Cycling gear maniacs who delight in tech talk debate cog sizes and stem lengths, as if metal defines comfort when you're rolling out the miles. But for most of us, fabric defines the pleasure of our ride.
Let's start from the bottom up. This is where you meet the bike saddle, a vital pressure point for the five or six hours you are actually putting the bike down the road. The most comfortable cycling shorts are made of six, or better yet eight, separate panels, shaped with a stretchy fabric to create a skin-tight, nonbinding garment. The back should be relatively high to keep the shorts from pulling down when you're bent over the handlebars. A smooth and seam less or flat-seamed "chamois," once leather but now usually a synthetic pad treated with an antibacterial, forms a cushioning and sweat-absorbent crotch. The lower leg hem lightly grips your upper leg to reduce friction and chafing. Some shorts have an elastic waistband, others built-in suspenders creating a bib. They're worn without underwear.
Traditionally, shorts are black, which doesn't show greasy hand marks from when you grabbed your chain or the smudges and guck you pick up along the road.
Some more modest folks prefer "baggies," classic cycling shorts attached within loose, long-legged shorts. Look for them in the mountain-bike clothing section. Many women choose a "skort," classic cycling shorts wrapped inside a short skirt. While several companies sew them, the only women that wear them have used Terry Bicycle garments. Team Estrogen is a Web-based retailer offering a wide range of female-specific clothing, including skorts.
Most shorts come to just above the knee to prevent your thighs from chaf ing against the saddle or top tube. Knickers have a slightly longer leg, covering your knees. If mornings are cool, this keeps your knee joints warm. If mornings are nippy, tights will cover you from ankle to waist. Think Lycra or Spandex pantyhose. Most tights don't have a chamois and are worn over shorts. Some tights, normally a heavier weight and with a wind-block or rain-repellant front, do come with a chamois and are worn in lieu of shorts.
Leg warmers are a practical alternative to tights. They are just the legs from a pair of tights, and extend from your ankle up to and under the leg hem of your shorts. The elastic band of the hem holds the tights in place. Well-thought-out warmers have a zipper at the ankle, allowing you to remove them without taking off your shoe. They offer almost the warmth of tights in a pack age you can stuff into a jersey pocket for quick changes.
Top off your outfit with a bicycle jersey. Today's materials wicks sweat away from your skin, stretch to allow a full range of unconstrained motion, and don't flap annoyingly in the wind. Most will have two or three pockets in the back. Some people have a couple of jerseys with zippered pockets, but most utilize an elastic top. They can stick a Gore-Tex jacket or vest in one pocket and a plastic bag of Fig New-tons in another and still have room for a plastic bag holding a few bucks, their ID, and a couple of individually packaged baby wipes.
The zipper at the neck should close snugly but be easy to open for venting off heat in a climb. Some people have a short zipper on their long-sleeved winter or cool-weather jersey, but others like a zipper that opens down to somewhere between their sternum and navel when riding in the heat.
Bright-colored jerseys are more than a fashion statement. Any edge you can give yourself in the visibility game is worth it. A club or team jersey is an introduction when touring in Europe, while copying the clothing from a pro team is, well—if you can't do the walk, don't do the talk. A club jersey marks you as a serious cyclist.
Jerseys seem long when you stand up, down to mid-buttock or so in the back. They'll ride up a bit when you're on your bike but will still be long enough to cover your back. Long sleeves versus short sleeves are a matter of preference. It is a good idea to always adjusting things to keep at a comfortable temperature, so you should usually wear a short-sleeved jersey and carry arm warmers on a cool morning. Long sleeves don't give that option. But in the winter or early spring, the long sleeves are nice.
A lightweight vest of Gore-Tex or similar breathable material is great for lay ering and will shed wind and light drizzle. It'll also fit in a jersey pocket for quick changes. A jacket of similar material is super for a cool morning or when caught in a drizzle. If it's pouring, and thus cool, some riders prefer a big, loose, long waterproof jacket with a snug neck, a long tail to keep spray off their back, and zippers under the arms for ventilation, such as the Burley bicycle rain jacket. Rain pants will keep you dry, but most cyclists prefer tights when caught in the rain.
Booties fit over your ankles and shoes, with a cutout on the bottom for your cleats. They won't keep you totally dry in a deluge or toasty in a frigid winter blast, but they will raise your comfort level. In a pinch, you can slip on plastic bread sacks or small grocery bags and seal the tops with rubber bands around the ankles.
