Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => On The Road => Topic started by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 29 August, 2017, 08:15:36 am
-
Personally, I feel sorry for Mamils. When they walk into a café dressed head-to-toe in Lycra, you'll always spot people sniggering at them.”
He said that one positive interpretation “may be that they were once twice the size they are now until cycling transformed them and they feel great about how they look.”
But he continued: “The flipside is that Lycra isn't the most elegant material you can wear and professional cycling gear generally looks awful on pretty much anyone heavier than eight stone and with more than five per cent body aerodynamic fat.
“But there is a better solution. For me, the most important consideration is to choose attire that is functional, but looks stylish too. That means going for colours that are understated and use smart fabrics.”
Just checked out the morning's commuters in the rain. Totally unstylish but was any one bothered?
Must say I've never thought I was expected to a fashion icon on a bike and it probably shows. I don't recall any sniggers however.
-
Oh dear.
Is he about to launch a "functional and stylish" clothing brand that uses, "understated and smart fabrics" by any chance?
Who gives a fuck? Better to be overweight in Lycra in a cafe, having cycled 30 miles there, than to be overweight in a baggy grey tracksuit, sat watching darts on SKY sports with a bag of nachos with the curtains still shut at midday
-
Has Hoy's association with Vulpine fallen by the wayside, leaving him free to endorse somebody else?
-
The Telegraph selectively quoted a GQ article which is actually pretty fair. Hoy should perhaps realise that anything he says maybe taken out of context and used against him (or other cyclists).
-
Hang on to your lycra..
There's been an update:
Updated: Sir Chris Hoy apologises for comments about MAMILs
(http://road.cc/content/news/228417-sir-chris-hoy-says-he-feels-%E2%80%9Csorry%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%9Cridiculous%E2%80%9D-looking-mamils-he-shares-his)
-
You know nothing, Chris Hoy. If thighs were brains ...
-
I dunno, it's seems perfectly sensible. I've no idea why people in the UK feel the need to dress like they're entering the TdF to cycle to the shops.
-
Rapha, Team Sky, Pinarello etc. They are there to make money, and nothing else. There's nothing wrong with that, but its a mistake to think that cycling is all about Rapha, Team Sky, Pinarello etc, despite the attempts by Rapha marketing to convince you that only through them can you experience the soul of Cycling. Cycling is an activity not a commodity.
But, that said, I couldn't really give a shit what other people do or how they choose to do it. I think fat people in garments cut for slim athletic bodies look ridiculous and aesthetically displeasing , but that is up to them. It's their life. More power to them for getting off their arses and doing something. Double-power to them if they are doing it out of an ironic sense of humour.
-
Rapha, Team Sky, Pinarello etc. They are there to make money, and nothing else. There's nothing wrong with that, but its a mistake to think that cycling is all about Rapha, Team Sky, Pinarello etc, despite the attempts by Rapha marketing to convince you that only through them can you experience the soul of Cycling. Cycling is an activity not a commodity.
But, that said, I couldn't really give a shit what other people do or how they choose to do it. I think fat people in garments cut for slim athletic bodies look ridiculous and aesthetically displeasing , but that is up to them. It's their life. More power to them for getting off their arses and doing something. Double-power to them if they are doing it out of an ironic sense of humour.
Well said Flatters.
-
Oh dear.
Is he about to launch a "functional and stylish" clothing brand that uses, "understated and smart fabrics" by any chance?
Who gives a fuck? Better to be overweight in Lycra in a cafe, having cycled 30 miles there, than to be overweight in a baggy grey tracksuit, sat watching darts on SKY sports with a bag of nachos with the curtains still shut at midday
Or skinny shut up in a house with the curtains still shut at midday etc.
Mind you, this is describing half my family. Sometimes I despair.
-
I don't per se care what people wear (unless it's women in hats, which is to be encouraged, because you know, oh happy thoughts). That said, having to dress up does make cycling seem a bit harder than it ought to be, and require special uniforms. You have to commit. It's a bit like fetish wear, really, you can't just make it up, you've got to go the whole hog (not literally, that's a fetish too far). What, I'm wearing leather socks isn't going to cut it. Well, possibly if that's all you're wearing, it might.
-
The whole hog? Ian, your disguise is rumbled, you're the Rt Hon David Cameron!
Has Hoy's association with Vulpine fallen by the wayside, leaving him free to endorse somebody else?
Vulpine went bust
-
Has Hoy's association with Vulpine fallen by the wayside, leaving him free to endorse somebody else?
Yes, that went by the wayside. Not quite sure what happened there - from some of the reporting around the Vulpine bankruptcy it ended a while before they went bust. Vulpine were apparently left with a bunch of Hoy stock they couldn't sell, which would suggest it was terminated at fairly short notice?
-
Admittedly, I suspect Cameron doesn't get invited to many hog roasts these days. Though if there's an image that can't be shifted even with the strongest bleach, it's an engorged Cameron with nothing other that his socks with a jar of apple sauce in one hand and you don't want to know what's he's holding in the other. That's less of a village fete and more of an apocalypse. It's why I never go to the Cotswolds. I figure why take the risk.
