Pro Team Clothes

You're going to get all sorts of opinions on this, so ultimately its up to you to have good taste and keep yourself from looking like a dork. Its like when you go to the park to play pick-up basketball and see a guy totally decked out in a Laker jersey and shorts with matching $150 shoes but can't buy a bucket. He looks like a total poser. I think its the same thing in cycling. You see a lot of guys spend tons of money on a full US Postal team kit and a new Madone to go on a 30 minute Sunday morning ride around the park and then sit at Starbucks for an hour.

I guess it all depends on personal taste and hey, its a free country. If you got the money and desire, go for it. Personally, I like more subtle gear that doesn't scream for attention. The Fasso stuff is pretty cool. So's CSC.

insung said:

You see a lot of guys spend tons of money on a full US Postal team kit and a new Madone to go on a 30 minute Sunday morning ride around the park and then sit at Starbucks for an hour.

😄 Nice one! 😄

Team clothes I think are pretentious. Buy a jersey in an event you rode in. I bought a jersey for the Tour de Tucson. I figured I deserved it since I rode the 108 miles. I do have one team jersey and frankly I'm reluctant to wear it because I never rode on the team and am not good enough. Lots of people wear jerseys because they are fans so it all depends on your attitude I suppose.

insung said:

You see a lot of guys spend tons of money on a full US Postal team kit and a new Madone to go on a 30 minute Sunday morning ride around the park and then sit at Starbucks for an hour.

You also see a few guys spend a ton of dough on a full Phonak kit and BMC team issue, and ride around the park for 30 minutes Sunday morning, and then sit under the overpass shooting up. Just jokin. 😄

Team gear always looks kewl. There are some good experienced riders wearing some really wierd stuff so it dont matter what ya look like. If you think you look good, thats all that counts. Nuthin wrong with that!

I don't care whether or not they are Team clothes or not. I would definately get Saeco Cannondale, because it is bright. I try to wear the most outlandish color outfits I can get my hands on. Since I ride on the side of the highway in LV in the desert, I need to be seen!! So I hope I look ridiculous so EVERYONE notices me!

rarriola said:

Is wearing pro team clothing a bad thing for cycling? I just into cycling from running and don't want to look like a moron out there. I'm thinking of the Fassa Bortolo stuff right now.

Any guidance would be great.

Maybe I'm a snob, but I figure you gotta earn it to wear it. I always wince a bit when I see guys decked out in full pro regalia. It's usually painfully obvious by the way they ride that they are a long way from being a pro (the big gut squeezed into a tight jersey is usually a give-away, too). The last guy I rode with that looked good in a full USPS kit- complete with the correct bike, shoes, and glasses - was Antonio Cruz. Here's another idea - join a local club and wear their kit, or the jersey from your favorite LBS, or the jersey of a ride you completed (a century or the like), and wear it with pride. Remember, however, that nothing looks better than riding your bike well. It is certainly possible to look classy in a plain jersey.

I do web and marketing work for a D3 pro team (Ofoto) and thus get free gear. Wearing it is a way of advertising, especially for a team not nearly as well known as Postal. Nobody will ever mistake me for a pro! Wear what ya want, but get out and ride. That being said, showing up for a group ride with a Trek in full USPS kit may be a bit much. The only time I would deem it inappropriate would be to wear a championship jersey.

I'm sure that all the sponsers on those pro jerseys wouldn't mind you riding with their names printed on you. I see it as name brand clothes. Some people wear them because they are good quality, some because they want people to knwo how much they spent. Wear what you want, be subtle or be crazy. Chances are that anyone who laughs at you isn't someone you would hang out with anyway so who cares. Ride and have fun.

I have a Fassa Bortolo jersey I wear on occasion. It's a good omen for me - I was wearing that jersey the first time I did better than 20mph average over my favorite 18 mile loop.

I get a real kick out of telling people what that company actually makes - concrete. Okay, it's designer concrete, for when the Sopranos are having a real bad week. I don't wear the full kit, though, just the jersey, black cycling shorts, and whatever socks are lying close at hand. Wearing the full kit seems a bit too poseurish to me. Sort of like wearing a yellow jersey. Just wouldn't be right - you have to earn that one.

Another favorite of mine is the old Dos Equis jersey that looks like a beer bottle with condensation droplets all over it. I put that one on, and I'm ready to park the bike and start drinking. And there is the pricey but always popular Arrogant [censored] Ale jersey. I feel right at home in that one...

I ride in tank tops or in sweatshirts and the next day I'm wearing a jersey from Europe. In the end, it doesn't even matter. Ride for the personal enjoyment. Join a local bicycle club and become a paying member. You will have so many friends that ride, that you could show up in slacks and a tie and it wouldn't matter. Everyone will already know who you are and how you ride. Besides, the regular public will still think that you are an employee for the United Stated Postal Service...they deliver mail on bikes?