Riding Clothes - In Praise of Clown Suits

kevinmccune said:
Du Cheveu? 2CV?
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So ugly that it’s cute. Citroën = lemon. I hate that I want one, but not for driving on the autobahn.
 
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Djangodog said:
Here you go.

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Video is comically Eurocentric. "I don't need to tell you what cars these are" -- not quite, since here in the colonies the majority of people have never even heard of Citroen. They'll think it's a VW Beetle which it clearly is not since you know, front-engine vs. rear and VW having twice the engine power. I only know it because unlike most of my fellow 'Muricans I've bothered leaving the country once and a while.

That and you'd have to go pre-WWII to find anything on the American market with that small an engine. Even the "tiny" and "underpowered" Crosley CC was 724cc.

The only French brand Americans might know is Renault, and you'd have to be over 40 to recognize that name given they left the American market like 30 years ago.

When it comes to small light vehicles that even American road motorcyclists would laugh at the engines, you folks across the pond had some really strange ducks in the water. That most of them got gas mileage worse than American "boats" due to having to constantly run at max RPM's to go faster than 15mph making them even more confusing.
BUT that makes them great candidates for EV conversion, doesn't it? Dry weight on the 2CV is what? 1300 pounds? What's that come in at with the engine and tranny removed?
 
Sorry for remaining off topic, but I have to share this. I saw quite a few of these in the Czech Republic. Easy to restore and dangerous to drive, but pretty cool. Fabric covered tubular steel ”car” with a 250cc or 350cc Jawa motorcycle sticking out the back end. This would probably be an interesting conversion.

No clown suit required.

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well time to change out the summer riding clothes for the winter. I miss series with their back pockets. Now I just wear a long sleeve sports shirt and a winter jersey. but I often have a jacket over that so its hard to get to the pockets. dump the bibs and go with padded underwear and thermal bib. I hate the combo two things to put on and its hard to pee. but there are few thermal bibs with padding and I already have the combo so I am stuck. thicker smart wood socks too. no variety in winter but its pointless since its always covered with a jacket.
 
fooferdoggie said:
well time to change out the summer riding clothes for the winter. I miss series with their back pockets. Now I just wear a long sleeve sports shirt and a winter jersey. but I often have a jacket over that so its hard to get to the pockets. dump the bibs and go with padded underwear and thermal bib. I hate the combo two things to put on and its hard to pee. but there are few thermal bibs with padding and I already have the combo so I am stuck. thicker smart wood socks too. no variety in winter but its pointless since its always covered with a jacket.
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Two thumbs up on those indispensable jersey pockets as my wife conveniently reaches behind and stashes her windbreaker. Still wearing the clown suits but today might have been the last time for what has been a stellar fall riding season, starting tomorrow things begin to slide.

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When it does snow and only if the roads are still bare, then a few more outings are possible before we pack it in for the season and continue our training rides indoors.

As for winter apparel, it involves more layering of light undergarments and warmer outwear to compensate for the sub-zero temps and wind chill. At least the emtb is winter prepped when it comes time to venture out on the snow/ice will which will become the norm for the next six + months. I would think that it might be easier to prepare for our dry cold weather rides here than what others do who live in the PNW. Rainy winters are something than I’m not familiar with and my hats off to those of you who continue to ride throughout those conditions.
 
fooferdoggie said:
rain is easy to deal with. but I need good gore tex not to roast. Plus rain pants that are a bit of a pain and gloves that get wet. I can't find any gloves that can handle rain every day.
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Probably 20 years ago, I was riding a charity century. It was early July, warm, humid and pouring rain. Like nearly every other participant, I headed out wearing my Gore Tex shell. By the time that I reached the first SAG, I was l nearly as wet as I would have been if I had left it off, so into the jersey pocket it went. It felt great to get that thing off and I rode the next 90 miles without any rain gear. I felt like I could breathe again. Despite the wet conditions, I finished with a 19+, (mph), average. I save the shell for temperatures below 55. When it’s 55 to 65, I wear a vest that blocks the wind on the front and is mesh on the back. It also has the three back pockets and zips fully in the front.

