# cotton commuting clothes?



## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

It sucks dealing with a pile of sweaty clothes when I ride into work. On the plus side, we have a great gym with daily lockers, where I can hang them up until the end of the day. Still, it means bringing home a bag of sweaty clothes on the train. Do-able but unpleasant.

However, the gym does have laundry facilities. I have a cotton outfit in my locker for this reason, but that's for working out on-site- never rode in it. Wonderfully convenient- you stuff the clothes in a mesh bag that has your locker number on it, throw it in the hamper, and a day or so later, clean, folded clothes in your locker! :thumbsup:

It's a small mesh bag, so I can't fit the household laundry in there  But how awesome if I could do this with a bike outfit. Ride in, toss clothes, train home; next day, train in, grab clean bike clothes, ride home (I can park the bike there overnight now, woohoo!)

My commute is 16 miles each way, though. Are there comfy bike clothes for a 1hr+ commute?


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Sure, any bike clothes that you like. Does it have to be cotton for some reason? buy some inexpensive shorts and jerseys. They'll probably handle the wash just fine.


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## Bil_lin_Endicott (May 11, 2013)

My commute is much shorter than yours(4.5 miles 1 way), but I sweat buckets anyways. I wear moisture wicking clothing like C9 DuoDry(Target). I just hang them up after I change, and they are usually dry within a couple of hours. I shower in the morning before I leave for work, and the clothes still smell like laundry detergent after they dry. I'm not so sure how comfortable they are for a 16 mile commute, but they work just fine for me.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

I'm thinking cotton b/c the work gym has laundry facilities. They don't hang your delicates to dry; it all goes into some industrial dryer someplace. 

Sounds like regular lycra-type undergarments (padded shorts) under cotton would be the way to go. Could ride around the neighborhood to test stuff out! I'm a little nervous about committing to a long ride with something as nefarious as cotton.


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## dir-t (Oct 14, 2005)

I think you may be overthinking this or I honestly don't understand the issue. 

If carrying extra clothes on the train is a burden, I would just wear my normal bike clothes and either 1) not have them washed or 2) not worry about how they'll hold up to being washed.

As for #1, just think of it as one 32 mile ride with a long break in the middle. While I prefer not to do it, it's not uncommon for me to get 2 rides on a pair of shorts before I wash them - sometimes I forget that laundry wasn't done or if I'm on a MTB vacation camping in the middle of some remote place. 

As for #2, my biking clothes get the same laundry treatment as my cotton t-shirts and I don't *think* they wear faster because of it. I get about 6,000 miles on a pair of shorts before the stitching starts to pull apart or the butt wears through. 

But, you're still carrying work clothes aren't you? If you wear padded shorts under cotton pants, are you still carrying the padded shorts home or are they getting washed too? At that point, why not just wear "real" bike clothes? 

There's also the HTFU strategy. For instance, look how many kids happily ride their bikes all day long without ever knowing about chamois or Lycra. Plenty of old school MTB riders got their start riding for years in cut-off jeans and lived to tell the tale.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

_There's also the HTFU strategy. For instance, look how many kids happily ride their bikes all day long without ever knowing about chamois or Lycra. Plenty of old school MTB riders got their start riding for years in cut-off jeans and lived to tell the tale. _

This is my thinking, and my first MTB rides were in cotton. My first long ride was probably cotton as well, but it's too far back to remember.....

But when you first get started, you don't know how riding is "supposed" to feel. Once you start getting used to the cycling-creature-comforts, it's hard to go back! Especially as you get old.

I don't mind re-using clothes the same day, if I'm doing a round trip (working up to that.) It's just that the gym here has laundry facilities, and I never throw my technical fabrics in the dryer. They launder/dry everything.

Maybe the real question should be, which cycling fabrics hold up in the dryer? I do have old padded shorts that have gone through the dryer, but they don't seem happy about it 

(And of course I'm over-thinking it, just a fun puzzle that requires I think about biking.)


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## BBoneCloneMN (Oct 21, 2012)

Eddie Bauer Travex pants are pretty great to ride in. I have one pair that are full-length for a top layer in winter and another pair that I had tailored into knickers. They're breathable, quick-drying, slightly stretchy, and inconspicuous. 

I wear my knickers a nearly every commute and wash them weekly with no issues. If you live near an outlet mall, the EB outlet Travex stuff is slightly cheaper and (in my opinion) the same quality.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

You wash AND dry? I don't have a good spot to hang clothes except in a locker. I stick a towel in there to help absorb the off-gassing of sweat, but that doesn't do much.


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## BBoneCloneMN (Oct 21, 2012)

Yep. I wash and dry. 
Another idea is, if wear and tear are your main concern with laundering your cycling clothes, why not commit to 2 pairs of cheap shorts and just budget to replace them annually? Save the good stuff for your long weekend rides and just accept that 16 miles a day will take its toll.

