I thought of the term "cross dressing" for clothes that work well for cycling and yet are "normal" in appearance. My own taste is more for cycling clothes that look good off the bike than street clothes that work for cycling, but obviously the line is not bold and firm.
My own taste runs to more classic cycling clothing -- black or at any rate dark shorts, wool jerseys (ss merino, I've found, is good around here to 95*F or so if the humidity is low), layers of wool in winter, trim cycling jackets and vests for wind. Knickers, heavy black tights for very cold weather, lighter and looser pants for less extreme weather, gray or black socks, black shoes. Jerseys can be team jerseys if the team has been defunct for at least 30 years, and better 50+. Cycling caps can be plain or ditto. They don't call me "beau" for nothing. Anyway, the Rapha randonee shorts came today (30 minute wait at the PO -- no wonder they can't compete) and while I've not ridden them, I tried them on. Just perfect in fit, color, feel, material, construction; the only defects the fey little pink button tab on one rear pocket and the gratuitously twee white belt loop on the right side -- will have to apply Magic Marker. I'll be interested to learn if Rapha (or someone else) makes similar long cycling pants: cut to look good on the boulevards while not *getting in your way* when riding, having all the pockets that the civilized man about town demands, fabric appropriate to the weather and activity, and durable, durable, durable. I used to sneer at Rapha, and I still do, but I bow my head to the quality of the shorts' design and manufacture. And double serendipity: I went by another Target and found 2 last pr of the Merona E-waist chinos in gray and medium, and exchanged there and then for the olives. The chinos fall rather into the category of "street clothes for cycling" but they are at least 2/3 good for cycling, the only 2 defects being their lack of fly and the low waist -- but not so low they can't be used for casual riding. I have a very nice Wooly Warm outer jersey in heather brown ragg wool, with nice, high, button collar and rear pockets, and for base layers, Goodwill turns up a continual supply of very nice Italian merino dressy pullovers with turtle or faux turtle necks. Gloves: DeFeet dura wool gloves, with slightly oversized PI or some such mid weight synthetic gloves in black, in to which the DeFeets can fit; and the 2 in turn can fit into a pair of cheap fleece gloves for extremely cold weather. I must now sign up for a pair of Dromartis to complete the ensemble (though I should first wear out my PIs, Bontragers, Euxstars, etc, all in black or tastefully neutral colors. Oh, and I wore a pair of wool (Kucharik) shorts for the first time a few weeks ago -- don't really feel the need for chamois, for my riding, but the wool is far more comfortable, and less terrifyingly *improper* than lycra shorts (I hate "diapers).) I think I'll have a tailor cut a pair of high quality flannels into trim cycling pants, by pegging them and installing zippers at the ankles. I'll have several pairs of riding pants of varying sorts for sale shortly. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
