BBC News reports that:
A Yorkshire tailor inspired by the Tour de France's visit to the county has created a cycling suit for businessmen.
Designed by Owen Scott Bespoke Tailors, the suit has a padded crotch area and detachable fluorescent pocket flaps, trouser turn-ups and collar.
Company director Scott Hufton said: "We're based in Huddersfield and Leeds, where the Tour de France set off, and I thought what can I do to mark that?
"I started drawing and doodling and before I knew it had it on paper."
Having reflective surfaces visible on turned-up collars and legwear may be of general benefit.
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Tailor Creates Cycling Suit for Businessmen
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(Score: 0, Redundant) by tynin on Sunday July 27 2014, @08:36PM
So it has come to this?
(Score: 1) by mrider on Monday July 28 2014, @12:24AM
o.b. xkcd [xkcd.com]
Doctor: "Do you hear voices?"
Me: "Only when my bluetooth is charged."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by danomac on Sunday July 27 2014, @08:46PM
(Score: 4, Informative) by zsau on Monday July 28 2014, @01:09AM
You don't smell after riding in a suit. The reason is because you travel at a nice, leisurely speed travelling a short distance, five or ten kilometres. Getting on a bike doesn't automatically make you a racer, and there's no reason to think you have to compete with cars for speed. This might not work for your commute (or your coworkers'), but then you're probably not in the market for this, any more than you're in the market for a new helicopter blade.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 28 2014, @01:35AM
> The reason is because you travel at a nice, leisurely speed travelling a short distance, five or ten kilometres.
You vastly underestimate my powers of persperation.
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Monday July 28 2014, @02:31AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Insightful) by tftp on Sunday July 27 2014, @08:46PM
The company says it incorporates nanotechnology to increase stain resistance around the fibres of the fabric meaning it can be worn "from bike to boardroom" with no change required.
Bicycle travel to work is a messy enterprise. Those who do that are changing clothes and taking a shower before they venture into boardrooms and other work areas.
(Score: 5, Informative) by frojack on Sunday July 27 2014, @09:10PM
Agreed.
Bike commuted for 20 years, and its messy, and if you are doing it right, sweaty.
You might not have to shower in the cool months if you go only a few miles, five or less, say.
But you will have flats, headwinds, hot days, rainy days. You will want a change of clothes.
I'd usually drive one day a week and stock the closet with fresh clothes for the week, or fold
them in the backpack. I was lucky to have a shower available at work.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Hawkwind on Sunday July 27 2014, @09:42PM
Really depends on the situation. I've been bicycling to work for sixteen years with no issue, but then I live in a pretty flat area and never ride more than a few miles at a time. A lot of it has to do with not going fast but adjusting to the situation. And also how much sweat one builds up. I've even known a few higher ups who can/could get away with wearing ties.
OK, there's also rain gear. Can't get away from the rain.
(Score: 3, Funny) by kaszz on Sunday July 27 2014, @10:45PM
> The company says it incorporates nanotechnology to increase stain resistance around the fibres of the fabric meaning it can be worn "from bike to boardroom" with no change required.
Aha, it features cancer induction too.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 27 2014, @09:37PM
http://tourmaster.com/xcart/product.php?productid=358&cat=3 [tourmaster.com]
• Removable, CE approved armor at the elbows and shoulders with an articulated triple density back protector
http://tourmaster.com/xcart/product.php?productid=237&cat=4 [tourmaster.com]
• Removable, CE approved knee armor with Tour Master's exclusive 3-Position Knee Armor Alignment System as well as removable soft hip armor.
ATGATT - all the gear all the time
Alright, these guys aren't likely to be "cycling" at high speed, but the traffic they ride in is! If you're in a traffic lane, outside of a "cage", you need protection! Pretty threads aren't protection.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mrider on Monday July 28 2014, @12:26AM
Um, dude. You realize that's motorcycle clothing?
Doctor: "Do you hear voices?"
Me: "Only when my bluetooth is charged."
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 28 2014, @07:41AM
Um, dude. You realize that bicyclists face most of the same dangers that motorcyclists face, but they LACK a motorcycist's primary defense - that being the power and speed to take evasive action?
