Cycling Apparel
Be More Comfortable. Ride Longer.
You can go biking without special apparel, but using it makes riding much more comfortable. Good cycling apparel moves with you, wicks away sweat, and puts padding in all of the right places. This amounts to a much more pleasant experience on your bicycle, which means you will ride more!
Cycling Apparel for Everyone & Every Season
Ask about our shorts with padding that are not skin tight
We carry good looking apparel for casual riders as well as the more serious pieces for enthusiasts. Our apparel selection tends toward simpler styles in the medium price range. We carry shorts, jerseys, gloves, and socks, for warm weather, as well as wind breakers, vests, arm and leg warmers, and gear for all your extremities for winter.
We stock a variety of brands and models, with the majority of our cycling apparel being from Louis Garneau, Hoss, & Defeet Socks.
More About Cycling Apparel
- Cycling Shorts: not for the look
- Bicycle Jerseys: keep yourself cool and prevent chilling
- Bicycle Gloves: for comfort & protection
- Cycling Shoes: go faster, longer, easier
- Cycling Socks: the biggest difference $10 can buy
Cycling Shorts: not for the look
Those skintight cycling shorts you see bikers wear are all about comfort. They have padding sewn in the crotch to prevent saddle soreness. But why skintight? Because the close fit keeps the padding in place and helps the garment move with you rather than wrinkle and bunch.
Better shorts use eight or more panels of fabric in the construction for a better fit. Seams are strategically placed and flat-sewn for comfort. You'll also see "leg grabbers" in the cuffs to prevent the shorts from sliding up and down your legs as you pedal. Cycling shorts are actually a well thought out piece of gear
Nothing is worn underneath your cycling shorts.
Fortunately, since many of us feel uncomfortable in skintight shorts, manufacturers are starting to offer some other, more flattering types of shorts. These days you can find cargos, baggies, or simple suplex shorts. All have a secondary pair of padded shorts sewn into them for that all important seat comfort. You can also buy the padded liners separately to wear under anything you want. We stock the classic cycling shorts, the more casual wear, and the underliners. Expect to spend anywhere from $35 to $60.
Bicycle Jerseys: keep your cool and prevent chilling
The main benefit of jerseys is that they keep you cool when it's hot and prevent chilling when it's cold. This is accomplished by using special fabrics that wick moister away from the skin and evaporate it quickly through the fabric. Jerseys also have pockets located in the lower back that provide easy access to things while you're riding, like energy bars. We recommend a jersey with a zippered neck for temperature control, especially in the winter time. You can zip down when you warm up or zip up when you get cold. We also recommend bright colors for high visibility. Plan on spending anywhere from $40 to $75 for a good jersey.
Bicycle Gloves: for comfort & protection
Gloves serve two functions. First, they increase your comfort by reducing road vibration and hand fatigue. Secondly, they protect your hands in the event of a fall. Good cycling gloves are made with light, breathable fabrics to keep your hands cool; they have strategically place padding to reduce tingling from compressed nerves; and they have a section of terry cloth sewn on the back for wiping your brow or nose. By the way, it's OK to remove your gloves by turning them inside out. Besides being faster, this method also reduces the risk of pulling the stitching out of the fingers. Our best gloves are $40, but prices start at $15.
Cycling Shoes: increase your efficiency
Cycling shoes increase your efficiency by providing better power transfer to the pedals. Although they are not really necessary for casual rides or short jaunts around the neighborhood, cycling shoes become more important as your rides get longer.
Shoes fall into two categories: Road and SPD.
A road shoe is a lightweight, stiff soled, smooth bottomed shoe. The stiff sole improves power transfer to the pedals by reducing shoe flex while pedaling. A cleat which is bolted to the sole, fastens the shoe to the pedal and enables you to pull up as well as push down on the pedals. While significantly improving your efficiency, however, this kind of shoe is difficult to walk in because it is stiff and slippery, and because you have to walk on the cleat. Herein lies the main benefit of the SPD type shoe.
Originally meaning Shimano Pedaling Dynamics, but now a generic term referring to this design, SPD type shoes have the cleat recessed into the sole so that you can walk in them. Although less stiff than a road shoe, they are good all-purpose shoes. The ability to walk in them makes them ideal for touring and commuting, but also fine for mountain biking, and road riding.
You'll find that SPDs come in a myriad of styles, but they basically break down into two categories: the more casual, all purpose type shoes, and mountain bike shoes. The more casual shoes, for touring or commuting, are lighter duty, designed with more flexible soles for walking, and usually tie with laces. People often use this type of shoe for spinning as well. Mountain bike shoes, on the other hand, are built for more aggressive riding. They have much stiffer soles, a more aggressive tread pattern for walking in mud, and they fasten with Velcro straps.
Of course you'll choose your shoes according to the type of riding you're doing. Like any shoe, they should fit comfortably, not too tight, not too loose. If your shoes are too tight, toes will blister, go to sleep, or develop corns. If your shoes are too loose, your feet wallows around in them, loosing efficiency and defeating the benefit of using them.
Our cycling shoes range from $75 to $100.
Cycling Socks: the biggest difference $10 can buy
Cycling socks are made with synthetic fabrics that quickly transport moisture away from your skin. They keep your feet cool, dry, and blister free. Once you've tried a nice pair of cycling socks, you never go back to your basic cotton threads. Thus, we have dubbed them "the biggest difference $10 can buy".
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Quick FAQs
Why would I ever wear a pair of those skintight shorts?
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