Cycling wear?

What are the best casual clothes to wear for unicycling? Most of my t-shirts are cotton, so I need more appropriate clothes for summer riding. I’m not looking for the serious stuff (e.g. cycling jerseys).

Hmm, those are too tight/close-fitting IMO, and best really for road biking to be more aerodynamic; not necessary for unicycling unless maybe you’re going for a speed record! Just get something with that mesh material that that allows sweat to evaporate better. Cotton just tends to retain moisture. Then, of course, padded cylcing shorts, but again, go for the “loose” fitting type, not the tight spandex which again is mainly for cutting wind resistance when road bike riding/racing.

I have to say I disagree here. I much prefer spandex shorts, not because of the sexy-factor or to cut down on wind resistance, but because of the fact that they do not bunch up at the base of your legs while riding. It used to be my routine to wear the padded, spandex, cycling shorts with a pair of loose shorts over them, but recently I’ve discovered how much more comfortable it is without the regular shorts over top. After riding for a while the shorts would become bunched up at my legpits (for lack of a better word) and be a major discomfort.

There are a number of good baggy cycling shorts; probably my favorites so far are the Pearl Izumi I have a couple pairs of. They work fine for unicycling, and don’t make you look like a dork.

I’ve been enjoying hemp and bamboo t-shirts for exercise; both fabrics are natural, look basically like normal t-shirts, and have much better moisture properties than cotton.

Some also swear by wool jerseys; see Rivendell’s catalog for options.

I also have to disagree here. While this is one purpose of such clothing, the other major purpose is to avoid chafing. The spandex short can’t slide past your skin repeatedly, and on long rides, this means the difference between bleeding in very uncomfortable places and not. On a unicycle I would argue they serve the same purpose, so if you’re having trouble chafing, or going on looong rides, tight cycling shorts are very important.

Loose cycling shorts have a tight spandex liner which deals with the chafing issues.

You’re forgetting (and I forgot to mention) that my particular cycling shorts, and the type I suggested HAVE that very spandex UNDER the baggy part; they are not two separate pairs of shorts. They make loose fitting (loose only on the outside) cycling shorts that are IDENTICAL to the plain spandex underneath complete with the butt pad, but IMO they just look better than riding in a pair of spandex (only) shorts.

Look at activewear clothing at stores like REI. The activewear clothing can be casual and yet made of the same style of polyester fabric as the flashy and tight cut cycling jerseys, but it fits loose and casual and doesn’t look like cycling wear. Some of the activewear designed for hiking can be appropriate for unicycling use. For example, the REI Tech Tee.

For shorts you can find some cargo shorts to wear over lycra cycling shorts. Or you can get the baggy style cycling shorts that have a sewn in liner.

I never thought of hemp or bamboo for exercise. Are they soft? Any specific recommendations?

That jersey sounds comfortable.

I usually wear a regular t-shirt and pants with bike shorts under. I haven’t been able to find a pair of shorts that doesn’t bunch up and go really high up on my legs. Plus i like the pants for the additional leg protection.

uni clothes

I used to unicycle in plain shorts but on longer rides (over 5 miles) the chafing would bother me. After finding the value of padded cycling shorts, a friend suggested buying some cycling bibs which allow less constriction at the waist. My size is a medium but I purposefully bought a size large so they would fit snugly but not tight as they are designed. I love them and just wear a T shirt over the top.

Most cycling bibs cost a lot of money, so I just kept an eye on the Sierra Trading Post until some nice ones came on with big markdowns–couldn’t be happier. The ones I wear listed for $129 but I got them for $39. Love em.

Carey

cotton tee shirt, jeans.

Hemp tends to be more on the wooly side; it’s a bit coarse, but still comfortable, for me. The bamboo shirt I have feels a little like a synthetic, it’s soft and stretchy. I don’t have any specific recommendations, just check out your local earthy-schmearthy store and see what they carry.

On my uni i wear a cotton t-shirt, jeans or jean shorts and sometimes a jumper. Oh, and bike shorts under my jeans/shorts.

Does anyone else find jeans just too stiff to ride in? It seems that no matter how loose the fit or how soft the denim is, I always feel too restricted to uni.
I rarely wear anything but jeans except when I’m riding uni. Then I much prefer something looser around the crotch. I’ve a few pairs of cargos that have pretty much become my riding wear. They don’t chafe no matter how far I go (distance never measured but 3 hours non-stop is a norm).

I used to uni in jeans. I can’t imagine how I managed it because I don’t like to wear them now especially thick jeans with the double super seams. The only kind of jeans I can wear are very thin “jeans” that have tiny seams. Even so … capris are better.

I’m guessing the problem that you are having is what you’re packing into those shorts considering your age and all. :smiley:

Check out your local Target store for polyester T-shirts. They sell a Champion performance T-shirt for around $10.00. They are very comfortable. I like spandex biking shorts. Also very comfortable.

I have a pair of loose, thinner jeans that I would wear riding in the winter; they didn’t bother me at all. One day I wore a tightish pair of jeans that also happen to be thicker, and it was death for my inner thighs. The chafing bothered me for a few days, because that happened to be the day we went MUni…

Looks like I’m making a trip to Target to get some decent t-shirts.

I dont usually wear jeans, exept in the colder weather, I just wear a t’shirt, pants, sometimes no pants…lol jk.
Then i’m buying 661 shin/knee guards, I ordered a size to small, so I’m getting larges, does that sound about right for a 5’7 guy 130 pounds. (muscluar…

measure the length of ur leg and check it out. But dont worry about circumpherence of leg. Only look at length.

Get the KH ones i’ve heard theyre better - 661s are ok but get too smelly and 07s well they just seem to fall apart way too quickly.

i have two pairs of shorts that i always wear. Tshirt just a normal cotton one, i hate all that polyester rubbish makes me sweat way too much