The guy on a bicycle has far less than one horsepower, and such a tiny amount of torque that it can be dismissed in comparison to almost any legally registered vehicle on American streets.
My 30+ year old "small" motorcycle (Gl-500 Interstate) will only run 100 mph - but it will GET TO 100 quicker than any family car on the road, and about as quickly as a low range sports car.
Bicyclists need armor as badly as motorcyclists do!
(Score: 2) by mrider on Monday July 28 2014, @02:25PM
Yeah, and it's going to be real fucking easy to pedal in a Aerostitch suit. Also, no amount of padding will protect the rider from an impact with an automobile. The padding is there to protect you from the fall to the ground, and the integrity of the suit is to protect you as you slide to a stop. As you say, your old motorcycle will do 100 mph. It would be a pretty spectacular feat for a bicycle to do the same.
Personally, I'd think that bicyclists would start using something like the Bohm body armor. But specifically engineered for ease and range of motion.
Doctor: "Do you hear voices?"
Me: "Only when my bluetooth is charged."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 28 2014, @07:29PM
The sort of suits I'd want to wear for travelling would be stuff like these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man's_armor [wikipedia.org]
;)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Darth Turbogeek on Sunday July 27 2014, @11:03PM
If this is worse than MAMIL's or hipsters on fixies. Those are your two cycling as a fashion statements groups, this mob wants to add a third?
Only idiots are going to want something like this - even casual cycling is no place for boardroom clothing. Plus, I'd add that most boardroom types who cycle are either MAMILs decked out in "offical" team gear or absolutly deadly serious cyclists.... neither of which would want something like this. MAMILs want to be seen in their kit, serious cyclists want clothing that works and know where the showers are.
Thinking on this again, there wont be a third group. Hipsters will lap this shit up big time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 28 2014, @01:19AM
Only idiots are going to want something like this
I know that Mormons ride bicycles wearing neckties.
mormons-on-bicycles.jpg [wordpress.com]
mormon.jpg [blogspot.com]
I looked for pictures of them doing that in Winter.
Didn't find any.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by zsau on Monday July 28 2014, @04:02AM
I regularly see people riding to/from the train station wearing suit pant and shirts. Some of them ride ebikes or the like, others just pedal it.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Popeidol on Monday July 28 2014, @06:27AM
Pretty much. I've been cycling to work about 5 years now, and after testing a few options I ended up just cycling in my work gear. Even on hot summer days it's usually pleasant at 8am.
(Disclaimer: It's only 5km from home to work. If I move further away, my tactics will probably have to change.)
(Score: 2) by zsau on Monday July 28 2014, @09:35AM
Oh yes, I'm the same. I don't work in a suit, but just casual clothes, but I still ride about 5 km to work, sometimes from home, sometimes from the train station. (I also have old fashioned very flat pedals so they don't break my shoes like the last lot did...) I'm not going to wear fancy dress just to get somewhere. noone did till recently, when governments tried to make it as hard as possible to get anywhere except by driving.
(Score: 5, Informative) by zafiro17 on Sunday July 27 2014, @11:28PM
Glad to see some innovation in this area. One of my best purchases last year was a suitbag pannier that allows me to pretty easily carry a suit on my bike. Still need to shower upon arrival, but biking to work does wonders for my body, my mood, and my sense of quality of life.
Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis - Jack Handey
(Score: 3, Informative) by bootsy on Monday July 28 2014, @10:20AM
The current fad for wearing cycling clothing as though you were in the Tour de France has always puzzled me.
The original UK cyling clubs at the beginning of the previous centuary had people going around in thick Harris Tweed and covering some pretty impressive distances.
Wool is a great material in many ways. It is breathable, so you perspire less, and it dries very quickly and doesn't crease easily. I've had a suit soaked walking to work in the rain and then dry in the office just from the ambient temperature. It is much better than cotton in that respect. Wool doesn't absorb a lot of water, otherwise sheep would have a real problem. It is also very recyclable and it bio-degrades.
