Ditto, ditto, ditto!!!
I'd like to add that while I do hate flapping jerseys, with hips/butt like mine, even without elastic...there is no flapping unless the jersey is all-around too big.
Printable View
I prefer elastic. It supports some of the weight of your pocket contents. Otherwise I often feel like I am being choked by my jersey when I zip it up all the way.
I'm with RoadRaven - it drives my batty when a jersey flaps, so I'm firmly in the elastic camp. I'm also short torso'd so I rarely have any problems with them being too short. I think most of my jerseys have grippy stuff (just like on the legs of shorts) on the waist too so that they won't ride up.
I like the elastic also. The flapping annoys me.
I'm in huge favor of a silicon gripper substance (like the new stuff Castelli uses on their shorts) that doesn't have to bunch up in order to keep the fabric in place. I have no idea why they haven't started using this type of gripper material on jersey's ?!
Or maybe an old fashioned draw string jersey?? Best of both worlds.. tighten it up if you don't want the flapping, let it loose if you don't need it. :D
This is EXACTLY what happens to me with the elastic. I'm not large, but my waist is about 10 or 11 inches smaller than my hips. When I start my ride, I have the jersey pulled down to my hips. I ride a road bike with drops, not upright bars, and when I get off the bike the jersey has slid it's way up the lycra shorts and is at my waist! I don't see that happen to the guys, but then, they don't have curves either.
I just bought this jersey off ebay:
This is the first one I've bought with the silicone around the hem. It's a nice, long jersey, and I wore it for the first time this weekend. It's great! I could probably have used one size smaller, but I really like the silicone hem.
Emily
Great poll, sis!
I'm looking foward to seeing replies by the makers of women's biking clothes (if they even care)...when are they going to realize there are a ton of women out there who are actively participating in sports who would like to dress appropriately, but can't find anything that fits?!? I scuba dive, and have the same problem, only worse.....I've had to have 2 wetsuits and a skin custom made because I am 1) not male 2) not 6 feet tall (not even close!)
3) not a size zero (also not even close) 4) Refuse to wear pink....according to the owner of our local dive shop, I apparently also am not viewed as a profit center, because they say there are not enough women like me to bother making off the rack items...yet I see more women who look like me in the sport than their target market (and that goes for biking, too)....let's face it...no sports company wants their logo to be seen on someone who doesn't cut the perfect figure...that would be bad advertising!
Another "no" for elastic here. I'm fairly straight-figured and the elastic still creeps up to my waist, making the jersey billow out around my middle and sit too high.
I have never had a problem with jerseys "flapping" when there is no elastic. I wear tight "race fit" jerseys anyway. I remove the elastic if I have to, and the hem just stays put nicely.
Why oh why can't manufacturers figure out that not all women want elastic, and not all women want to wear "screaming pink" or other prints that shout to the world "I'm a chick!!!".
Hurley - you are so right about pink... saw the new specialised women's road bike in a shop a couple of weeks ago - so beautiful - but why pink strips of paint all over it?
NZ bike shops (well, the local ones we have spoken to) try to avoid or minimise pink bikes - NZ women just are not into pink stuff.
I want to qualify my opinion on elastic too. I don't like tight elastic... I like the loose elastic that gives shape but doesn't pull in tight... my prorace jerseyd are like that.
I voted no on the elastic. I just got one of the Bellwether Crit Jerseys, which don't have the elastic, and it feels so nice! It's snug enough so it doesn't flap. But I do think it would be improved with the grippy stuff around the bottom, to anchor it a little more firmly. :)