Bicycling attire I use

You can bike with almost any clothing, but since I bike so often, I try to find attire that makes me comfortable.

Most of the year, my area’s climate permits biking in normal, casual attire. These items are what I wear on and apply to my body when biking during temperate times of year, as a kind of baseline:

• Long-sleeved, lightweight shirts with UV protection
  • This replaces sunscreen on my arms, which is usually annoying to apply, and is just as comfortable as a short-sleeved shirt.
• Lightweight pants or shorts cut right above the knee
  • I generally wear shorts above 80ºF but then need to apply sunscreen to my lower legs.
• Sanuk shoes
  • These are lightweight enough to be breathable but also pretty durable, though my pedal’s pins do chew up the soles a little.
• Outdoor Research ActiveIce Chroma Full Sun Gloves
  • These are light enough to stay cool and, like long-sleeved shirts, mean I don’t need to apply sunscreen to my hands.
• Walz cycling cap
  • My helmet doesn’t have a visor, so this keeps any low sun angles out of my eyes.
• Thinksport sunscreen applied to my face, neck, ears, and legs if wearing shorts
• Sunlite Chromed Steel leg band on right ankle when wearing pants
  • I’m not sure where I got this, but I couldn’t find a link directly to the manufacturer’s website.
• Sunski Headland sunglasses in grey blue
  • These are fine for most trips, but I have a better option on fitness-oriented rides now.
• EVT Safe Zone Helmet Mirror
  • I can’t get along without this anymore – being able to see behind me is really important for feeling safe when next to car traffic.
• Cat Ears Classic wind noise reducers
  • I don’t know if these actually work and look very silly, but I like them.

Darkness

This gear comes into play when I’m biking in the dark, usually half the year between September and March.

• Clear safety glasses from the hardware store
  • These take the place of sunglasses at night, to offer protection from debris. It would be nice if glare-reducing glasses existed, though.
• Reflective vest
  • I tried using a ProViz REFLECT360 Plus Cycling Jacket, but it is almost comical how little it breathes: it was like wrapping myself in a plastic bag. This mesh vest will hopefully be reflective enough (aside from the arms when signaling) and still let me get home without feeling too cold from sweat that can’t escape.
• Amphipod Xinglet Optic Beam vest
  • This is very bright, but I don’t have a good sense for its battery life.

I’d still like to get a lightweight helmet-mounted light and find a way to highlight where my hands are for signaling.

Cold weather

When the temperature dips below 60ºF, I tend to add layers or swap out clothing items for these:

• Ornot Gray Ties DND glove
  • I wear these between 45ºF and 60ºF.
• Ski gloves
  • These can handle anything below 45ºF, but are a bit bulky so I’m considering swapping them out for pogies.
• Ornot Micro Climate jacket
  • This works pretty well as a windbreaker down to around 45ºF for me.
• Ornot Winter Cap
  • This replaces my normal cap and is almost always warm enough when it’s covering my ears.
• Warmer shoes
  • I have some wool-upper shoes that I wear below 50ºF.
• UV neck warmer
  • I can’t find a good link for this, but I generally only wear this over my nose and mouth when starting rides in the cold, as my sunglasses fog up whenever I have to stop.

Wet weather

I sometimes have to bike in the rain, though I try to avoid it from a bike maintenance perspective. To keep me dry, I add these to my gear, which will need a dozen liters of storage on the way back if the weather changes:

• Cleverhood rain cape
  • This was a game changer when I started using it, but it seems like Cleverhood no longer stocks the model I use, with its reflective striping.
• Shower’s Pass Timberline rain pants
  • The rain cape doesn’t reach below my knee, so I still need these to keep my clothes dry down there.
• Waterproof shoes
  • I currently use my high-ankle hiking boots for this, but I’d like to find something a bit less clunky.

Warm weather

I try not to bike when it gets above 90ºF so I don’t have great gear for hot temperatures. My main piece of advice is to stop and drink water often, in the shade, ideally from insulated bottles so it’s cool. Also, breathing through your mouth can help run air along the roof of your mouth, kind of like a dog panting, which has helped me cool down when it’s hot.

• Ventilated shoes
  • These are about the only changes I make to my attire for warm weather, swapping out my usual Sanuks for lightweight, ventilated shoes.

Fitness-only

When I’m just biking for fitness and trying to go as fast and far as I can, I’ll switch over to the usual cyclist-oriented clothing. I used to not own any of these and just ride with shorts and a light, long-sleeve shirt, which was fine, too. I’m not sure these add much on normal rides or climbs, but they do help with really long rides.

• Rapha Core Bib Shorts
  • The padding is definitely noticeable on rides over 30 miles for me.
• Ornot Thermal Bib Tight
  • I haven’t needed to use these yet, since my interest in biking when it’s cold drops considerably, but hopefully these help make it comfortable.
• Rapha Trail Long Sleeve T-shirt
  • This is not too different from normal long-sleeved shirts, but kind of matches the rest of the gear here.
• Rapha Pro Team Frameless Glasses
  • The wrap-around coverage of these glasses is an improvement over my usual Sunskis, but they’re so fragile and clunky I only wear them when I know that I won’t need to stow them at my destination.