I probably would have been chilled if it wasn’t for the modern synthetics. I see no drawback to wearing a good jersey and cycling shorts or bibs. The clothing functions very well. When I ride the e-bike, I wear MTB shorts over the bibs, but otherwise, it’s my road bike “clown suit”. In my opinion, Louis Garneau makes excellent gloves, jerseys and shorts, (bibs in my case). They aren’t cheap, but my favorite jersey is nearly 20 years old and still going strong, so ownership has been about $3.00 a year so far.
 
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I found out a lot about goretex. the stuff thats been around for many years only starts breathing when it gets damp on the inside. so there is no way around that. but now they have several types like packlite thats really thin fully waterproof and breaths well but it is not strong. then active that breathes the best of them all but again is pretty thin only 2 layers the pro thats good for both waterproof and breathabily and durability but it is really expensive. then aother one thats mostly for wind and only water resistant but it breathes great. one i have for when it is between 50 and 60 called shakedry it breathes really well and it is waterproof and you just shake the water off of it. Plus it packs up really small not durable but great to have on hand when the weatehr can change and it fits in a small space. then they can combos of them. I found a active three layer from REI I would have gotten but it as black.
 
fooferdoggie said:
I found out a lot about goretex.
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I wore Goretex outdoors in working environments and found that body oils, especially at collars and around the neck pretty much ruins Goretex. I still have Goretex jackets and will buy them but for everyday use and extreme activity I expect failure.
 
tomjasz said:
I wore Goretex outdoors in working environments and found that body oils, especially at collars and around the neck pretty much ruins Goretex. I still have Goretex jackets and will buy them but for everyday use and extreme activity I expect failure.
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like I said it has changed a lot. Plus you need to use the high tech soap when you wash them.
 
tomjasz said:
Gore has ALWAYS warned about body oils, insect repellants, and more...
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yes and also that it will only last so long.
Part of caring for your product is maintaining the Durable Water Repellent (DWR). DWR is necessary for the product to perform as intended, but it’s not permanent. Regular wear and tear, plus exposure to dirt, detergents, insect repellent, and other impurities can shorten its lifespan. The good news is that following our care instructions can often solve this problem and when necessary, reapplying DWR is easy. However, an old or heavily worn garment may no longer bead water, even after proper care and a DWR treatment, indicating that the product has reached the end of useful life.
 
fooferdoggie said:
yes and also that it will only last so long.
Part of caring for your product is maintaining the Durable Water Repellent (DWR). DWR is necessary for the product to perform as intended, but it’s not permanent. Regular wear and tear, plus exposure to dirt, detergents, insect repellent, and other impurities can shorten its lifespan. The good news is that following our care instructions can often solve this problem and when necessary, reapplying DWR is easy. However, an old or heavily worn garment may no longer bead water, even after proper care and a DWR treatment, indicating that the product has reached the end of useful life.
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Bike riding and working outdoors 40-50 hours a week are different applications with differing results. FWIW not a criticism just an awareness.
 
tomjasz said:
Bike riding and working outdoors 40-50 hours a week are different applications with differing results. FWIW not a criticism just an awareness.
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yep gore-tex has a limited life span for sure. I wonder how the gore-tex pro holds up? it's really expensive.
 
Thinking of clown clothes, this past weekend I rode to a Halloween party as Mr. J. Which is fun since I can do the Mark Hamill voice.
Didn't get pictures this year, but here I am back in 2019 (and 30 pounds heavier) wearing the same getup. This time around I got the hair to actually go green, unlike this mess:

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Had a lot of people yelling compliments and "we love you" at me as I was riding around in that clown suit. Made me realize I used to think my life was a tragedy. Now I realize it's a comedy.

Also makes me think maybe I should have gone with purple and green instead of black and red on the bike. After all, green fights purple. Purple fights green. There is no other way.
 
Wow, so much emotion over what people wear and sit on when they ride!

If I wore traditional roadbike garb, anyone who saw me would be scarred for life. Otherwise, hard to think of a case for real harm to others. So where does anyone get off judging what anyone else wears on a bike??

If what you wear on your bike makes you happy, whatever the reason, wear it. Ditto for your seat. If you make a choice that turns out not to work for the way you use your bike, try something else. At that point, it's just an engineering problem.

NPR recently covered a new study on personality and longevity. The main take-away: Don't get too worked up over what other people think.
 
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