[Closed] Normal person cycling....

I find I get friendlier interactions with folk on shared paths when in normal clothes

It's lovely, isn't it? I've got into using a basic step through for popping into town because

a) it's got a chainguard on it so I don't get too scruffy
b) it's only got a bloomin' detachable basket on the front! (ideal for Lidl)
c) mudguards
d) it was cheap and it's really unsexy so nobody will nick it

No lid either. Using a bike should be seen as a safe, everyday occurrence, not something you need to buy special (safety) equipment for.

Thinking about normal person commuting more and more these days. Need to get a different bike, though - on a precursa atm, which ain't the right tool for that job.

Basic conundrum for me is that speed = safety on our roads, IME. I'm certain that bimbling in on my suburban/urban commute would be less safe.

I have a belt drive on my beast so normal trousers/jeans aren't a problem. Make life easier and when I walk into places i get loads of "Not on the bike today?" comments. It's a four mile ride to town and even with the different mindset of not hammering it I'm only a couple of minutes slower.

I find I get friendlier interactions with folk on shared paths when in normal clothes

That's the problem with those biege overcoats TJ.

If I go into town on bike ( which I do regularly always wear normal clothes although my jackets are a decent comprimise. just tuck my jeans into my socks. Couldn't imagine walking around looking like a cyclist. Would be very embarrasing.

I used to 'normal person' commute. It makes so much more sense IMO for short distances <10k and I am considering getting the old bike back into service (or maybe buying a new/new to me commuter as the repair cost might not be economical)

- Nice ladies step through frame. Possible to cycle in skirt for work.
- Pannier rack and basket - pannier racked used with a stylish leather satchel/laptop bag with pannier clips. Totally possible to carry home a couple of bags of shopping in the basket if pop into waitrose after work. Alternative supermarkets available. Have actually even carried home things from work like a new 9kg tent on the bike!
- Mud guards
- Very comfy ladies saddle for a ladies bottom - no padded shorts required
- Permanent lights on a dynamo
- No dramas carrying 2 decent locks, and no dramas locking the bike up outside shop, bar, restaurant. Whilst IMO all bikes in london are a theft risk, this was not the most high risk.
- No actual need for a shower when I get to work - cycle in a lightweight tshirt and just change work top on arrival (sometimes not even that). Massive time saver.
- Cars generally give you a much wider birth when you bike in a summer dress with long hair flowing behind you, than they do dressed in Lycra and all fluroed up.
- No stupid clip in shoes for the traffic light-tastic commute

I have actually compared my commute times between full roadie and my ladies-commuter and they are not _dramatically_ different. What with all the traffic lights and stop starts anyway, and needing to shower after sprinting in dressed in full lycra.

Also if you come a cropper on the ladies-commuter people are very nice to you, even if you're responsible for bringing down about 12 men in lycra who were in the Cable Street cycle super highway 'peleton' behind you (that blue paint is sloppy in the wet!)

My carbon road bike is more fun, way more fun, and much faster if I can actually ride it but I increasingly think it is best used for the weekends long rides instead.

Basic conundrum for me is that speed = safety on our roads, IME. I’m certain that bimbling in on my suburban/urban commute would be less safe.

Tend to agree with this although does depends on the roads and conditions.

I love seeing those commuting ladies bikes, with ladies wearing normal clothes.

I love 'normal cycling'...albeit on a kona ute.
The front half is just 'normal bike' and it's so relaxed to have the 'sit up and beg'bars etc!

Meh..we're all just cyclists in the end!

DrP

I don't wear much in the way of cycling clothes. It's a case of dress for the mountain, not the bike.

Whereas ... I used to commute (and do work visits) much more regularly in 'normal' clothes, but ended up not finding jeans/shirts/cotton-based polo shirts particularly comfortable when cycling, even at a modest pace. Also, like to mix up some trails into the commute, and even in the driest weather, there's always a bit of mud-splatter. So now, invariably, I wear cycling gear.

There are other factors at work here, so it's not just clothing ...

