Recommend Overall for Cycling?

Redgirl82

Ok, I am looking to get some overall trousers for my better half :P

He is going to start a short cycle to work but he wears a suit, instead of putting suits etc into work he was just going to put on over trousers of some sort to stop from splashs. He is not going on really wet days, its just to get some exercise

Any idea's? Can I buy online? Thanks

Alanstrainor

You should be able to pick up pairs in hiking type shops, I'm sure cycle shops will have some too.

How long is the cycle? Those water proofs are never great. Sweaty when it's in any way warm and not guaranteed to keep out all the wet. Shoes and socks will need to be covered too, as wet roads throw up tonnes of grime.

If it were me I'd want to leave the suit in the office, but it depends on how far and how often he will cycle I suppose.

Fian

Buy a pair of tighs from Lidl/Aldi and leave the suits in the office. Cycling in a suit will wear out the seat of the trousers in a pure wool suit and in mixed suit will make it "shiny". If he can't leave suits in office maybe stick trousers in a backpack and wear tights in?

Waterproof trousers over a suit will leave the suit damp with sweat as well.

Ray Bloody Purchase

How long is the short cycle? Cycling in a suit isn't ideal at all. Especially in the summer, it would be far too warm.

Redgirl82

Thanks for advice, it is just about 5-10km....not a huge distance so he thought, maybe wrongly, just over trousers would stop any splashs and he wouldn't be doing a massive workout or anything.....

rollingscone

Sorted

Alanstrainor

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Thanks for advice, it is just about 5-10km....not a huge distance so he thought, maybe wrongly, just over trousers would stop any splashs and he wouldn't be doing a massive workout or anything.....

That is certainly not a short commute. He'll be sweating no matter what. He needs to rethink, or to do the cycle on a weekend in the suit to see what he's dealing with. But I know it'll be a disaster.

Far better to wear cycling clothes and have the suit in work. Not to discourage him, but it just isn't practical to wear a suit on a bike for that distance.

CramCycle

As said above, not suitable in a suit. Anything outside of a typical DB commute is too much if you place any value on the suit and would be doing it regularly.

leave the suit in work, drop in fresh shirts every few days. Wear in a pair of shorts and a t shirt

HugoMyBoss

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Thanks for advice, it is just about 5-10km....not a huge distance so he thought, maybe wrongly, just over trousers would stop any splashs and he wouldn't be doing a massive workout or anything.....

A 10k cycle in the summer, wearing a suit with overalls on!!!. He'll stink the office out.

He sounds dirty, does he bother washing himself?

dixiefly

HugoMyBoss wrote: »

A 10k cycle in the summer, wearing a suit with overalls on!!!. He'll stink the office out.

He sounds dirty, does he bother washing himself?

Not sure where you got that conclusion from.

CramCycle

HugoMyBoss wrote: »

He sounds dirty, does he bother washing himself?

Where the hell did that come from? The guy is looking at overalls to prevent risk of splashing, I would imagine the opposite of dirty.

HugoMyBoss

CramCycle wrote: »

Where the hell did that come from? The guy is looking at overalls to prevent risk of splashing, I would imagine the opposite of dirty.

Cycling 10 - 20km a day in warm weather work clothes??. He should be washing the trousers after each day.

CramCycle

HugoMyBoss wrote: »

Cycling 10 - 20km a day in warm weather work clothes??. He should be washing the trousers after each day.

He hasn't started cycling, hence his partner coming here to ask for recommendations, only to be greeted with this ill thought out attack on the persons cleanliness. Lots of people would see cycling as low intensity, non sweaty, and would not put it together. I know one guy who cycles 20+km each way in his work clothes (jeans and a tshirt and doesn't sweat a drop). But please, lets insult people who are coming to ask questions/recommendations.

HugoMyBoss

CramCycle wrote: »

He hasn't started cycling, hence his partner coming here to ask for recommendations, only to be greeted with this ill thought out attack on the persons cleanliness. Lots of people would see cycling as low intensity, non sweaty, and would not put it together. I know one guy who cycles 20+km each way in his work clothes (jeans and a tshirt and doesn't sweat a drop). But please, lets insult people who are coming to ask questions/recommendations.

Will do, cheers

magicbastarder

you'd also need to worry about - based on the sort of bike - tearing your trousers in case they got caught on the chainring.
you'd need to wear a cycling clip, which could leave your trousers very creased around the ankle; add the need to wear overshoes too, and the suit might not look great when you get to your destination.

Any wet weather type gear over normal clothes like say track bottoms even I've used on my bike over the years has been horrible. Even with just tights. You end up just as wet on the inside. I'd hate to do it in a suit.

Even if the OP say took the car / bus on Monday to drop supplies in and same on friday to take home for washing it might be better.

gaffmaster

Most of the advice in this thread is cycling culture dependent. The Dutch and Danish ride in suits, but we don't tend to. These examples have better cycling infrastructure that allows cyclists to ride at whatever pace they want, thus they tend to ride upright bikes with chain guards etc. Mixing it with other traffic, riders generally tend to put more effort in (my perception, anyway).

So the original question of whether/which over-trousers to wear is gaining responses based on the legitimate preconception that the man in question will be riding hard on Irish roads. There were some other valid points too about wearing out the suit trousers etc.

Here's what I'd do - Get some cycling kit. It's not a long ride, so doesn't need to be top of the range stuff. Jersey, shorts etc. Stick the work clothes in a backpack with some baby wipes. Don't ride too hard. Use the wipes to freshen up at work while getting changed. Lots of people do it that way.

brownian

To reply to the original question - OMM waterproof leggings/trousers ('kamleika', iirc, is the model) are the lightest, most breathable and least annoying to cycle in, that I've used.

Make your own decision (lots of advice above) about whether cycling in a suit is a good idea, in the first place.

magicbastarder

also, it'd be interesting to know how long the cycle would be.

Alanstrainor

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Thanks for advice, it is just about 5-10km....not a huge distance so he thought, maybe wrongly, just over trousers would stop any splashs and he wouldn't be doing a massive workout or anything.....

magicbastarder wrote: »

also, it'd be interesting to know how long the cycle would be.

.

Gaz

If he must wear a suit and leaving one in the office is not an option, maybe consider an electric bike to minimize sweating.

Redgirl82

HugoMyBoss wrote: »

A 10k cycle in the summer, wearing a suit with overalls on!!!. He'll stink the office out.

He sounds dirty, does he bother washing himself?

Redgirl82

Thanks for the advice everyone....

After considering it he thinks leaving suits in the office might be option, he has around 10 so can swap between house/work/cleaners etc

He put a request into work for locker etc....they have showers etc so he is thinking of having a few items in work so if he wants a shower he can...

All new to this so will see how it works out....

rollingscone

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice everyone....

After considering it he thinks leaving suits in the office might be option, he has around 10 so can swap between house/work/cleaners etc

He put a request into work for locker etc....they have showers etc so he is thinking of having a few items in work so if he wants a shower he can...

All new to this so will see how it works out....

Cycling is great. Just tell him not to put himself under pressure on the road plenty of unnecessary stress and risk to be had if you join all the commuter racing/red light jumping/footpath cycling gobbaloons (I suspect most of us have at some point) that can be avoided by taking it handy watching what's going on ahead and following the rules of the road.

It's counterintuitive to just let people past you but in the end much less hassle.

If he REALLY loves it but doesn't want to do it as a sport there are also various (pricey) options for cycling adapted street clothes that look normal/ smart on and off the bike.