It's also amazing what 24 hours and a spritz of Febreeze can do for a set of clothes.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

BBoneCloneMN said:


> Yep. I wash and dry.
> Another idea is, if wear and tear are your main concern with laundering your cycling clothes, why not commit to 2 pairs of cheap shorts and just budget to replace them annually? Save the good stuff for your long weekend rides and just accept that 16 miles a day will take its toll.
> 
> It's also amazing what 24 hours and a spritz of Febreeze can do for a set of clothes.


I have shorts and jerseys that are probably older than some RBR members!  Replacing annually is madness I tell you.....

As for Febreze, that's a guy thing, I'm convinced. Disposable clothing and Febreze is like bachelor laundry advice. :lol:

Although, I have had my el-cheapo backpack sitting on my desk all day, and even though it was just washed three rides ago, it's already got some funk. Might try hitting that with a bit of Febreze.


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## marc7654 (Jun 24, 2014)

Got a sink to wash the shorts in? Would they dry in the locker by the next day?

I'm one of those that sweats like a horse (pigs don't sweat) even if I'm only going the 4 miles to work, even if it's 30 def F. I'm lucky enough that the University has a decent staff locker/shower facility, gym, pool etc. So with the shower facility I give in to the sweat and sprint the 4 miles to work. Because of the pool they have a swimsuit spinner in the locker room. I have rinsed the shorts in the sink and used the spinner to get most of the water out. By 5pm they are a bit damp still but not so bad to be uncomfortable riding home. But really most of the time I don't bother. The shorts aren't so funky I can't put them on for the ride home.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Funny you mention washing by hand- my co-worker suggested bringing the kit into the shower with me. I thought that would be too tricky juggling a towel and my toiletry bag along with the clothes.

This morning, rode in and the weather was so beautiful, decided it might be worth a round-trip. So I use the ADA-accessible shower with the slotted bench, rinsed kit under shower, and piled it on the bench 'til I was done showering. 

After toweling off, rolled it all up in the towel to get extra water out, and hung it in the locker with a small towel on the bottom to catch dripping (we can only use the larger locker-room lockers for a day; our personal lockers are cubby-sized.)

I've already got extra socks/bandana handy. Hoping this works.....!


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## ispoke (Feb 28, 2005)

Depends on the climate too. I bike commuted for a number of years in Los Angeles, and sometimes wore my work clothes - chino pants, cotton undershirt and cotton oxford. Sport socks and cycling shoes were my only special consideration. That said, it was usually in the 4, 8, 12 mile range and mornings were often cool or mild, and nearly always dry. And no, I didn't pedal like a mad roadie - I just pedaled like a normal civilian (which is an underrated joy). If it was DC or Houston, then no, too humid to sweat in work clothes.

Frankly, if you can just drop off your riding clothes at a laundry at work and it's all done for you, then you have more amenities than probably 99% of the riders on this forum. You should more fully embrace your wonderful opportunity. Can they just wash and then hang dry in your locker? Even if it results in more wear and tear than you assume the clothes should suffer - who cares. Buy three, four, five cycling commute outfits and wear each once per week, and they'll probably last two, three years. By contrast, you'd probably spend more than that on daily gas for commuting in a car in just a few months...


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Christine said:


> Funny you mention washing by hand- my co-worker suggested bringing the kit into the shower with me. I thought that would be too tricky juggling a towel and my toiletry bag along with the clothes.
> 
> This morning, rode in and the weather was so beautiful, decided it might be worth a round-trip. So I use the ADA-accessible shower with the slotted bench, rinsed kit under shower, and piled it on the bench 'til I was done showering.
> 
> ...


I'd like to hear how that went. I'm betting you either changed your mind about riding home or rode home in very damp clothes. I can't imagine washed clothes hanging in a locker with limited air circulation drying in 8 hours in any climate where any of us work. Maybe in an un-airconditoned building in Death Valley in the summer -- maybe.

IMHO, it would be better just to hang them up and let them dry as well as you can, then ride home in them. My commute is shorter than yours, but on the hottest summer days I'm pretty sweaty when I get in, and the clothes are okay to ride home in, just being hung up all day. But I do have a place with good air circulation to hang them.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Ha, well I didn't ride home Thursday night after all (mom's hip surgery lasted longer than I was told, so I was away from the office all day Thursday where clothing and bike were parked.)

Friday, they were dry but had that water-funk smell (funky, minus the homeless-sweat smell- think damp sponge.) Rode in today and am considering a ride home, but will improvise with whatever dry clothing I can dig up (extra lycra running tights in desk etc.) We shall see.


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## SpikedLemon (May 15, 2015)

Maybe I'm over simplifying this but why not have two pairs? 

One for each way. Pick up one of the cheap pair from amazon.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

I bring a change of clothes for the ride home, but the cotton shorts I have are a bit too thick and heavy for current weather. Will have to keep an eye out for the cheap stuff.


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