1. My work is now more office-based, so don't mind the wash down & change of clothing at either end of the day.

2. My 'sensible' commuter bike (guards & rack) is also a bit heavy and dull to ride, so I generally choose the funerer bike ... as this doesn't have guards or a rack, I carry a rucksack so clothes get sweaty/muddy/wet to a greater or lesser extent.

3. The most direct commute is 10km. But horrible, busy roads. So most of the time, I take a longer, quiter route (13-25km), mixed surfaces, and it just makes more sense to ride in cycling gear and change into fresh clothes at work.

b) it’s only got a bloomin’ detachable basket on the front! (ideal for Lidl)

I've been looking at a Head tube mounted rack like this:

On to which I plan to zip-tie a plastic crate of some sort for shopping/Misc bags etc.

No lid either. Using a bike should be seen as a safe, everyday occurrence, not something you need to buy special (safety) equipment for.

I don't think cycling is seen as unsafe because some people choose to wear a helmet, it's seen as unsafe because of ****s in cars. Cars come with safety belts, airbags and antilock brakes and driving is considered a safe everyday occurrence.

https://www.dutchbikebits.com/steco-headtube-mounting-rack

Cool, but 1.7kgs....!

– Cars generally give you a much wider birth when you bike in a summer dress with long hair flowing behind you, than they do dressed in Lycra and all fluroed up.

Great tip! I’ll give it a try!

Does it matter if the long hair is growing from your chin?

Klunk - actually the research specifically makes this clear. In the UK cycling is seen as dangerous at least in part because of the advocacy for helmets

specifically makes this clear

at least in part because of the advocacy for helmets

so clear

helmets save lives. It's simple if you ride on the road. Wear a helmet. How can wearing a helmet make cycling seem unsafe?

Because it does. Making people think they need a helmet for what is a safe activity leads people to believe its unsafe when it is not. Simple. this puts people off cycling and thus increases diseases of activity. so helmet promotion costs lives.

Does it matter if the long hair is growing from your chin?

Better than your builder's cleavage I suppose.

all my cycling is normal person cycling.

why people feel the need to wear a uniform to cycle in confuses me.

and I never want to be 'that **** in lycra'.

Does it matter if the long hair is growing from your chin?

Nope. As long as you looks suitably eccentric 🙂

Optimal transition time is about 6km for slow and no change vs. fast and shower.

This might change with an e-bike for example which would increase speed for effort and hence remove the need for shower at a slightly faster speed.

The more people see someone pottering about on a bike, sans lid and special shoes, the more people may take it up and the more 'normal' it will become. I'm not anti-lid as such, I'll wear one if I'm arsing about on my MTB because I enjoy being able to chew my own food, ta, but for just pottering about the onus should definitely be on those less vulnerable road users (ie those using motorised vehicles, two wheeled or four) to make the place safer for people walking and people on bicycles, not the other way round.

I hope an ebike will make normal person cycling over long distances more viable. I currently pootle along the canal tow path to commute to work. 9 miles takes an hour but I'm just a little too sweaty to get away without showering. If an ebike could bring that down to 40 minutes or let me get away without showering it's all worth it.

Another change that might be worthwhile is replacing rear panniers with a rear basket. You can just drop shopping or a backpack in there and not spend time packing/unpacking panniers at either end.

Whoa there Kids!

I didn't intend this to stray into helmet debate territory.
Maybe we all just agree to disagree and move on?

Cool, but 1.7kgs….!

Yep, but it's hardly a svelte racing machine, weight isn't really a concern and TBH if I don't clamp a rack to the Head tube I'll be breaking out the welder so something is projecting past the Headtube to support a box/crate or whatever, so clamping it on is a bit less drastic.

Optimal transition time is about 6km for slow and no change vs. fast and shower.

