[Closed] Anyone else using Baggies for the darkside?

Thing is, you can only really get away with baggies and stuff at a crit/time trial if you win, otherwise you look like a cock.

Peaked helmet is stupid, the peak gets in your way on the drops. If you're a fat basteward then baggies are probably a better bet. There are far more fat mountain bikers than roadies, which may be explain the prevalence of lycra on the road.

mtber with something to prove eh?

My peak works fine on the road but Lycra is way better than baggies.

i just use a cycling cap instead of a peak. wicks sweat away, flip the peak down when riding into the sun.
i find peaks on lids don't move far enough back when on the drops so you have to tilt your head up resulting in neck ache.

With legs like mine they are essential. 🙂

Lycra is just sooo wrong..! Last time I wore it was, like, 1995 or something, when lycra was all the rage. And now, I find myself getting slightly into the darkside of things, it just seems like a weird thing to wear on a bike.

Keep it loose, keep it chilled, keep it baggy, and avoid feeling like I'm somehow exposing myself.. 😆

Lycra is more comfortable...I tend to use Lycra shorts even for off road!

Baggies rut up and get caught on things. There is nothing more comfortable than a good pair of Lycra shorts!

the tops are a challenge with my extra body fat 🙁

Baggies are also a pain when they get wet. Are you really that insecure to think that anyone gives a flying f about what you look like?

I started off with baggies and now only ride in lycra. You get so much more comfort and speed on a ride when wearing it.

Off they go again, honestly my women friends never talk about clothes like the guys on here! Wear what feels comfortable and you like wearing. End of.

with legs as good as mine it'd be a crime not to wear lycra.

I tend to use Lycra shorts even for off road!

I've never owned a pair of baggies!

The public think you look ridiculous whatever you wear, if you're on the road in baggies your riding partners will think you look ridiculous. Lycra shorts are more comfortable and more practical.

And why do people insist on calling it the darkside?!

Baggies everytime, I know Vicky Pendleton wears lycra in her muscly thighs but I wouldn't want to cause any crashes by getting my muscly thighs out 😆
noeyeddear... do right! Early 90's look at pics of Malvern Hills Classic circa '93!! That's why they started designing baggies 🙂

cynic-al wrote-

mtber with something to prove eh?

My peak works fine on the road but Lycra is way better than baggies.

Not with my figure

[img] [/img]

Getting ready for todays ride

I usually wear baggies for commuting to work but that's cos
a) my work colleagues still (even after 2 years) find cycling incomprehensible so the lack of lycra is one less thing for them to get worked up about and
b) it's easy to put my keys and access card in the pockets so I'm not rummaging round trying to find them when I get there.

Otherwise lycra for road and for racing, not really bothered whether I wear lycra or baggies on normal MTB rides - lycra if it's hot cos it wicks well and is one less layer to wear.

Peaked helmets work fine for me on road.

dont call it the 'darkside'

its not 'hip' or 'cool'

Baggies in a crit would probably be considered dangerous. Close racing and some clown is wearing flappy clothing that could get caught on other bars/levers.

TT - Whatever but your obviously not very serious about doing the best you can so why bother.

Group Rides - Look at me look at me.

Cycling + Lycra go together like cheese and pickle. When it became de rigeur to wear baggy shorts whilst riding a bike I will never know.

Baggy shorts is for wearing on the beach, has noting to do with riding a bike. i suppose its ok to wear them whilst riding to the shops, but never on a roadbike

Take the peak off my helmet to ride on the road. If you have any kind of aero dynamic position on the drops you can't see past the peak, or you get terrible neck ache. I suspect some of the peaks and baggies riders have a 'popping down the shops' riding position on the bike.

Get some lycra on and stop being such a fashion victim.
Baggies are a fashion, they may well mark you out as a mountain biker, but the only reason to wear them is to stop wearing out your lycra shorts when it's muddy.

...and peaks on helmets? they only started as a pretend motocross thing anyway, and serve no useful purpose on or off road, other than the same tribal identifier as above.

I always thought mountain bikers had a rufty-tufty image, but since coming on here I realise there's a large amount of insecurity regarding 'oooh, what shall I wear' going on.

