High humidity and cotton

Look to see just 'what' is evaporation. Even in 100% RH a
significant number of molecules will get away, each with its
bit of energy, especially with a cyclist's (own) headwind..
And how often is RH 100%?

I live and ride in 90+F and 90+%RH (Charleston, SC) and
promise that 'wear cotton and die' is a good warning if a
bit hyperbolic.

"wle" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| ok, received wisdom is 'synthetics beat cotton because
| they wick sweat away to evaporate'.
|
| however, this assumes less than 100% humidity.
|
| assuming conditions where little or no sweat will
| evaporate, why would the $60 synthetics be any better than
| a white cotton t shirt?
|
| since they would both just get soggy.
|
| wle.

In article <[email hidden]>,

wle said:

ok, received wisdom is 'synthetics beat cotton because they
wick sweat away to evaporate'.

however, this assumes less than 100% humidity.

assuming conditions where little or no sweat will
evaporate, why would the $60 synthetics be any better than
a white cotton t shirt?

since they would both just get soggy.

Cotton will still be soggier.

Wear what you like. I often wear cotton socks despite all
good advice to the contrary. My feet at sweaty either way.

"Paul Southworth" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Wear what you like. I often wear cotton socks despite all
good advice to the contrary. My feet at sweaty either way.

Me too. I don't find that bike-specific socks help much. But
moisture has less ability to evaporate out of shoes than it
does off of a bike shirt. I do wear bike jerseys because
they don't get as soggy as cotton t-shirts.

-Don

Quoted message said:

"wle" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

why would the $60 synthetics be any better than a white
cotton t shirt?

Why $60 for a synthetic?

With shipping included I paid $13.25 for a HighViz
Alertshirt alertshirt.comlonsleevmois.htmlOpen ↗.

They are way more visible than a cotton shirt. They dry
faster and keep their shape better than soggy cotton.

From the Land of High Humdity and Heat (North Florida)

Father Time

Doug Huffman said:

Look to see just 'what' is evaporation. Even in 100% RH a
significant number of molecules will get away, each with
its bit of energy, especially with a cyclist's (own)
headwind.. And how often is RH 100%?

I live and ride in 90+F and 90+%RH (Charleston, SC) and
promise that 'wear cotton and die' is a good warning if a
bit hyperbolic.

In most of the country between the coasts, where high
temperatures almost always come along with moderate to low
humidity, a presoaked cotton T-shirt is the next best thing
to air conditioning. Where the relative humidity is very
high, it seems like the hands-down winner of what fabric to
wear would be... none.

Chalo Colina

"hands-down" or 'hands up'?

"Chalo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
||
| In most of the country between the coasts, where high
| temperatures almost always come along with moderate to low
| humidity, a presoaked cotton T-shirt is the next best
| thing to air conditioning. Where the relative humidity is
| very high, it seems like the hands-down winner of what
| fabric to wear would be... none.
|
| Chalo Colina

"Doug Huffman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Look to see just 'what' is evaporation. Even in 100% RH a
significant number of molecules will get away, each with
its bit of energy, especially with a cyclist's (own)
headwind.. And how often is RH 100%?

I live and ride in 90+F and 90+%RH (Charleston, SC) and
promise that 'wear cotton and die' is a good warning if a
bit hyperbolic.

I live in the DC area which is known for its combination of
heat and humidity, with 40+ days above 90 last year,
although that's admittedly higher than normal. I do my
cycling exclusively in grey cotton t-shirts because they are
cheap, easy to clean, comfortable to ride in as long as you
keep moving, and don't carry someone's advertising on them
(including the jersey manufacturer in big letters) or look
like a leader's jersey from a major tour. The air flow
evaporates the water out of them as fast as I sweat (except
around the shoulder blades where it is also getting the drip
off of my head); in contrast, wearing a t-shirt for running
in the same weather, it will be completely soaked after an
hour or so. I've also noticed that if I get stopped for a
flat tire or something, it will get wet pretty fast. But
having used both lightweight wool and synthetics, I think
the t-shirt does just as well. I buy t-shirts just for
bicycling and get them a size smaller so they don't flap
around much.

One thing about cotton t-shirts, they are so cheap that you
can try them for a quarter of the price of a fancy jersey
and if you don't like it, throw 'em away.

Besides, it's also sensible, if at all possible, on those
90/90 days to do your bike riding in the morning, unless you
have a reason to train specifically for heat
acclimatization.

JP

JP said:

"Doug Huffman"

Quoted message said:

I live and ride in 90+F and 90+%RH (Charleston, SC) and
promise that 'wear cotton and die' is a good warning if a
bit hyperbolic.

[Otherwise sensible stuff]

Quoted message said:

Besides, it's also sensible, if at all possible, on those
90/90 days to do your bike riding in the morning, unless
you have a reason to train specifically for heat
acclimatization.

Or, gosh, unless you actually have somewhere to go, rather
than using the bike exclusively as a toy.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?

Chalo said:

In most of the country between the coasts, where high
temperatures almost always come along with moderate to low
humidity,

errr, what? west of the missouri river maybe but the
remainder known as the midwest and south would truly beg
to differ.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

David Damerell said:

JP said:

Besides, it's also sensible, if at all possible, on those
90/90 days to do your bike riding in the morning, unless
you have a reason to train specifically for heat
acclimatization.

Or, gosh, unless you actually have somewhere to go, rather
than using the bike exclusively as a toy.

