unsafe trend in jerseys?

Is it me, or are more jerseys dark or road-colored? I was just shopping the Terry catalog for new plus-size jerseys and the Reaction jersey for plus comes in 2 muted grayish patterns - zebra and nautilus, and the Cashmina comes in snow leopard and tiger (mostly black.) I'm sure they look very nice on, but visibility is SO important for road safety and animal patterns are on animals because they help them camouflage and blend in to their surroundings!:eek:

Maybe this is less of a concern to those who ride in groups? But I mostly ride solo on winding country roads. I look great in black, but on my bike I think it'd be suicidal.

Maybe I don't think enough about safety but, personally, I'm glad to see more muted colors in cycling clothing. The first thing that catches my eye on the rack are any deeper or earthier colors, then I look for functionality amongst that selection. If the shop or catalog is full of nothing but bright pink, blue, red or yellow, then I don't look any further. But that's just me, and I'm contrary in other ways, too ;)

I do have a vest/jacket with safety yellow panels, though, that I can throw over my more muted colors when necessary.

Yep, I noticed that too. First thing I thought to myself when I saw those animal prints was that no driver would see me from far away at all.
Thanks, but I'll stick with my bright bright yellows. I get comments from car drivers in town regularly about how they were able to see me from "a mile away".

Have to admit that I like the fleece animal prints in the Terry Catalog. Alas, I don't like the jerseys that LateBloomer mentions. A bit drab. Also, I agree that they won't do much to make you visible, particularly this time of year. You'd do better getting something bright from TE---great selection & lots of tempting winter gear is in now. ;)

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Originally Posted by Velobambina

You'd do better getting something bright from TE---great selection & lots of tempting winter gear is in now. ;)

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Actually, there's not very much selection at all when it comes to plus-size cold or wet weather gear. That's not a criticism of TE, just the reality of what's available (or rather, not available) in plus-size athletic/outdoor apparel.

My favorite wool t-shirt for riding is an asphalt-grey. Bummer, but gray is one of my favorite colors. I always (always ALWAYS) wear my screaming yellow something over it. (usually my PI whisper vest. Thanks TE!)

Back in the old days when it was very hard to find bright colored biking gear I wore a hunter-orange sweater my G'pa won at a mass motorcycle blessing. He was very big on wearing full protective gear and being visible.

I figure wear whatever you love, but put something gawd-awful bright on over it if you need to be seen.

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Originally Posted by latelatebloomer

Is it me, or are more jerseys dark or road-colored? I was just shopping the Terry catalog for new plus-size jerseys and the Reaction jersey for plus comes in 2 muted grayish patterns - zebra and nautilus, and the Cashmina comes in snow leopard and tiger (mostly black.) I'm sure they look very nice on, but visibility is SO important for road safety and animal patterns are on animals because they help them camouflage and blend in to their surroundings!:eek:

Maybe this is less of a concern to those who ride in groups? But I mostly ride solo on winding country roads. I look great in black, but on my bike I think it'd be suicidal.

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Hmmm.... I don't know if a snow leopard would afford much camouflage on the urban streets around Washington D.C.! If someone saw a snow leopard, it would cause quite a (pardon the pun) uproar! ;)

But as far as those Terry jerseys go...there are a few bright options...no one would miss that tutti frutti plus Reaction jersey!

I think the colors for the coming years are dictated by sales. If lots of bright colors sell, there bright colors will be offered....

I agree about the added safety aspect of the bright colors. I have several visi-yellow jerseys, and a couple of plain bright yellow, red, orange .... and then I have one dark pink one that hardly ever gets worn because I know the drivers can't see me as well, or at least won't notice me as easily, if I'm wearing that. If I could have a visi-yellow bike, shoes, shorts, jersey, helmet and gloves, I'd be a happy biker! (And I almost always ride in groups.)

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Originally Posted by latelatebloomer

Is it me, or are more jerseys dark or road-colored? I was just shopping the Terry catalog for new plus-size jerseys and the Reaction jersey for plus comes in 2 muted grayish patterns - zebra and nautilus, and the Cashmina comes in snow leopard and tiger (mostly black.) I'm sure they look very nice on, but visibility is SO important for road safety and animal patterns are on animals because they help them camouflage and blend in to their surroundings!:eek:

Maybe this is less of a concern to those who ride in groups? But I mostly ride solo on winding country roads. I look great in black, but on my bike I think it'd be suicidal.

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I have to agree and I think I'd rather not be or look like road kill in them. My DH has a dark jersey and there are times in the low light I can't pick him out. With the sun lower in the sky and in drivers faces I think the brighter the better. Just my opinion.

I've been disappointed in the dark colored cycling clothing this season. I won't buy non-vibrant colors. Safety first is my mantra when road riding by myself. I'm envious of the off road cyclist that buy apparel without too much thought to being visible. Terry's muted jerseys would be nice to avoid the real dirt look when mountain biking.

I know i must sound like a saleswoman but i'm going to suggest a ground effect jersey or jacket. The reason is there are great reflective patches at the back of the clothes that people can see a great distance away.

None of the jerseys are leopard skin prints & fit really well at the bottom.