Tomlevell has summed it up perfectly imo with his last statement.

I think everyone just assumes you have a tiny winkle if you wear baggies on a road bike. 😀

[i]...and peaks on helmets? they only started as a pretend motocross thing anyway, and serve no useful purpose on or off road, other than the same tribal identifier as above.[/i]

Au contraire, peaks on helmets keep the sun/wind/rain/hail out of my eyes and I've honestly never had a problem with them getting in the way. Road bike position is about as aero as it can be without going full on TT.

Your not of normal proportion though ;0)

Fair point!

There are far more fat mountain bikers than roadies, which may be explain the prevalence of lycra on the road.

So true.

ajc

I think everyone just assumes you have a tiny winkle if you wear baggies on a road bike

...The trouble is - I am rather generously endowed in that department. TBH Lycra is just embarrassing in this respect, as I feel fairly self-conscious, as if I'm exposing myself in some way.

Don't get me wrong, back in the carefree days of the 90's I wore Lycra just as happily as anyone else, it's just that when baggies came along it was like a revelation - "You mean I don't have to wander around with a shiny Bratwurst clinging to my leg anymore? How refreshing..!"

It's nothing to do with fashion and more to do with just what feels personally comfortable. Besides, Lycra's just so clingy and hot. Baggies are airy and breezy. They can even be made of showerproof material and have pockets.

I ain't saying 'look at me, look at me' on club rides either; I just can't be bothered to fork out for additional (lycra) cycling kit that I won't ever feel comfortable wearing.

It's called the darkside for a reason - and I love it wholeheartedly! ..But for me, in comparison to MTB-ing, the Road is a virtually joyless and seemingly puritanical aspect of the sport of cycling that we all love. Therein lies its addictive appeal though - it's like the pure focused Zen of cycling, whether riding in baggy shorts, or not.

Yes I use baggies everywhere, never had a problem with them, I have stopped trying to make my point, don't like lycra I thing they are neither practical nor comfortable.
If you like them, wear them, if you don't then don't...
Oh and peak are all about function all about it...
Road is darkside because it will never be as fun as off road...

Can't do baggies, I've got a pair but they tend to start falling down or bunch up round me privates, get a P in the A when wet and hook up on everything from the Q/R to branches.
26 -28 MPH average in a crit means you really want to be looking at getting every advantage you can i.e lycra.
And though it probably doesn't apply to everyone racing in the drops with a peak fitted causes me proper neck ache.
That and it looks proper bonkers, all that technical loviness being hampered by leg parachutes.

"Lycra's just so clingy and hot."
do you really expect those who wear lycra on the road to believe that?
the reason people wear it is because it's the best tool for the job, cool when it needs to be and warm (up to a point) when needed.
i don't have a problem with people wearing baggies on the road (wear whatever you like i couldn't care less) or choosing to not wear lycra because of their own inhibitions or sensibilities. but saying "it's clingy and hot" means 99% of roadies i saw out in the sun yesterday were wearing the wrong kind of clothing, do you really think they made a bad choice of clothing to do 50-80 miles in the sun?

26 -28 MPH average in a crit means you really want to be looking at getting every advantage you can i.e lycra.

do you really think they made a bad choice of clothing to do 50-80 miles in the sun?

one eyed guy.
Its.
not.
called.
the.
darkside.

jeesus stw mtb hardnut/trying to be cool 45yr old types who cant just get over riding a bike. does my head in.

PMSL

do you really think they made a bad choice of clothing to do 50-80 miles in the sun?

One word: TRADITION.

tradition? well lycra was invented in 1959 before that wool and real chamois(leather) was used. but cycling like many sports is constantly changing with advances in technology. if something new and better comes along then lycra will be superseded until then it's going to be used by roadies almost exclusively and not because of "tradition". i can't see baggies making any inroads for various reasons one of them being the flapping of loose fabric you get at speed.
funny how lycra made an appearance in competitive downhill until they banned the skinsuits or was that down to "tradition" and looking back to Tomac.

I love it when you come out with that juan. You sound even more like a wee boy.

Wear what you want.
Like everything there's a tool for the job, if you choose not to use it no one else will worry about it.
But they'll all know that you haven't worked it out yet.