-
Rapha, Team Sky, Pinarello etc. They are there to make money, and nothing else. There's nothing wrong with that, but its a mistake to think that cycling is all about Rapha, Team Sky, Pinarello etc, despite the attempts by Rapha marketing to convince you that only through them can you experience the soul of Cycling. Cycling is an activity not a commodity.
Happily engaged my inner-inverse snob after reading this a while ago: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/01/rapha-the-brand-thats-making-cycling-into-a-lifestyle.
-
Rapha, Team Sky, Pinarello etc. They are there to make money, and nothing else. There's nothing wrong with that, but its a mistake to think that cycling is all about Rapha, Team Sky, Pinarello etc, despite the attempts by Rapha marketing to convince you that only through them can you experience the soul of Cycling. Cycling is an activity not a commodity.
Happily engaged my inner-inverse snob after reading this a while ago: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/01/rapha-the-brand-thats-making-cycling-into-a-lifestyle.
It could be argued that the Rapha/Sky kit crowd are the wannabees, whereas club cyclists, being part of the traditional cycling community, and participating in events organised for and by themselves, are the real thing.
-
Quite a few folk I know wear Rapha and do some some impressive riding during audax events: I believe they value the comfort offered by the kit. Are such folk 'wannabees' or are they just cyclists who appreciate what a certain provider of cycling kit has to offer?
Perhaps those wearing Assos kit should also be included in the debate as they pioneered expensive and somewhat exclusive kit.
Or perhaps folk are just spending their cash on what they choose which I think is fine and more than happy to see folk out and about on their cycles. No doubt Mr Hoy would agree.
-
I think the clue is that Rapha was started by a brand management specialist, with no background in clothing or cycling production.
Its certainly well marketed, and it is good quality, but it also filled a bit of a gap in the market for retro styled modern kit.
Where it differs from Assos is in the marketing. Rapha have successfully implanted the notion that they represent the heritage of continental cycle racing from the b&w photo era. Much like an Omega watch, the pink stripe on one's shorts also symbolises that one is wealthy enough to afford them. This is why Rapha control their own retail and do not allow discounting.
-
Whereas Assos played the 'ride like a pro' card when marketing their kit.
Either way, they both offer some quality kit that becomes more acceptable when purchased during sales that make the kit more reasonable in terms of cost.
On the ride yesterday we were adding the cost of our kit and the combined cost was quite surprising to the owner of the cafe (who likes his cars and has 2 suitable vehicles to quench his thirst). We did not bother to go into the cost of some of the equipment we ride, but Pinarello and Dogma did feature!
If you choose to spend your cash in such a way then so be it!
-
Anyway, I'm sure you wouldn't get Jeremy Corbin wearing Rapha.
-
Anyway, I'm sure you wouldn't get Jeremy Corbin wearing Rapha.
Who is that?
I've heard of some bloke called Jeremy Corbyn and many folk would not take his choices in anything to be worth heeding. Others will. I suppose this highlights the diverse nature of life and cycling in that we can all do something, but in different ways.
-
Just imagine if the article had been about middle aged women in Lycra. There'd be uproar from certain quarters stating that nowadays women were allowed to express thier freedom in the choice of clothes. It was demining to those people who were say size 16 or larger, it was ageist, it was sexist, it was everything ist the PC brigade brigade could think of. And quite right too.
But when the same set of accuasations is laid at the feet of men, no, no one comes to thier defence.
EDIT.
I've just noticed an article on Cycling Weekly's website where Sir Chris HAS apologiesed.
However Hoy has now apologised for the article, writing on Twitter that the article wasn’t written tongue-in-cheek and that he did not intend to cause offence.
I'm really sorry; reading it back it looks harsh &that wasn't my intention.
Whatever ur age/build, if ur on a bike u have my respect👍🏻 (2/2)
— Chris Hoy (@chrishoy) August 28, 2017
It still stand by my point thought.
-
If you're going to dress up, I reckon some kind of plushie cosplay is the way to go. There's a thoroughly modern version of Wind in the Willows out there that's going to end with a significant amount of dry cleaning.
Oh cycling. Yes, I salute anyone who cycles up Anerley Hill dressed as a squirrel. I don't want to be the only one sitting in Cadence dressed like that again.
-
So Hoy thinks he was quoted out of context. Then he probably failed the media training course he went on
when he was part of British Cycling Performance Plan. Surely, he should have be advised that when talking
to journalists "be careful, what you say to them will not be exactly what is printed". ::-)
-
Has Hoy's association with Vulpine fallen by the wayside, leaving him free to endorse somebody else?
Vulpine went bust
I was alluding to that.
-
But when the same set of accuasations is laid at the feet of men, no, no one comes to thier defence.
Actually, a load came to their defence.
Hence Chris Hoy being forced to apologise.
-
Yes, however the apology will only hit maybe 10% of the original audience, who will be lapping up the anti-cyclist rhetoric.
-
He may or may not have been misquoted but 8st! I'm (due to some freakish metabolism) of similar build to a pro all be it without the ability and still crack 10st