Jersey crimes...

Just in response to jstraw about the Irish national kit.

I have the Irish jersey and shorts (and yes, they do look quite cool, in my opinion). One thing I've noticed is that you have to be extremely careful with them because they're not that strong, particuarily the shorts. If you scratch the shorts with your nail you WILL draw a large white line in the lycra. Also, if you open the 3/4 length zip all the way it can sometimes be awkward to close it again. And one more thing (last one, promise) if you have full finger gloves on it's hard to open or close the zip. Other than those things it's quite a good kit though 🙂 .

Damn Me! yes, i do have USPS stuff, and yes i wear it (rarely, im a bigger Jan/Tyler fan), but i also know that if i wanna let other cyclists know i follow professional cycling seriously, in america, i have to wear something else. I didnt wanna buy it, the devil made me do it.

Just a crazy little thought in my feeble mind, but isn't it more important that people ride bikes than that their wardrobe is pollitically correct?
In terms of the rights and wrongs of wearing National Team / Champion Jersey's, better ask the members of that lofty group what they feel before you go running to defend their rights. They may just see it as a show of respect that people try to emulate them.
As for me, I'll stick with my old (1981) no-name jersey with plain-jane knicks......and, if it's cold, I put on my woolen jumper from the Army Surplus shop......whoops, there I go trying to pretend to society that I'm in the Army.
Forget what you're riding (naked's good - until you drop the bike or Winter sets in) and get on with riding the bloody bike.

Have fun.

I wear my club jersey on race days naturally, but also on days when I train hard with other clubs, which I often do. My theory is that I will be accepted into a rival clubs training rides much faster with a club jersey than with a pro strip, which anyone can go out and buy.
As a regular rider, I feel more at ease leaning on a rider who I know belongs to a club and is proud to support it, than an unknown who might be a greqt rider, or a [censored] with lots of money.
Jerseys say it all. [censored] wear US Postal, serious guys wear their own club gear, and champions (and only champions) should wear nbational colours

I wear my college team's jersey as much as possible, but doesnt it get boring?

Quoted post said:

Jerseys say it all. [censored] wear US Postal, serious guys wear their own club gear, and champions (and only champions) should wear nbational colours

"Serious guys" are so busy riding that they don't give a **** about what other people are wearing.
With people as uptight as this, it's no wonder road racing has trouble attracting people to the sport.
This "you-are-what-you-wear" [censored] that so many of you appear to be promoting is probably helping you gain higher places in races simply because it's turning potential competitors away from the sport.

If you are all that concerned about what other people are wearing, it tells me that you're not riding hard enough. Take another turn at the front.

.....and have fun.

yeah, its those attitudes that are turning all the talented and good athletes to triathlon.... like me! hahaha

To echo what has already been mentioned; do people really think about what jersey, shorts, etc. they put on for their ride after they're on the bike? I put a moments thought into getting dressed but once the pedals are turning, I'm too out of breathe to think about what I'm wearing.

Do people think that Armstrong goes out an trains in any of his yellow jerseys or that Eric Zabel or Baden Cooke train in their green jerseys? Surely Richard Virenque doesn't spend his training hours covered in polka-dots.

😄

I wear whatever is cheapest 😄. Heck, they throw good sales on the old team [censored]. I grab whatever is clean and couldn't tell you 5 mins later what I had on if I didn't look. Of course I never did really care what anyone thought about what I wear either, so I think maybe I'm not really relevent to this thread. Of course I had to post relevent or not hahaha 😉

C-

I tell you what, I wear two different pro jerseys which I don't think is a big deal especially on everyday rides. But, with that being said, I believe if you are a competitor and don't have a club I think its wrong for you to wear a pro team jersey and such. In addition I now see the TDF leaders yellow jersey being sold in bike shops, I personally can't bring myself to buying it just because what it represents. That is the only jersey I think should never reach the locals. Finally I don't belong to a club yet, I don't think I have reached a level that would entitle me to be in a club yet, but when I do group rides I tend to stay close to the ones with club attire that actually belongs to the club only because I feel that they know what there doing on the road.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by The Dubliner
I
Jerseys say it all. [censored] wear US Postal,

Well as they say " takes one to know one " :p

Kind of lets you know how silly things such as only royalty being allowed to wear purple come about. Anyone wearing purple who wasn't royalty was put to death. I believe, "Punishable by death", were the words used here.

It's not about the jersey. Do you think riders work their butts off for years for a jersey? It's about the title, not the clothing.

If you were a pro and had made a mark on the sport and then saw other cyclists, of any level wearing the clothing that signified you, your team, your accomplishments, how could you be anything but flattered?

I know i for one have worked my ass off in college to get into med school, all so i can wear scrubs. SO NONE OF YOU POSERS BETTER WEAR SCRUBS!

If you shouldn't wear pro team or national team jerseys, and don't belong to a club, what would you wear with your $2,000 - $4,000 bike? A teeshirt and cut-offs with road shoes??
Wear cycling jerseys!! cycling jerseys are supposed to be colorful. The fact that you wear a jersey signifies you are a cycling fan and enthusiast. You are emulating the racers you admire by wearing what they wear - and looking cool in the process! Who cares if you're pushing your bike up the hill!!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Mark Andrews
I think that it is wrong that so many people wear team jerseys belonging to teams that have some of the worlds best cyclists etc.

How can you feel comfortable wearing something that in reality does not represent you at all?

How can you wear something that others (the teams) spend years of hard training earning?

Maybe I am just too serious about the whole cycling all together although do you think I have a point?

I think it all depends on what level you are at with your riding. I have no problem with people wearing trade team tops as it is simply advertising the sport and the companies that pour there millions into it.

