Jersey & Bib Shorts – Matching or not?!?

There’s a guy that’s been
There’s a guy that’s been turning up on club runs recently that could test the sartorial tolerance of the best of you. Old baggy sleeveless top worn under a slightly ropy set of bib shorts. As he has no pockets, he keeps a banana and other food inside his shorts.

And, though it’s not that demanding a ride really (as in, I’m not the fittest person in the world and don’t struggle) he drops out the back any time the road goes a bit up. On a “no drop” ride that’s a lot of waiting for him to catch back up.

Sometimes I wear Tesco with
Sometimes I wear Tesco with my Halfords or Sports Direct. 😀

The utter hypocrisy of some
The utter hypocrisy of some people here is ridiculous.
So you can wear an old team kit as long as it has disbanded but can’t wear it went the team is riding, so when the kit is actually in shops and available you can’t support the team. So you decide you support a team and buy the kit to keep in the wardrobe for X number of years hoping that your favourite team disbands or changes their name completely.
So you can pay to be in a club and pay the club for kit, but someone not in a club can’t pay to show support for a team they follow. And yes feel like a little bit of kudos rubs off on them that makes them go 2% faster.

Funnily enough all my team kits are now retro but that wouldn’t stop me buying new ones (the more the merrier/always have clean kit.) Why would you go out of you way to buy or wear something that isn’t matching or at least coordinating? When I see someone out in the country wearing a pro kit or club kit that isn’t flapping around, on a road bike not a MTB, I NEVER think that this is some noddy wannabee*; it actually takes a bit of bravery and intent to kit yourself out in all lycra with cleats and mitts and everything else. It isn’t step one of cycling. A few years ago I passed a young guy on a sportive wearing converse basketball boots on some flat handlebar city bike; needless to say I hope he grew up to be a FKW and is now going twice as fast and faster than me.

When I am out wearing my team kits there is no-one else around wearing what I am wearing. I stand out if only because I am not wearing a yellow jacket and black tights or some other generic kit. I definitely feel crispy wearing matching kit. 99.9% of people I pass haven’t got a clue what I am wearing or could tell the difference between pro or club kit. I am wearing for me not you. And if you happen to give a fig about it sneer all you want, I am probably pitying you for the pathetic mishmash of clothing you are wearing. Bibs are faster than jeans for a start.

FYI some of the Skyboys around my way are actually from Team Sky so good luck pegging them back.

*Beardy fixies are the ones you want to be careful of.

The _Kaner wrote:

I AM RAPHARTACUS!

HalfWheeler wrote:Not my cup

HalfWheeler wrote:

Not my cup of tea but each to their own.

Personally speaking I think wearing what is essentially a mobile advertising billboard for either a Belgian lottery company, French supermarket, German phone company, etc etc is a bit odd.

Yeah it is decidedly odd and as truffy said, you often pay quite a chunk for the privilege.

However…. this summer I was after a decent pair of bib shorts for hotter weather (oh the irony now…) and the Endura Movistar team kit kept hitting all the right buttons. Given it is supposedly exactly the same as the kit that Movistar use (good pads, ColdBlack etc) and not some over-priced pastiche, it seems to be extremely reasonably priced, especially as it always seems to be on offer (70 odd quid for the bibs and 50/55 quid for a top). I generally dis-like logos on clothing on general but… I was getting tempted.

Alas thus far i’ve bottled getting the bibs, or jersey, primarily because I think i’d feel like a plonker. I don’t normally give a damn what people think about the clothes I wear, and never have done, so this is somewhat odd – there is some technically excellent kit at a decent price that i’m looking for and would actually be of use to me, but i’m not getting it. Feels pretty stupid state of affairs to me.. any thoughts yes or no ?

That’s exactly what I mean –
That’s exactly what I mean – you have chosen to buy rapha gear – nice clothing , yet you worry about other people think – jesus man – f*** em !

Only team kit I have is
Only team kit I have is really obscure, or retro, or my club.

I am an advocate of wear what you want, on the basis we all look daft.

….until yesterday when I seen a guy in full sky kit, including the helmet, he looked like a tit….as he was riding a Trek!

I’m a MKW (a mixed kit
I’m a MKW (a mixed kit wanker).
Full Santini Haru Aquazero – no club affiliation (shorts/jersey), sometimes a Santini Primo, sometimes De Marchi, sometimes PBK (inluding socks)…but always colour co-ordinated. Heaven forbid my colours don’t match.
I have full Cervo Rosso regalia, that’s my sportive gear…but don’t race (even though I was a test team member)…
Jesus – I even have full Sky kit – pro team bibs and a SUPPORTERS jersey…from a distance who can tell it’s the cheaper jersey!!??
I’ve a Chinese Ebay jersey (So Bike) that I’ve still to wear, it’s the same Red/White/Black as my Ribble – think that’ll go nicely with the Assos bibs…
I’m going to get full Road.CC gear next!
I have even been known to wear Rapha sportwool jerseys (Kelly/Van Looy/Belgian champ) with ASSOS shorts…f@ck me, I don’t know how to control myself….how can I be so awesomely co-ordinated, yet so MEDIOCRE on a bike???

BECAUSE I CAN!