After years of steadfastly refusing to alter my everyday clothing for the sake of transport, I have recently decided to embrace specialised cycling apparel. The reasons for this include convenience and comfort; Sydney can be hot and humid, and sweat-drenched denim is an effective way to experience chafing and fungal skin infections.
A brief inspection of the clothing available at bike stores prompts the question, must all aesthetic considerations be put aside for convenience and comfort? For cycling is a world with it own stylistic palette, which can be generally characterised as brand names splashed across ghastly shades of skintight lycra. In cycling, this dickbag is considered a style icon:
A brief inspection of the clothing available at bike stores prompts the question, must all aesthetic considerations be put aside for convenience and comfort? For cycling is a world with it own stylistic palette, which can be generally characterised as brand names splashed across ghastly shades of skintight lycra. In cycling, this dickbag is considered a style icon:
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| Mario Cipollini is a champion arse-piece |
In this and the following posts I will look at the question of whether it is possible to wear clothing designed for cycling, while observing basic standards of taste and decency.
Helmets
It is a legal necessity for cyclists to wear helmets in Australia. I'm undecided if this should be taken out of the realm of personal choice, but ever since my helmet left a dent in the bonnet of a car that ran into me, I have had no problem with wearing one. I used to wear a skateboard helmet on my bike, but this unventilated lump of heavy black plastic would get so hot beneath the Australian sun that I would come over all dizzy, so I decided to buy a proper bike helmet.
Most bicycle helmets resemble dreadlocks cast in lurid plastic. Here is a typical array of helmets from an online bike shop:
Most bicycle helmets resemble dreadlocks cast in lurid plastic. Here is a typical array of helmets from an online bike shop:
There is little variation to be found in this design approach, and not only are they uniformly shit to look at, they offer little beyond basic functionality. I live in the Inner West of Sydney, which means that I ride to work with the morning sun rising in my eyes, and ride home into the glare of the setting sun. It would hence be useful to have some kind of visor on a helmet, and also channels to accommodate the legs of sunglasses so that they don't get pressed into one's head (this is sore). Bern is the only manufacturer I found that offer these features, but they are not available in Australia.
Lazer produce these helmets with a substantial visor and nice fabric finish, but my choice was limited to darker hues. I wanted something with a lighter colour after the cooking my brain had received inside a black helmet. And frankly, they look a bit pony, and I don't want to look like I'm on my way to the gymkhana.
I went instead for a helmet made by Capix, which has fussy ridges and branding, but is about as inoffensive a helmet as I could find. It has a visor which is too small to be effective when the sun is low in the sky. The fit is reasonable, although it tends to move around a bit, and I often find myself tightening the chin-strap. But overall it's a massive improvement on the skateboard helmet I was using. It's also a fine home for the Porco Rosso sticker I picked up in Tokyo.
Lazer produce these helmets with a substantial visor and nice fabric finish, but my choice was limited to darker hues. I wanted something with a lighter colour after the cooking my brain had received inside a black helmet. And frankly, they look a bit pony, and I don't want to look like I'm on my way to the gymkhana.
I went instead for a helmet made by Capix, which has fussy ridges and branding, but is about as inoffensive a helmet as I could find. It has a visor which is too small to be effective when the sun is low in the sky. The fit is reasonable, although it tends to move around a bit, and I often find myself tightening the chin-strap. But overall it's a massive improvement on the skateboard helmet I was using. It's also a fine home for the Porco Rosso sticker I picked up in Tokyo.
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