Team Kits? Your Views....... - Page 11

excelerator · #**101** 11-04-09, 04:01

I don't wear pro kit because 1) its expensive and 2) I'd rather promote my club's sponsors and our local shop than a Kasakh airline.

Now, if you're going to don a Festina or Saunier Duval jersey? That's just funny.

racerralph · #**102** 11-04-09, 05:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by excelerator

I don't wear pro kit because 1) its expensive and 2) I'd rather promote my club's sponsors and our local shop than a Kasakh airline.

Now, if you're going to don a Festina or Saunier Duval jersey? That's just funny.

I just love people with such an Explosive sense of Humor!

CycloErgoSum · #**103** 11-07-09, 15:03

Recreational cyclists seem to be anything but going by their hang-ups. As a social group, we seem to have a lot in common with other groups like so-called 'outlaw' motorbike gangs when it comes to displaying our 'colours' even when we have no such affiliations.

Take, for example, the rainbow jersey. To say one has to earn the right to wear a white jersey with five colours on it seems to imply we belong to an association where these colours mean something in particular, like a high rank in some type of military or hierachical context. To say that somebody doesn't deserve to wear these colours is to say that somebody belongs to a corporate entity of some type, even if that person doesn't identify with this entity.

In short, why does riding a bicycle mean you belong to a hierachical group? I, for one, used to race many years ago and now ride for the fresh air, the birdsong, the fitness, the peace and the sheer joy of expanding my lungs. This crap about earning such and such a right smacks of elitism, conservatism and puritanism (which is three too many isms for anyone). It also betrays a self-importance that assumes an exclusive association with the elite performers of a sport. By not wearing their colours out of some type of distant fan-mania, you are flattering yourself by association, which is pretty sad.

And why do these arbitrary restrictions end with certain forms of clothing? Don't we, by the same logic, have to earn the right too to wear pro team clothing as these are elite teams comprised of national and world champions? By this logic we shouldn't be riding pro-level bikes either as these are surely something to earn as well.

Cyclists endure real hardship at the hands of others, from negligent motorists to indifferent road and transport planners and authorities. The last thing any of us needs is to suffer condemnation from others who like to pedal.

Cycling isn't inherently competitve. If you think you're better or more important than the person you just blew past, or holier than thou because of the clothes you choose to wear whilst cycling, I am glad I don't suffer your friendship.

racerralph · #**104** 11-07-09, 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by CycloErgoSum

Recreational cyclists seem to be anything but going by their hang-ups. As a social group, we seem to have a lot in common with other groups like so-called 'outlaw' motorbike gangs when it comes to displaying our 'colours' even when we have no such affiliations.

Take, for example, the rainbow jersey. To say one has to earn the right to wear a white jersey with five colours on it seems to imply we belong to an association where these colours mean something in particular, like a high rank in some type of military or hierachical context. To say that somebody doesn't deserve to wear these colours is to say that somebody belongs to a corporate entity of some type, even if that person doesn't identify with this entity.

In short, why does riding a bicycle mean you belong to a hierachical group? I, for one, used to race many years ago and now ride for the fresh air, the birdsong, the fitness, the peace and the sheer joy of expanding my lungs. This crap about earning such and such a right smacks of elitism, conservatism and puritanism (which is three too many isms for anyone). It also betrays a self-importance that assumes an exclusive association with the elite performers of a sport. By not wearing their colours out of some type of distant fan-mania, you are flattering yourself by association, which is pretty sad.

And why do these arbitrary restrictions end with certain forms of clothing? Don't we, by the same logic, have to earn the right too to wear pro team clothing as these are elite teams comprised of national and world champions? By this logic we shouldn't be riding pro-level bikes either as these are surely something to earn as well.

Cyclists endure real hardship at the hands of others, from negligent motorists to indifferent road and transport planners and authorities. The last thing any of us needs is to suffer condemnation from others who like to pedal.

Cycling isn't inherently competitve. If you think you're better or more important than the person you just blew past, or holier than thou because of the clothes you choose to wear whilst cycling, I am glad I don't suffer your friendship.

Alright by me!! Good way to get off the ground! Welcome aboard, Enjoy.

yourself

CycloErgoSum · #**105** 11-07-09, 17:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by racerralph

Alright by me!! Good way to get off the ground! Welcome aboard, Enjoy.

yourself

Thanks for the welcome, racerralph, it's nice to be here. BTW, I like some of your jersey redesigns - to me they look even better without the company tags, especially the Saxo (which now bears a resemblance to the Estonian national colours!) Back in the day, and maybe this is still done, clubs used to base their designs on proteam jerseys. My old club was based on ONCE, while others had the Motorola colours and design.

derailleur · #**106** 11-07-09, 20:15

By the time you have the chops to pull off wearing a GT classification jersey in your weekend group, you're well past thinking it'd be cool.

I wear pro jerseys, club jerseys, brand jerseys (got a campy long-sleeve that's in like-new condition after 25 years), and no-name jerseys, but I pick them for looks. The '04 Brioches la Boulanger and '05 Illes Balears are my current faves. The only '09 jersey I'd want is the black Cervelo. The rest of the peloton were dressed by chance.

derailleur · #**107** 11-07-09, 20:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by 180mmCrank

I had ridden from Gap to the base of Alpe D'Huez and wore the jersey riding up the fabled hairpins.

That should be mandatory.

What kind of time did you make?

racerralph · #**108** 11-08-09, 13:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by derailleur

By the time you have the chops to pull off wearing a GT classification jersey in your weekend group, you're well past thinking it'd be cool.

I wear pro jerseys, club jerseys, brand jerseys (got a campy long-sleeve that's in like-new condition after 25 years), and no-name jerseys, but I pick them for looks. The '04 Brioches la Boulanger and '05 Illes Balears are my current faves.

I agree 100%! the Illes Balears colors were great, even when they mixed it up with Caisse D'Epargne. In fact, that's when the Caisse jersey looked the best, with that boisterous splash of colors on the black background, good stuff!

ExRower · #**109** 11-09-09, 05:30

once you've been riding long enough, it wouldnt matter if you wore club colors or pro team colors. I keep away from the basic no print stuff because I have noticed that wearing pro team or club colors (matching bibs and jersey) gets you more respect from motorists (i.e they give more space to me when passing).

craig1985 · #**110** 11-09-09, 10:03

Don't know about the rest of you guys, but I was reading an article with Columbia pro Adam Hansen, and he was talking about going training the full wearing the T-Mobile kit (this being 2007, the year that he joined), where motorists (ie male), slow down to have a perv thinking that it is a female, only to realise that it is a dude

I have heard similar stories here.