The key to enjoying bicycling is to be comfortable in the saddle. If your backside is in agony, you’ll be glad to see the back of your bike and never ride again. If your hands go numb after five minutes on the road, you’ll give up. That’s why dressing with care is so important, and why so many avid cyclists stand out in a crowd for their tight clothes and funny tan-lines — they’ve long since learned that cycling enjoyment hinges in part on dressing for comfort in the saddle.

Cycling clothing can look as silly as bike helmets, but like helmets, specialty clothes serve a purpose and do the job well. But do you have to wear immodest skin-tight lycra? Nope. You can get the best of both worlds by mixing and matching bike-specific clothes and street clothes. What you choose to wear depends to some degree on what you plan to do. A long ride dictates one kind of outfit, a short trek to the store means another.

 
The Basic Cycling Wardrobe

• Don’t Keep This Under Your Hat: Products That Can Harm Your Helmet
• Why Wear Cycling Gloves?
• Why Wear Lycra Bike Shorts?
• What’s With Those Tight, Bright Shirts?
• Trekmor—Clothing to Go
• Clothes Make the Cyclist: On the Bike and in Camp

 
Clothes for Hot Weather

• DeFeet Armskins: A Cool Idea
• Nathan Compression Reflective Sleeves
• In the Heat of the Sun—What I Look for in a Hot Weather Jersey
• The Mt. Borah Micro Cycling Jersey—They Don’t Come Cooler Than This
• Cool Comfort: The Ecstasy of DeFeet…Armskins, That Is

 
Clothes for Wet or Cold Days

• Performance Transformer Jacket Evaluated
• Canari Barrier Commuter Jacket—A Review
• Comfort in the Cold for Not Too Much Cold Cash: Walmart Starter Jersey
• Cold Weather Cycling Survival Kit
• Cold Comfort: How I Dress for Winter Rides
• Cold Comfort: In Praise of the Neck Gaiter
• Cold Comfort: Outdoor Research PL 400 Gloves
• Cold Comfort: Keeping Hands Warm When Cycling
• Toe Much to Ask? A Hot New Idea for Cold Hands—Or Is It?
• Winter Bicycling—The Agony of d’Feet?
• Don’t Want to Freeze? Cover Your Knees
• Gearing Up for Winter Cycling

 
DIY Projects

• A Performance Transformer Jacket Transformed

 

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