Black vs White Clothing- Performance?

[IndianCyclist]

Black color absorbs sunlight whereas white reflects. One feels hotter when wearing black. My question is this- How much would the performance of a cyclist degrade on a hot sunny day in a mountainous stage of the TdF when wearing black clothing (eg. Team Sky) when compared with white?

 

[boardhanger]

Interesting point. I never actually considered this. Now Brad Wiggo has another excuse........

 

[Michielveedeebee]

the sky jersey is white thus it reflects light

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

People were black clothing in the desert. The explanation must be much more complex...

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

People were black clothing in the desert. The explanation must be much more complex...

Loose black layers. Skintight black clothing on a sunny day is indisputably warmer than skintight white clothing.

 

[Passista]

None of this means that every jersey has to be black and/or white.

 

[The Hitch]

I asked this question 7 months ago here

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=8199&page=2

There was only one response but its good

Black absorbs heat, which in a single variable world would negatively impact performance on warm days. Of more subtle impact would be how heat radiates off black, and how that impacts the flow of air around a rider. My guess would be a slight negative. Any aerospace credentialed viewers available for insight?

Also there might be something about altitude, as i read on this, and remember something about that.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Well, how much trouble have Caisse d'Epargne had with their riders overheating? You'd also think that the Liberty Seguros guys in Portugal would have come up with an alternative kit that wasn't dark blue for racing the Volta in the heat of August if the effect was that major.

 

[titleshot]

The easiest example to look at is in the 2009 season, when Cervelo Test Team switched their jersey color from black to white for the summer season.
They wore black during the cold spring classics, and switched to a White kit for the hot summer tours.

 

[boardhanger]

The easiest example to look at is in the 2009 season, when Cervelo Test Team switched their jersey color from black to white for the summer season.
They wore black during the cold spring classics, and switched to a White kit for the hot summer tours.

This was a 'heat radiant' move?

 

[euanli]

Yeah thats why Cervelo changed back to black straight after the Tour and wore black in the Vuelta.

Nothing to do with marketing at all.

 

[FKLance]

The easiest example to look at is in the 2009 season, when Cervelo Test Team switched their jersey color from black to white for the summer season.
They wore black during the cold spring classics, and switched to a White kit for the hot summer tours.

Yeah, that's an example. Doesn't necessarily mean anything, a pr-move to sell stuff? I do not think Cervelo has studied it in any other way than white feels cooler.. Not saying it could be true though.

 

[I Watch Cycling In July]

Black color absorbs sunlight whereas white reflects. One feels hotter when wearing black. My question is this- How much would the performance of a cyclist degrade on a hot sunny day in a mountainous stage of the TdF when wearing black clothing (eg. Team Sky) when compared with white?

Sky's kit is white on the back. I always assumed it was because of the sun on the riders backs.

 

[bobbins]

Sky's kit is white on the back. I always assumed it was because of the sun on the riders backs.

The Team Sky kit is the worst kit I have ever worn in the heat. By far the hottest kit based on volumes of sweat on a hot day!

 

[Anonymous]

the difference is negligable, black absorbs heat more than white does, BUT black also disperses heat quicker, so white absorbs less but it doesnt leave the body so quick, black absorbs more but chucks it back out again.

Many many studies have discovered the difference in colour is negligable but the style of the clothing is relevant.

Much of it is psychological

 

[bobbins]

In the real world of bike riding in the heat, light coloured clothing is cooler than dark clothing. Sky faded their kit during the tour for a reason - the dark kit was too hot.

 

[brianf7]

Black or any dark colours should not be used in pro tour teams it encourages fans to wear dark colours while training .
Over the years many coronors have stated bright colours will make the rider more visable in dark dull weather . It has been proven numerous times clothing colour has been a factor in cycling deaths.

 

[Fowsto Cope-E]

My team is switching to white kits for this very reason (well, that and to look more euro). I think while black jerseys may not scientifically have a negative effect on performance, you will feel more comfortable in white. And greater comfort=greater performance

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe we should ask thousands of years of desert tribes, or the new zealand all backs, or the pure black cycling team, or rapha condor, or endura, or the f1 drivers at sauber, or football (soccer) referees.

