandex. I have a selection of synthetic trousers, some cycling specific but some not, which are passable in the "business casual" environment I work in. Some can be pulled up above the calf to use like knickerbockers. In warm weather, I'm wearing just a base layer like this Pearl Izumi one on top. When I get to work, once I'm cooled off (sometimes using a small desk fan) I put a collared shirt on top of the base layer. No shower, no need to go somewhere private to change.

My commute is around 52 miles, with 12 miles in the morning shared between train and bike, and the 40 miles home in the evening.

I've experimented with trousers, chinos, and jeans all with and without additional pads on the morning leg ... and it's just not comfortable.
The trousers move wrong on the leg - not to mention the rather uncomfortable seam that is right where you don't want it to be; shirts are horrible to cycle any distance in as they offer zero protection from anything.

So, for both the 12 mile leg and the 40 mile leg, I wear cycling bibs with a part of MTB shorts on over the top, and a proper jersey with pockets in the back and everything.

I get to work, get changed in the disabled loo (which being disabled I can use anyway), and repeat the process home.

I wear what I want to wear to be comfortable and safe

Vulpine have (least use to have - hopefully still do) jeans and shorts with diamond gussets, specifically so that you weren't sitting on a middle seam on your saddle.

One problem is that any kind of serious cycling will cause wear, especially on looser clothing.

In an ideal world, I'd do the 9 miles from the station to the office in office clothes and then change for the 40miles home.

But ... I quickly found that a shirt is useless, so I wore a jersey... which still meant having to get changed.
It doesn't take many seconds longer to strip off and do a full change as to just change half... so I bit the bullet and went back to cycling shorts.

One of these days, I'm going to find out that I've not fully locked the cubicle door, and someone is going to walk in at exactly the wrong moment ... should that happen, hopefully HR will be understanding ...😆😆😆

Probably wouldn't be practical but I have sometimes wondered if it would be possible for the team car to have a tray fitted over the window, rather like the ones people put their food on at drive-in cinemas, so anything the rider wants is placed on there and then they ride up and take it off without any chance of getting a tow.

Good idea in principle however considering that a race service vehicle is travelling at speed, and the driver may need to react quickly in the event of an incident (harsh braking/direction change) it might not be feasable in practice.

mmm, an Italian champion wins prestigious stage in the Giro...he's never gonna get anything more than a minor sanction for the sticky bottle incidents.

I'm sure I heard Sean Kelly on commentary wonder aloud if maybe an Italian Commissaire had been involved