I'd agree with that (todays trundle was only slightly above that distance) but I think there's a couple of other factors in there:

1) Type of bike; Head down, arse up position and you'll naturally want to exert some effort, but being sat up and just rolling in a sensible gear lowers the risk of working up a sweat...
2) Terrain; if it's nice and flat for most of the route it also reduces the likelihood of arriving in a sweaty mess.
3) Weather; Mid-summer when it's really warm/humid it's hard not to get a bit warm, in which case there's an argument for either wearing different clothes (maybe not bike specific) and/or at least having a change of shirt, some baby wipes and an emergency roll-on waiting in the office...

I do think some special commuting trousers might be an interesting thing to try and design for someone (probably not me): Office appropriate "Smart casual" in appearance, easy to roll up legs for hot days, rub/abrasion resistant material, seams designed for minimum scrotal region chaffage.
Now if only there were some sort of cycling equipment/trouser designer who could be summoned simply by typing his name on an MTB forum...

I've been doing this for a while now, not riding a step through city bike though. I find it hard not to get sweaty even if I'm taking it easy. Not that I'm very fast but my habitual level of effort on the bike seems to be slightly too far past walking pace equivalent.

I bought a kona minute off eBay for cycling up to the shops/ work and picking one of the kidz up from school. It’s great, mudguards, massive panniers the lot. Almost feel Dutch. Loads of space for work stuff, shopping and my daughter.

i'll own up to owning a pair of spd sandals

Sorry, I didn't mean to carry the helmet point on, I was just trying to clarify my point.

The basket on mine clips into a headtube mounted frame but I use a bungee to hold lighter stuff down otherwise it bounces all over the place when I ride over bumpy stuff (crappy surfaces, kerbs, that sort of carry on). We've got panniers that can go on my klunk* or the tandem (fully sorted for the coming apocalypse with mudguards, a rack and a bell!) and OH has a crate bolted to the rack of his klunk that can carry a fair bit of shopping/roadkill**.

* we call our normal person bikes 'klunks'.

** not really.

If an ebike could bring that down to 40 minutes or let me get away without showering it’s all worth it.
As long as you don't have that thing that I do - it's not the effort of riding that makes me sweat, so much as when I arrive, coming from moving cooler air outside, to still warm air inside. Soon as I sit at my desk I sweat even if I haven't on the ride in! Ebike wouldn't help there.

I do think some special commuting trousers might be an interesting thing to try and design for someone (probably not me): Office appropriate “Smart casual” in appearance, easy to roll up legs for hot days, rub/abrasion resistant material, seams designed for minimum scrotal region chaffage.
Now if only there were some sort of cycling equipment/trouser designer who could be summoned simply by typing his name on an MTB forum…

^^^ Yeah @brant ... How about an On One / Hebtroco mash-up.

I agree. I have periodically looked at cycling-focussed 'normal' clothes, or more office-acceptable cycling clothes, and there's not a lot out there, and what there is is pretty pricey (bear in mind my clothing budget is spent at Asda/Tesco/H&M/Primark (normal) and Aldi/PX/Decathlon (cycling).

A lightweight, stretchy, semi-technical smart 'jeans/chinos and a semi-technical, stretchy merino blend 'normal' shirt for under £80 total would do it for me ...

I just had a lovely klunk into town earlier, it's a smashing way to travel and is probably as quick as driving in once you factor junctions and parking into it. Plus, skids and wheelies on a shopper are always entertaining 😆

I agree. I have periodically looked at cycling-focussed ‘normal’ clothes, or more office-acceptable cycling clothes, and there’s not a lot out there, and what there is is pretty pricey (bear in mind my clothing budget is spent at Asda/Tesco/H&M/Primark (normal) and Aldi/PX/Decathlon (cycling).

A lightweight, stretchy, semi-technical smart ‘jeans/chinos and a semi-technical, stretchy merino blend ‘normal’ shirt for under £80 total would do it for me …

^This!

Although my office has just toned down the dress code which opens up more options.

Another day of fair weather commuting dressed like a regular Human and I honestly think my mood is substantially better for it... I have to drive tomorrow though.

