When you go on a bike trip, one of the first things to pay attention to is clothing. Today, there is a wide choice of shorts, jerseys, k-way, socks, shoes and jackets perfect for cycling.

They usually have specific characteristics: they are breathable, they are comfortable because they must facilitate pedaling and they must be durable. However, when talking about urban cycling things change, the term "Bike to work" to identify commuting between home and work, obviously by bike, has become more and more common in recent years. So the spontaneous question is: how to dress to ride a bike in the city?

Technical clothing for cyclists can seem a bit out of place, especially because then you have to spend the rest of the day in the office, at university or in any other place.

You might think it's enough to dress normally, as if you were going to work by public transport or car, but it's not. The Bike to Work is a widespread phenomenon in Northern Europe, which is also taking off in Italy (think that every year the mobility and Bike to Work week is celebrated). Whereas before it was only a few isolated cases, now commuting between home and work has become a real movement, which also helps to contain CO2 emissions and thus make cities more sustainable and avoid crowding public transport.

But let's get to the point, here are some tips on how to dress to ride a bike in the city.

Before choosing clothes, understand your needs

The clothes selection phase is the last one, before that you need to know your own body and the needs of the day, such as:

• sweating

• length of the route

• season and temperature

• intensity of pedaling

• dress code of the day

The first thing is therefore essential to understand your own perspiration, because urban cycling is a sport in all respects. Our body does work, the temperature rises and is necessarily regulated by sweating. Understanding how much our body sweats under strain is also a very important indicator on the type of clothes to choose, because some fabrics, especially synthetic ones, facilitate sweating.

The length of the route is an equally important variable, if you travel a few kilometers on a flat road, the chances of triggering the sweating process are less. On the contrary, if you have to travel several km every day, encountering some differences in level such as uphill roads or bridges, in that case you have to take into account a greater perspiration.

At the same time, it is important to also evaluate the season and therefore the temperature, as well as weather phenomena: what do I wear if it rains? Finally, the dress code of the day should not be underestimated, in some offices an elegant dress code is required for both men and women. Once all these needs are understood, you can move on to the phase of choosing the most suitable clothes for Bike to Work!

Which clothes to choose to ride a bike in the city

All the clothes must have one feature in common: they must be breathable. Starting with underwear, which play a fundamental role because they are in contact with the skin, materials such as cotton, linen and any type of natural fiber are to be preferred. During colder months, items can be chosen with a merino wool base, including socks and sweaters. This type of wool indeed warms a lot, but it is light and breathable.

One thing to bear in mind is that it's never advisable to overdress, maybe for the first rides you will be more protected from the air and the cold, but remember that after a while the body temperature will start to rise and the risk is to get very hot. In this case, a possible solution against the cold is to wear a merino wool sweater and a rainproof jacket in technical fabric, such as Soft Shell.

In the summer, some people prefer to cover the route wearing a simple cotton t-shirt and then bring a replacement shirt in a bag, along with the jacket, so they can appear impeccable even on important occasions. Along with the replacement, it might be useful to also bring a small beauty case with deodorant and a wipe, so you always feel comfortable even after a ride with high temperatures.

And what about bags? Even in this case, there is a wide choice of models, there are many brands that have striven to create removable bike bags, which therefore serve a dual function. The advice is that they are waterproof, so you won't have issues on rainy days.

If after experimenting with the bike as a daily means of transport, as we are sure, you won't be able to do without it, why not continue to choose a sustainable mode of transport even on holiday? On Cyclando you will find hundreds of routes all over Europe that will let you discover unique corners of the old continent in an active and above all green way: choose the one that's right for you and leave with a click!