My gripes are with the people who wear prize jerseys and representative jerseys whether it be state national or world without earning them. It takes a lot of time and effort for people to gain those (Ive only earnt the state one) and then to see a new rider wearing a top that has just been given to them without turning a pedal is damn annoying. It degrades the significance of something you have earnt when you see sombody wearing it at times that it shouldnt be worn (sunday bunch etc.) and getting spat out the back.

Prize jerseys are for the people with limited knowledge of the sport.

In saying this the most important thing is to have people riding, so if you see someone in a non club or trade team top get the bunch together and chip in for a new top!!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by rayner
I think it all depends on what level you are at with your riding. I have no problem with people wearing trade team tops as it is simply advertising the sport and the companies that pour there millions into it.

My gripes are with the people who wear prize jerseys and representative jerseys whether it be state national or world without earning them. It takes a lot of time and effort for people to gain those (Ive only earnt the state one) and then to see a new rider wearing a top that has just been given to them without turning a pedal is damn annoying. It degrades the significance of something you have earnt when you see sombody wearing it at times that it shouldnt be worn (sunday bunch etc.) and getting spat out the back.

Prize jerseys are for the people with limited knowledge of the sport.

In saying this the most important thing is to have people riding, so if you see someone in a non club or trade team top get the bunch together and chip in for a new top!!

I think that most of the responses here are quite funny, as funny as a 200kg guy riding his MTB with his us postal jersey...

I've got a closet FULL of trade team lycra. Gerolsteiner, FDJeux, Coast, BankGiro, Credit Agricole Indosuez, Fassa Bortolo Mostly full kits, some even have the gloves and socks. I wear it proudly. USPS? I am a huge fan, scour the internet for latest news, 4 or 5 different full kits of various vintages. They've got new stuff this year, I'll have it by June. And I wear it all the time. Club rides, group rides, local events, even when I'm out training by myself. You don't think I look cool? Let me clue you in, your opinion is invalid, you are an uptight [censored], one of the people who make this sport intimidating and one of the reasons it's on the decline while triathalon is booming. In short, YOU DON'T MATTER. Why do I have it all? Because I like it and I can afford it. (Yes Dubliner, I'm a "[censored] with lots of money"😉 I also must be a [censored] because I wear USPS most of the month of July, to show support for my favorite team. (Although I did break out the Fassa kit last year to celerate Petacchi's 4-in-a-row.) There's no pretension on my part, just like a kid who hits the playground in his Karl Malone jersey isn't suggesting he plays in the NBA. He loves the sport, looks up to the pros, and thinks its fun to wear the same uniform. Do I know nothing about cycling? Hardly, I follow the sport with great interest. Live and let live. Do exactly what you want to do, let others do as they wish with no judgement. Think about this, if this bothers you so much that you needed to bring it up in an on-line forum, maybe there's not enough going on in your life. Does it make you feel powerful and superior to try to control the actions of others. That is the realm of the small-minded and the powerless. Clearly your need to feel superior to others is the external manifestation of shortcomings in your personal or professional life.....

In short, support the sport, support your fellow cyclists, and don't be an uptight condescending [censored].

Oh yeah,
Trek 5200, team colors
Bianchi Fixed Gear
Trek 1000 for rain and bad weather

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by TRD609
I've got a closet FULL of trade team lycra. Gerolsteiner, FDJeux, Coast, BankGiro, Credit Agricole Indosuez, Fassa Bortolo Mostly full kits, some even have the gloves and socks. I wear it proudly. USPS? I am a huge fan, scour the internet for latest news, 4 or 5 different full kits of various vintages. They've got new stuff this year, I'll have it by June. And I wear it all the time. Club rides, group rides, local events, even when I'm out training by myself. You don't think I look cool? Let me clue you in, your opinion is invalid, you are an uptight [censored], one of the people who make this sport intimidating and one of the reasons it's on the decline while triathalon is booming. In short, YOU DON'T MATTER. Why do I have it all? Because I like it and I can afford it. (Yes Dubliner, I'm a "[censored] with lots of money"😉 I also must be a [censored] because I wear USPS most of the month of July, to show support for my favorite team. (Although I did break out the Fassa kit last year to celerate Petacchi's 4-in-a-row.) There's no pretension on my part, just like a kid who hits the playground in his Karl Malone jersey isn't suggesting he plays in the NBA. He loves the sport, looks up to the pros, and thinks its fun to wear the same uniform. Do I know nothing about cycling? Hardly, I follow the sport with great interest. Live and let live. Do exactly what you want to do, let others do as they wish with no judgement. Think about this, if this bothers you so much that you needed to bring it up in an on-line forum, maybe there's not enough going on in your life. Does it make you feel powerful and superior to try to control the actions of others. That is the realm of the small-minded and the powerless. Clearly your need to feel superior to others is the external manifestation of shortcomings in your personal or professional life.....

In short, support the sport, support your fellow cyclists, and don't be an uptight condescending [censored].


Oh yeah,
Trek 5200, team colors
Bianchi Fixed Gear
Trek 1000 for rain and bad weather

Do you honestly think that people will read your message and not laugh at you???

I don't understand why everyone thinks that I am so serious about cycling and the wearing of team jerseys.

I always laugh when I see other cyclists wearing pro team kits etc...

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Mark Andrews
I don't understand why everyone thinks that I am so serious about cycling and the wearing of team jerseys.

I always laugh when I see other cyclists wearing pro team kits etc...

It's just another form of fashion; an attempt to control everyone and to gain security through knowing that you "fit in" with the majority - following the flock.

It might be interesting to talk to an honest psychiatrist about what laughing at those in pro team garb says about your ego and self-esteem. But it might be wise to prepare not to like what you hear.

😉