Or, gosh, unless you actually have something to do, which
precludes using the bike.

One size does not fit all.
--
Rick Onanian

David Damerell <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

JP said:

"Doug Huffman"

Quoted message said:

I live and ride in 90+F and 90+%RH (Charleston, SC) and
promise that 'wear cotton and die' is a good warning if
a bit hyperbolic.

[Otherwise sensible stuff]

Quoted message said:

Besides, it's also sensible, if at all possible, on those
90/90 days to do your bike riding in the morning, unless
you have a reason to train specifically for heat
acclimatization.

Or, gosh, unless you actually have somewhere to go, rather
than using the bike exclusively as a toy.

Yeah, for those who have the luxury of being able to arrive
somewhere smelling like the hippo exhibit at the zoo. And
whether training or commuting, you're still sucking the same
ozone into your lungs, at least around here anyway.

JP

"Father Time" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<EJ8xc.1010$ar.252@attbi_s04>...

Quoted message said:

With shipping included I paid $13.25 for a HighViz
Alertshirt alertshirt.comlonsleevmois.htmlOpen ↗.

They are way more visible than a cotton shirt.

Now if they would just sell a long-sleeved LOW visibility
version (black or navy)I'd probably buy a few.

Chacun a son gout.

DR

David Reuteler said:

Chalo said:

In most of the country between the coasts, where high
temperatures almost always come along with moderate to
low humidity,

errr, what? west of the missouri river maybe but the
remainder known as the midwest and south would truly beg
to differ.

In my hometown of Austin, TX, which is a southern climate by
whatever standard, 90 degrees F can occasionally be
accompanied by 75% RH, but

Quoted message said:

100 degrees F almost always means <50% RH.

People (especially the folks here in Seattle) complain about
90-degree temperatures, but those don't really count--
there's still a gradient by which your body can shed heat.
The temperature numbers that matter are those significantly
higher than body temperature, where evaporative cooling is
the only cooling. It's a rare climate that can combine those
temperatures with elevated humidity.

In Central Texas, 105F in the shade means easily 120F+ out
on the sun-beaten pavement. I've ridden all day long in
conditions like that, and wet cotton shirts were one of the
tools that allowed me to do it.

Chalo Colina

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Wle
ok, received wisdom is 'synthetics beat cotton because they
wick sweat away to evaporate'.

however, this assumes less than 100% humidity.

assuming conditions where little or no sweat will evaporate,
why would the $60 synthetics be any better than a white
cotton t shirt?

since they would both just get soggy.

wle.

Synthetics work better because of the open weave possible and they have much less capacity for water, meaning they will not weigh a ton when fully saturated. Because they will not absorb a ton of water, evaporative cooling, which is a function of RH and surface area to mass, is much more effective.

Chalo said:

The temperature numbers that matter are those
significantly higher than body temperature, where
evaporative cooling is the only cooling. It's a rare
climate that can combine those temperatures with elevated
humidity.

i'm a northern midwesterner (minnesota) .. you're defining
high temperature significantly higher than i would. the me
that rode to work on the day korey stringer died would argue
that 98F and humid as [censored] is pretty damn hot. :-)
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

JP said:

Yeah, for those who have the luxury of being able to
arrive somewhere smelling like the hippo exhibit at
the zoo.

Sweating does NOT mean smelling like a hippo, unless you've
got a problem caused by skin bacteria. If you do have that
problem, it's easily cured.

Ask your doctor about Betadyne soap - I think that's the
spelling. Alternatively, Listerine will kill the bad armpit
bugs. Then you can stop acting as a deoderant commercial.

--
--------------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove
rodent and vegetable dot com, replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

Paul Southworth said:

wle said:

ok, received wisdom is 'synthetics beat cotton because
they wick sweat away to evaporate'.

however, this assumes less than 100% humidity.

assuming conditions where little or no sweat will
evaporate, why would the $60 synthetics be any better than
a white cotton t shirt?

since they would both just get soggy.

Quoted message said:

Cotton will still be soggier.

I second that opinion. I just performed the experiment
earlier this week in temps of around 25-27C (~80F). One day
I wore a cotton T-shirt. After an hour, I was very
uncomfortable with the heavy, wet cotton flapping around my
body. The next day I wore an el cheapo jersey with
synthetics. It got wet, too, but it was much less
uncomfortable in that state.

--
Dave dvt at psu dot edu

In article <[email hidden]>,

(wle) said:

ok, received wisdom is 'synthetics beat cotton because they
wick sweat away to evaporate'.

however, this assumes less than 100% humidity.

assuming conditions where little or no sweat will
evaporate, why would the $60 synthetics be any better than
a white cotton t shirt?

I think the synthetics are far superior when you ride in
hilly or mountainous areas. A cotton shirt will get sopping
wet on your way up the hill, leaving you very chilly as you
zoom down the other side. Synthetics absorb almost no water,
so you stay comfortable on the downhill ride.

--
Ned Mantei Department of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

Quoted message said:

I think the synthetics are far superior when you ride in
hilly or mountainous areas. A cotton shirt will get
sopping wet on your way up the hill, leaving you very
chilly as you zoom down the other side. Synthetics
absorb almost no water, so you stay comfortable on the
downhill ride.

how does the amount of water absorbed matter?

i mean, if the shirt doesn;t absorb it, it will stay on your
body and be dripping, right?

wle.