The energy used in taking additional showers at work and additional clothes washed often uses more energy than the transport in would. I find I often perspire more taking packed public transport than I do running or cycling.
As others have pointed out you can cycle at a slower pace and you will find that you don't use much energy at all. My major concern with cycling in a suit has always been getting the trouser legs snagged on the gears as I find most bycycle clips seem to slide down when in use.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Monday July 28 2014, @11:47AM
"The energy used in taking additional showers at work and additional clothes washed often uses more energy than the transport in would."
You are almost certainly correct. It also inspired me to think about the time issue. I hike at work (during lunch hour, not commute) and I go a mile or two when the weather permits (which is only about 2/3 of the days) and I don't need to change clothes after a walk but I don't think I could chronologically afford the whole "shower and change clothes" thing.
Fundamentally there's a minimum energy required to bike no matter how hot it is, whereas I can walk as slowly as I want, window shopping or whatever. When necessary I admit I've gone into shops and bars just to cool off in the summer.
I used to have a suburban job near an awesome park and I had to use mosquito spray and I got teased a little about my "cologne".
There is of course more to life than just minimization of energy and time.
One interesting financial aspect is I can buy car tires that last 20K miles but I can't buy shoes that last more than perhaps 1000 miles. If you figure I average over 5 miles a day between intentional exercise and daily life that means a new pair of shoes every 6 months or so, which is annoying and expensive. At fifty cents a day for shoes, I could drive over 3 miles on fifty cents of gas (I own a commuter car not an ugly SUV), and as long as I avoid racing bicycles I could probably go quite a long way for fifty cents of wear and tear on a bicycle, it seems hiking is a relatively expensive form of travel.
"getting the trouser legs snagged on the gears"
The technological crudeness of bicycles never fails to amaze me. Other than some irrelevant material changes, its as though time stopped in 1880. I'm too speechless about bicycles to even make a car analogy.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 28 2014, @01:04PM
Posting A.C. 'cause I already moderated....
bootsy wrote:
>The energy used in taking additional showers at work and additional clothes washed
>often uses more energy than the transport in would.
Maybe, if you're talking public transport, but your following note supports cycling anyway.
>I find I often perspire more taking packed public transport than I do running or cycling.
I used to work for a bus service --- if the A.C. on the bus wasn't working, it didn't leave the lot.
Out of curiousity, I looked at the numbers:
- Showers --- http://westroxburysavesenergy.org/carbon-footprint/ [westroxburysavesenergy.org] --- 5 min. showers ~= 300 pounds of carbon per year --- this assumes one is riding on the weekends as well, but we'll let that stand
- clothes washing --- assuming the dishwasher ~= the power for a clothes washing machine and that one adds a load of laundry per week 100 pounds per year for each load less
400 pounds of carbon per year --- my round-trip commute is 7.5 miles, my truck gets 20MPG (my wife's car got totalled, so she's been driving my car and I've been riding in to work, hence my interest in this)
7.5 * 2 * 5 * 52 == 3900
3900/20 == 195 gallons of gas
195 * 6 pounds per gallon == 1,170 pounds of gasoline
oops, best figure I found for CO_2 is by gallon: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=307&t=11 [eia.gov]
195 * 19.65 == 3831.75
3831.75-400 == ~3,431.75 pounds of CO_2 saved per year if I ride every day
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bootsy on Monday July 28 2014, @02:47PM
Thanks for crunching some numbers.
I am talking communiting in London so driving in would be a challenge although I would be getting much nearer 40 mpg in a European spec small car but your point is still valid.
I am comparing the CO2 cost verses just taking the tube or the bus which would be running anyway but has to carry my additional weight.
In London we are starting to get AC in some public transport but it is still rare and extremely difficult to do on the deep underground lines as you can't vent the heat anywhere. The Central line gets very very hot indeed in the underground sections.
(Score: 0, Troll) by oldmac31310 on Monday July 28 2014, @03:54PM
As others have pointed out - not practical at all. Oh, it's another shit post by cafebabe who so loves the Daily Mail. Upped the game a bit by posting a fluff piece from the BBC? Fucking sad.