You have two choices when it comes to shoes: road or mountain. Road shoes are light, have a rigid sole for maximum cycling efficiency, a very narrow heel to keep your foot away from the chain and to pare away weight, and are miserable for walking. Mountain bike shoes tend to be heavier, have slightly more flexible soles and wider heels for walking, and aren't as efficient in trans mitting your energy to the pedal. While touring, a lot of riders prefer a mountain bike shoe, although some riders find the very small surface of some pedals uncomfort able with the flexible sole. It can feel like stepping on a pebble, so put plenty of miles on your shoes and pedals before starting a long tour.
You wear fingerless cycling gloves for three darned good reasons. One, the cushioning and padding in the glove protects your palm and the nerves run ning between the ball of your thumb and the outside edge. You really don't want numb hands while riding. The padding also cushions your hands and arms from some of the road shock. Two, gloves protect your hands from wind and sun. Three, and hopefully you won't have to learn this, a glove will protect your fragile palm if you wreck. You can still ride with a palm gouged by road rash, but it's extremely uncomfortable.
Cycling gloves also give you distinctive tan lines—tan fingers and wrist and a tan oval on the pale back of your hand. It's the equivalent of a secret frater nity handshake and serves as an introduction to other avid cyclists. Long gloves with fingers are neat for cold-weather riding, but it's hard to find ones with comfortable padding. If you start riding in the chill morning and continue into the heat of the day, you'll need both long and fingerless gloves. Or pick up a pair of polypro liner gloves—about $10 or so—and wear them over your fin gerless gloves. They are small and light and you can stick them in a pocket when the temperature rises.
Sunglasses are vital. They should protect you from the sun and be impact resistant to guard against flying debris. They should be light and should fit under your helmet. Lenses should wrap around to give you side protection. If you wear expensive prescription glasses, consider safety glasses designed to fit over them. A lot of people wear contacts when they ride, not out of vanity, but for the protec tion offered by their sunglasses. Some sunglasses and protective-eye wear makers offer prescription lenses in their sunglasses.
You can wear dark, UV-blocking glasses during the day. Come evening or when rid ing under flat, gray light or in the wet, you can switch to light yellow shooting glasses. Light yellow and pale orange glasses tend to increase contrast and provide a better picture of the road.
Some riders wear a sweatband in the heat and switch to skier-type ear-warmers when the temperature drops. Others wear a thin fleece skullcap when it's cool. Funky bike caps offer a wee bit of insulation as well as a tiny bill. You can also fit a fabric cover over your helmet to block the vents for a warmer and drier ride.
Helmets
Your bicycle helmet should have a Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) sticker showing that it meets safety standards. If your helmet is less than three years old and has an American Society for Testing and Materials or a Snell Foundation sticker, it meets CPSC standards.
A white helmet offers the best visibility, night or day, and it wouldn't hurt to add several swatches of reflective tape. It should be so darn comfortable that you wear it every time you're on a bike. A properly fitting helmet reduces the risk of serious head injury by 85 percent and brain injury by 88 percent.
Most helmets are called road, mountain, or sport helmets. That's just styling, though, as all offers the same protection. Way more important is fit. Your helmet should ride even and level on your head, with the front edge rest ing just above your eyebrows. It should be snug, but not aggressively so.
Helmets are typically made with a foam liner within a thin plastic shell and are designed to crumple in a wreck. They come in different sizes, with a collec tion of fitting pads and adjustable straps to fit your particular head size and shape. The better ones have an adjustable retention device at the back to fine-tune the fit. Vents direct air flow over your head, cooling you and carrying off heat. Almost any helmet is going to be cooler than riding bareheaded. Today's helmets are light. A good helmet might weigh only 10 to 12 ounces and will lighten your wallet by $30 to $80.
Test the fit by holding your helmet firmly in place, chin strap disconnected, and attempt to turn your head from side to side. Next, tip your head up and down. You should have less than an inch of movement each way. If the helmet moves enough to expose your forehead or cover your eyes, you need to adjust the straps or possibly change the fitting pads, if it flops around a lot, the hel met may just be too large. A loose helmet won't protect you in a wreck, and may even slip in front of your eyes when you ride over a rough patch. Wear your riding sunglasses when trying on a helmet. Check that the ear piece and frame are comfortable when the helmet is in place.
If you wreck, you probably should replace your helmet. The foam liner has been compacted as you bounce along. As a rule of thumb, figure the working life of a helmet is about four years. That's due to sun, sweat, pollution, and the aging of the components.
In conclusion, there are many details that you have to be aware of when dressing for bicycle touring. Some trial and errors over time will have to be done for you to optimize what is right for you. But always be cautious of the safety of you and those around you when riding; always wear a proper helmet and bring a first-aid kit for emergencies.
