Kilts on bikes?

[Azevedo]

Azevedo, move your sporran round to one side instead of keeping it in front of you!

Thank, Hamish!

I will do it next time!

[Hamish]

quoth Retro Red

1. Hard to be modest when mounting the bike

-- Rubbish !!!

2. Good chance pleats will rub on back tire & spokes

-- Keep your saddle high.

3. Riding very fast could be an "up lifting" experience for your apron

-- Rubbish !!!

4. Squishing your pleats between your legs & the horn of your saddle will create some nasty creases!

-- Depends on quality of the cloth.

Martin,
(kilted full time, on my cycle like anywhere else.
No problems at all.)

Excellent responses, Martin. I agree wholeheartedly!

[way2fractious]

The subject of kilts and bikes has been approached before and this conversation has predictably proceeded down the same path as the others. What I see developing are the familiar two camps - the "yes you can" and the "no you can't" groups. Please allow me to add a few more thoughts.

It appears to me that certain bicycles, and certain riding styles, and even certain reasons for mounting the machine, all lend themselves to kilted riding - and others do not. There is no way I would wear a kilt on a road bike frame (10-speed, racer, touring, etc.) with a narrow saddle and a "dropped" riding position, but I would on a mountain bike frame, a beach cruiser, or any other "comfort bike" with the wider seat and a more upright riding position.

Perhaps it as much to do with the purpose of the ride as anything else. The question is (no, not "The Question"!) whether you are going for an all-out bike ride, or whether you are going out for a short errand, to see a friend, or to show off your kilt.

Yes, there is a kilted wrestler, a kilted dancer with the stars, and maybe even a kilted skydiver somewhere, but I'll never join the ranks of kilted commuter or kilted cross-country cyclo-tourist (I'm kilted off-bike, but not on-bike.)

w2f

[kilted_brewer]

Perhaps it as much to do with the purpose of the ride as anything else. The question is (no, not "The Question"!) whether you are going for an all-out bike ride, or whether you are going out for a short errand, to see a friend, or to show off your kilt.

Yes, there is a kilted wrestler, a kilted dancer with the stars, and maybe even a kilted skydiver somewhere, but I'll never join the ranks of kilted commuter or kilted cross-country cyclo-tourist (I'm kilted off-bike, but not on-bike.)
w2f

I think I'm in agreement with way2fractious. I've made short trips on the bike while kilted, but mostly because I couldn't afford the time to change at the destination, and because the trip was short enough that I wouldn't work up a sweat on the way.

I've been a bicycle commuter for 12 years now, and just I've just been wearing kilts full time for one year (plus a month!), so I may be a little biased in favor of the longer experience, but I've always been a cyclist who wished he could cycle slowly, dressed in "street clothes", all the while knowing that he would be just too sweaty when he got there to make that work (time, distance, compulsion to go fast [for me], fastidiousness, using the right tool for the job all contribute to this mania).

I do love seeing the messenger downtown where I work who wears a skirt over her lycra shorts, though!

[TJP33928]

I met a guy this year on RAGBRAI this year who wore a kilt while riding. For those of you who don't know what RABGRAI is, it is an annual ride across Iowa this years edition was 477 miles. He was wearing one of those Utilikilt Spartan kilts, but I imagine he was wearing bike shorts underneath. After all it was a long days ride 77 miles and I personally would not be able to live with the chafing! Kilts and bicycles do go together, but not usually at the same time. I love mine after the ride and many of the pros on the American racing scene slip out of the SPandex and into kilts.

Tim