Evidence arguing both cases. But i think weve yet to see a cycling in black collapse from heat exhaustion. And how many cyclists have complained of hot thighs from years wearing black cycle shorts/bibs?

An awful lot depends on material, my sky shirt which ive worn a couple of times, its miles cooler than my white pdm shirt, but then my red shirt is cooler than both of them due to its loose nature..

To add to the scientific side. In one test run they found that animals with white plumage dispersed heat better than those with black, BUT, as soon as a wind was introduced to the experiment of around 2m/s the black became more effective at dispersing heat than the white.

Another side of the argument, white reflects the suns heat away from the body, but by the opposide logic, reflects the heat of the body, back ONTO the body. Whereas black may absorb heat from the sun, it also absorbs the heat from the body, and therefore convects it AWAY from the body. That is indisputable. White cloth does not only reflect heat in ONE direction, just as black cloth does not only absorb heat in one direction. Next time you have sunburn, put a white cloth on part of it, and a black cloth on part of it.. see which colour gives the most relief.. The black..

 

[euanli]

In the real world of bike riding in the heat, light coloured clothing is cooler than dark clothing. Sky faded their kit during the tour for a reason - the dark kit was too hot.

No they didn't. They used a different material that was more mesh like. A lot of teams were riding in mesh style jerseys on the hot days of the Tour.

The colour of material doesn't really keep you cool its the efficiency of your body being cooled that does it. Being able to wick away the sweat and letting it evaporate.

Who knows, maybe the black material absorbing more heat allows it to evaporate moisture more quickly.

 

[Tibber]

Lets get things straight, black absorbs LIGHT, not heat. Black is the color that radiates HEAT most efficiently. Beyond these facts, the heat transfer of a moving, sweating, clothed cyclist is too complex to simplify to terms of black versus white. Having said that, personal experience suggests that while moving, there is little difference. When stopped, like at a stop light, I definitely feel the black on the back of my jerseys as warmer. Last time I checked, the ProTour didn't have to contend with stop lights, however.

 

[The Sheep]

The best suit has a zebra pattern

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

the difference is negligable, black absorbs heat more than white does, BUT black also disperses heat quicker, so white absorbs less but it doesnt leave the body so quick, black absorbs more but chucks it back out again.

Many many studies have discovered the difference in colour is negligable but the style of the clothing is relevant.

Much of it is psychological

I'd have to agree. In summer I'll be riding often in 95F and once in a while up to 105F (over 105F I don't go out cuz I don't like the feel of riding over a bed of hot coals), and the black is never the problem. More of a problem is gel chamois, which REALLY retain heat. I'll have to stand just to cool the crotch off. So usually I stay away from the gel chamois unless I have no choice (like the others are in the wash).

 

[I Watch Cycling In July]

Lets get things straight, black absorbs LIGHT, not heat.

And once it has absorbed the light (EM radiation at visible wavelengths) what happens to the energy? It's re-emitted at infra-red wavelengths because the cyclist and his jersey are cooler than the sun. So, "light" turns into "heat" and more light is turned into heat by a black jersey than a white one.

Black is the color that radiates HEAT most efficiently.

Black is the color that hypothetically radiates LIGHT most. (I say hypothetically because it's not possible to get a cycling jersey hot enough to emit energy at visible wavelengths.) It's not necessarily correct to assume that fabric which looks black, also emits IR wavelength energy as if it were a black body. One example of this type of effect is snow, which is highly reflective at visible wavelengths, but absorbs in the IR almost as well as a true "black body". [/PEDANTRY]

..... the heat transfer of a moving, sweating, clothed cyclist is too complex to simplify to terms of black versus white. Having said that, personal experience suggests that while moving, there is little difference. When stopped, like at a stop light, I definitely feel the black on the back of my jerseys as warmer.

OK, now you are making sense. At reasonable speeds, heat loss due to conduction to adjacent cooler air would dominate IMO. In your experience does that observation still hold at climbing speeds?

 

[TexPat]

Clearly these folks have it all sorted.
http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/