Give the site a look-www.groundeffect.co.nz

Another happy ground effect chickie

C

My favorite biking wear of all (aside from wool base layers, mind you) is stuff from Brooks- their "Nightlife" line. I get it from various places, but Terry carries a lot of their stuff.
At any given time on my bike, I am wearing Screaming fluorescent yellow on my Nightlife long tights, capri's, vest, jacket, t-shirts, and/or longsleeve jerseys. I wear them in unlimited combos.
For instance, I might on a cool day wear the NightLife long tights with my favorite regular black chamois shorts over them, then a black Smartwool longsleeve hoodie and my Nightlife vest over that. Or an Ibex wool base layer and a Nightlife LS jersey over that.
On a hot day I often wear just a screaming yellow lightweight t-shirt over my regular biking bottoms. On really hot days I wear either a Nightlife yellow t-shirt that I cut the sleeves off of- OR the Nightlife racer back tank with shelf bra....can't get cooler than that! :D

I'm a big screamingyellow/wool combo fan girl. :)

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there's not very much selection at all when it comes to plus-size

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You've got that right!!!!

Every doggone jersey I see that's in a pattern or a color I love is tapered like an upside-down pyramid with tight elastic in the waist.

I really like the ones that have the name of a state and a picture of some snowcapped mountain or brightly colored field of flowers. Even if they come in XL, they're way too tight around that dang elastic in the bottom.

I understand the theory of tight cycling clothes, really I do, but come on!

I agree with the bland colours. Does anyone know of any funky jerseys. I just started riding this year at the age of 51 and like bright funky jerseys but find them hard to get. Any suggestions

jml - check out sheila moon's gorgeous jerseys.
Team Estrogen carries several Sheila Moon products & you can see the complete line at www.sheilamoon.com

You can't possibly get brighter or funkier than pink fleur or pucci :)

Enjoy! Monica

p.s. on visibility ... Has anyone else noticed this? To me, it seems that contrast (and especially horizontal contrast) is even better than solid colored bright jerseys for visibility. One example is Castelli's Maya jersey in red & white....

http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=24905

Thanks latelatebloomer for speaking up, I absolutely agree with you! I noticed this for a while, the dark colored cycling jerseys. Yes they look nice, tempting to buy, but wait a minute... dark colored jersey on the road??? Safety is number one for me when I ride my bike, that means I wear bright colores (what colores where the best, bright green and also yellow?). I don't care if I am in fashion or not, I want to bike not impress anybody with my new expensive cycling close

Ride safe

Resi

I remember reading somewhere that the BRIGHTEST colors for visibility (notwithstanding reflective strips), in descending order are:

Fuschia,
Yellow,
Orange, and
Red.

So I won't buy a cycling top in any other color.

Blues, greens and purples are NOT very visible to drivers.

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Originally Posted by mariposa

I remember reading somewhere that the BRIGHTEST colors for visibility (notwithstanding reflective strips), in descending order are:

Fuschia,
Yellow,
Orange, and
Red.

So I won't buy a cycling top in any other color.

Blues, greens and purples are NOT very visible to drivers.

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Agreed! I see bike commuters nearly every night when I leave work and am amazed at how many of them are wearing DARK jerseys. I always really appreciate the ones who are all lit up; it really does make a difference. In addition to the colors mentioned above, I also find white jerseys very visible. And wild patterns/team kits with multiple bright colors.

If you have a dark-colored jersey you love (or it's the only one clean), wear a screaming yellow wind vest over it on the road. Dark colors are okay on the trails, bike paths, etc., but just not right for the road, IMO. I used to wear them, but as I've become more aware of the visibility differences, and how distracted drivers are these days with cell phones, I won't.

Emily

my dictionary says fuschia is a dark purplish-red color :confused:

Actually, Fuschia is something like this

Of course, color and names of color are very subjective, but when I need an obnoxious bright color for testing computer displays it is a background color of Fuschia with Yellow text. I think of it more as a very painful pink.

Wasn't there a post eons back about the bright yellow not always being the best color? The case was a driver not seeing a bike they knew was there and the rider was wearing the yellow/lime color because the sun was behind the rider. Usually the color is effective, but we can't assume we're boldly visible.

Multiple, very bright colors are required for different lighting conditions. Heck, fire departments can't agree on whether trucks should be red or yellow/lime. Give me a wild pattern jersey with lots of bright colors--makes me giggle when I wear it and it makes me think I can be seen.

in motorcycle safety class they told us that white was always and by far the most visible, especially for helmets...

For what it's worth, I was driving the girls to piano lessons one afternoon and was several hundred yards away from a y-intersection when I saw DH go sailing through in his hi-vis orange cycling jersey. Thought to myself, "Dave must be ahead of him already heading up the hill." Uuumm, no. Ever-vigilant and always scanning for cyclists, I was SHOCKED when I realized Dave was actually just a short distance behind DH -- white jersey, white helmet. Never even registered on my radar.

We won't ride in anything but hi-vis, and have found that drivers seem to treat us with a little more respect since we made the switch. (That's still not saying much though!)

Was in a major LBS in Indianapolis and asked the buyer why they didn't carry anything for women other than pastel pink and baby blue. She told me that riders like those colors because they feel like they're easier to see. Snort.

You have to ask yourself: what do highway road crews wear? Fuschia? Baby blue? White? Sunflowers? Stripes?......no, they wear screaming hi-visibility yellow or orange, with reflector tape for nightime.
Here in NY state, there was a study done a few years ago that caused the highway dept to switch from hi-vis orange and pink to hi-vis yellow because they found it was the most attention getting and visible color to motorists. Those guys do major safety studies and tests, -they want to make darned sure their road crew does not get hit by cars who don't see them.

Screaming yellow for me, thanks (with cozy merino wool base layers underneath!). :)