How do people ride without...

ddavidv wrote: Rode almost all day yesterday, hot and humid, full ATGATT. You know what? Wasn't uncomfortable most of the time, and then only because my skivvies got sweaty. Proper gear works incredibly well to not only protect but provide good airflow. If you're uncomfortable in your gear, it may be because you haven't selected or found the appropriate items. There's a difference between engineered riding apparel and something you pulled off the rack at the leather outlet.

+1

I bought a mesh Tourmaster jacket not too long ago and it's amazing. While it has inserts for rain, and insulation for when it gets cold, it's most impressive on hot days. Once moving it provides almost as much air flow as if you weren't wearing it at all. The zippers are big and sturdy---easy to operate with gloves on. It also has armor --- just in case things go wrong. I think it was $230 or so.... but I see that as money well spent.

I also bought some Bilt gloves, and they suck---- fell apart after just a few months of riding. You get what you pay for I guess.

ddavidv wrote: Rode almost all day yesterday, hot and humid, full ATGATT. You know what? Wasn't uncomfortable most of the time...

That's only because you're older and your metabolism has slowed down. Soon you're going to be saying Florida isn't really that hot.

foxtrapper wrote:

ddavidv wrote: Rode almost all day yesterday, hot and humid, full ATGATT. You know what? Wasn't uncomfortable most of the time...

That's only because you're older and your metabolism has slowed down. Soon you're going to be saying Florida isn't really that hot.

And that Carly Simon still is

After catching one of those 6" grasshoppers square in the face shield I don't think I'll ever go without one. Felt like I had caught a rock on the nose of the helmet, other than the trail of green and yellow going up the center of the shield.

Appleseed wrote: I wear gloves. I still want to do this at her age.

You should see the calluses on my throttle hand

Beer Baron wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: There is a serious loss of control with gloves on. At the end of a 40-60 minute moto, you don't have the strength and dexterity you did when you started. The feeling, and your ability to control the bike is not that same, and I will not subject myself to that level of danger.

I get the opposite result. I find the extra shock padding andsweat wicking lessens fatigue and gives bettet grip.

Same here. I can't ride a mtn bike at all without gloves. Full-fingered ones I started using for DH riding, but now use for all XC riding.

On the road, I go back and forth but mostly I wear short-fingered cycling gloves for the padding.

I couldn't imagine riding a motorcycle without gloves. It would be like riding without a helmet... or driving without my seatbelt on... I feel naked.

I've tried driving barefoot and I just can't do it. Clutch feel is horrible. Of course, I generally don't like being barefoot in general, even in my house.

Ian F wrote: I feel naked.

Some of us actually enjoy that sensation.

foxtrapper wrote:

Ian F wrote: I feel naked.

Some of us actually enjoy that sensation.

Ok... I'll be more specific: vulnerable. Like driving a Spitfire with the top down in rush-hour traffic - which was a far more frightening experience than any I've had riding bicycles.

Ian F wrote: Ok... I'll be more specific: vulnerable. Like driving a Spitfire with the top down in rush-hour traffic - which was a far more frightening experience than any I've had riding bicycles.

I'll play. You mean you feel safer in a Spitfire with the top up?

Zomby Woof wrote: Ran our club's 1 hr MX on Sunday. It was a rainy, muddy mess, so I put gloves on so my fingers didn't get covered in mud and get too wrinkly and slippery. Tossed them off after two laps because they felt so dangerous. I finished three laps up on third place.

The point is it's what you're used to. You've become used to riding without gloves to the point where they feel like a liability to you. I hear that all the time in DH riding. Some guys swear by running flat pedals. Others will only run clipless pedals and can't ride unless they're attached to the bike. Personally, as a roadie/XC rider who grew up riding BMX, I'll switch from clipless to flat pedals without a thought depending on conditions or the kind of ride I'm doing.

Of course, along your lines, I've been shaving my legs for cycling for over 20 years now. It's what I've become used to and can't stand having hairy legs. When the hair grows back it really bugs the crap out of me. So matter how slow or out of cycling shape I may be for a given season, I'll always have shaved legs. It's just what I'm used to.

foxtrapper wrote: I'll play. You mean you feel safer in a Spitfire with the top up?

Yep. Denial. It's not just a river in Egypt!

Ian F wrote: So matter how slow or out of cycling shape I may be for a given season, I'll always have shaved legs.

Soooo, how do you look in a Fiat?

Ian F wrote: The point is it's what you're used to. You've become used to riding without gloves to the point where they feel like a liability to you.

No.

I stopped wearing them (the year I started riding) because of the loss of feeling. Now when I do wear them, it seems even worse. I used to wear them like everybody else, until I rode without them once, and realized how much better it felt.

Put a big pair of winter gloves on and go riding. That's what it feels like to me.

In reply to foxtrapper:

I have had gloves which numbed the feel of the grips, but none so much that I could not adequately feel what the bike was doing. My Joe Rocket gloves are the next best thing to bare hands while providing protection. I am used to wearing gloves having played hockey, etc.

In reply to Zomby Woof:

Oh well... I don't get that at all then... Either you have poor hand sensitivity or I've just become used to not gripping the bars that tight. My hand strength has sucked since I tried rock climbing a number of years ago (plus breaking my hand in a DH crash in '02), so I ride best now with my hands barely holding on to the grips, only my index finger on the brake levers. Not sure how I'll do trying to differ from that when I get a motorcycle...

Fox.... Wtf are you talking about?

Of course, I don't care much for driving shoes because of the difference in throttle feel. Distracting to me.

What is a Squid?

The_Jed wrote: What is a Squid?

Stupid

Quick

Underdressed

Imminently

Dead

Squid:

A young motorcyclist who overestimates his abilities, boasts of his riding skills when in reality he has none. Squid bikes are usually decorated with chrome and various anodized bits. Rear tyres are too wide for their own good, swingarm extended. Really slow in the corners, and sudden bursts of acceleration when a straight appears. Squids wear no protection, deeming themselves invincible. This fact compounds intself with the fact that they engage in 'extreem riding'--performing wheelies and stoppies in public areas. Squids wreck alot. Derived from 'squirly kid'

Ah. I grew up with a Squid.

One night he rode his bike drunk and when the road curved he went straight. He rag-dolled it into a freshly plowed field at a claimed 100+mph.

That was his 3rd D.U.I. and his billionth wreck.

The bike was totaled and he dislocated his hip.