Right now my only concerns are:

1) How long the old 23mm Schalbe blizzard on the front is going last on rough armoured towpaths (plus I'd like a bit more comfort) I reckon it could squeak some 32s in.

2) Gearing: 44-16 is OK at present on a mostly flat route with one shortish climb but once the weather get warmer and/or I want to tackle some of the inclines round town with a little bit of luggage I think a marginally lower gear would be a good plan, I've a 39t ring that will fit and that lops 8 inches off the current ratio.

A lightweight, stretchy, semi-technical smart ‘jeans/chinos and a semi-technical, stretchy merino blend ‘normal’ shirt for under £80 total would do it for me

Yeah that kind of thing. I'm currently wearing a pair of denim chino/drainpipe type smart-ish trousers, they're quite easy to pull up over my calf and look like a sort of below the knee type mens pedal pushers for riding about, but they're not really designed for pedalling, and more than about 5 miles and they will be getting uncomfortable, once the weather heats up that range will drop.

As for shirts I'm afraid I don't really go much above Primarny level for work shirts and seldom spend more than £10 a shirt (ideally less). thin, cheap poly-cotton. I'm definately not buying a special work commuting shirt too, its easier to keep a spare rolled up in my desk drawer TBH, but the trousers make sense.

There are lots of commuting trouser options. Rapha had stuff, Howies did too (I have some)

Any stretchy chino would work fine. I cycle in these when on my brompton using public transport in combination. That is a great 'normal person cycling' bike. In fact I can't bring myself to wear lycra on the brompton, I normally wear shorts. Although in this nice weather I've been wearing cycling shorts anyway, rather than bib shorts

There are lots of commuting trouser options. Rapha had stuff, Howies did too (I have some)

But. My earlier point ...

what there is is pretty pricey (bear in mind my clothing budget is spent at Asda/Tesco/H&M/Primark (normal) and Aldi/PX/Decathlon (cycling).

According to Shimano, you should "be careful not to let the hemming of your clothes get caught in the chain while riding. Otherwise you may fall off the bicycle"

So when selecting your normal person clothes, pay particular attention to the hemming.

I have a stretchy chinos from gap. They're normal price

I'm sure M&S and next has some too

What's the point in wearing normal clothes if you have to specially select those normal clothes to be good for cycling in?

pay particular attention to the hemming.

In fairness hemmings are known for plummeting to their death in large numbers

Ahem...

A hemming about to plummet?

I was so dreamily occupied with wondering what Geex wears while commuting on his BMX that I totally forgot to wear my helmet this morning. Now I feel so liberated!

I would love to do this.

Several problems though: It's very hilly where I live, so I need a bike with lots of gears.
Hilly means I get quite sweaty (so I prefer wicking gear).
I would still need to wear padded shorts under my flowing frock.
I would still wear a helmet.

The thought of riding in a lovely floral dress, with an old fashioned basket on the front of the step through bike really appeals.

What’s the point in wearing normal clothes if you have to specially select those normal clothes to be good for cycling in?

So you can be both comfy when cycling AND not have to change on arrival at work 🙂

So you can be both comfy when cycling AND not have to change on arrival at work 🙂

Staying in my lycra achieves the same thing with the added bonus of minimising people interrupting me to ask things like "did you get my email"

I was so dreamily occupied with wondering what Geex wears
[s] while commuting on his BMX that I totally forgot to wear [/s] my helmet
[s] this morning. [/s] Now
[s] I [/s] feel s
[s] o [/s] liberated!

Regrettably that's all I can read there and it's very disturbing.

Off to Netherlands with the family for half term, can't wait. Riding from our door straight into the forest, local towns and places of interest - all in complete safety and for my family in normal clothes. Unfortunately I will be wearing lycra as I've been entered in a xc/gravel race......

My mother in law (Dutch) rides around 70km a week yet like most dutchies doesn't consider herself a 'cyclist'

@dangeourbrain 🙂

bunnyhop - step through ladies bikes are still geared. Nothing stopping you slowly going up a hill or two.