this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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Always wondered why “dress for the slide, not the ride” didn’t apply to bicycles.
You are the power source for your travel on a bike, you need to be able to dump heat. Also generally the top speed isn't all that high
But it kind of is? The Tour de France is really a different beast from you riding around - they are averaging at over 41km/h for the whole tour with all those brutal climbs. You can imagine how fast they are going at flat sections. They are reaching 100km/h+ at descents.
But even for me as a unfit guy the speeds can get crazy. If I go down the hills around here and if I do not brake, I will reach 70km/h+ easily. Which is kind of insane just wearing a helmet and short lycra clothes.
I can pedal my carbon fibre recumbent up to 53km/h on the flat, and I pass cars in a 70kmh zone on a downhill exit ramp, so yeah speeds can get pretty high. It would be good if cycle racing organisations required road racers to wear appropriate PPE so ventilated protective gear could get into the general population and be seen as reasonable
OTOH I don't think riders of slow bikes should be required to even wear helmets (they are required to in Australia)