Cycling jerseys vs tank tops?

[kiwibug]

This is a pretty silly question, but I'm trying to figure out if there's an advantage to using a jersey vs a fitness tank top when riding.. Other than the pockets I really can't think of much! I know that if I wear a cycling jersey I'll look that much more hardcore and serious, but I worry about tan lines etc. Plus I already have a lot of fitness tank tops.

What do you use and why?

[wildeny]

As long as your tank tops dry quickly, why not?

For cycling jerseys, the back is usually longer than the front.

[Grog]

I really need the pockets.

And I am protecting my precious shoulder skin from sunburn. Sunscreen doesn't cover as well as fabric.

[channlluv]

I just saw my dermatologist last week and she chastised me for wearing tank tops while riding because of the sun damage I'm inflicting on myself. I have a history of basal cell carcenoma, and she basically told me I'm just inviting a future of skin cancer surgeries if I don't start wearing long-sleeve shirts to ride.

I told her I wear 30 sunblock, but she said it's just not as effective as fabric, as she's pointing out the freckling starting to come out on my arms. "First you get all freckly and then you get leathery and you really can't come back from that," she said.

Naturally, TE isn't selling any long-sleeve jerseys right now, it being summer any second now. Luckily, I've got a couple of long-sleeve fitness shirts.

If you choose to wear regular clothes to ride in, you might look for something with an SPF rating.

Good luck.

Roxy

[Cataboo]

I told her I wear 30 sunblock, but she said it's just not as effective as fabric, as she's pointing out the freckling starting to come out on my arms. "First you get all freckly and then you get leathery and you really can't come back from that," she said.


Roxy

Now you're having me look at my freckly arms with suspicion.

[shootingstar]

I just saw my dermatologist last week and she chastised me for wearing tank tops while riding because of the sun damage I'm inflicting on myself. I have a history of basal cell carcenoma, and she basically told me I'm just inviting a future of skin cancer surgeries if I don't start wearing long-sleeve shirts to ride.

I told her I wear 30 sunblock, but she said it's just not as effective as fabric, as she's pointing out the freckling starting to come out on my arms. "First you get all freckly and then you get leathery and you really can't come back from that," she said.

Naturally, TE isn't selling any long-sleeve jerseys right now, it being summer any second now. Luckily, I've got a couple of long-sleeve fitness shirts.

If you choose to wear regular clothes to ride in, you might look for something with an SPF rating.

Good luck.

Roxy

Been cycling regularily since 1992. I am 50. I stopped lying out in the sun for a "tan" since ...um around 1989 or so.

Before I started approx. 1999 wearing short-sleeved cycling jerseys for very hot /humid days when I lived in Toronto, I wore short sleeved T-shirts. I did WAY more self-loaded long distance touring during cycling seasons ranging from 300 kms. to 1,100 kms., most of it during summer and early fall.

I never wore sleevless nor tank tops at all all those years and not even now while cycling. Would only wear sleeveless/tanktops for outfits off-bike.

It helps that my natural skin colour is not exactly white. So the need to look glowing and slightly tan just isn't there. I've been mistakened for looking Filipino or Malaysian. (Hmmm, am not that naturally dark. Whatever.) So this "problem" of evening out, funny uneven tan lines really is not meaningful..at least to me. And if it shows when I wear sleeveless dressy top off-bike, so what. Am proud to sport the cycling tan lines.

I am seeing a dermatologist next month on some facial spots. It concerns me. I do wear sunblock 30 sfp regularily. I tan naturally fast and easily without much burning..which can be very misleading to myself, in terms of skin "damage".

Yes, the skin across my back and front of me is still soft and smooth because I don't cycle in tank tops/sleeveless.

YOu get used to wearing short sleeved tops under hot blistering sun...can't as bad...as hearing stories of people I knew last year, who worked in Dubai (in Middle East) where it rose to 40-50 degrees C.

Would I wear long-sleeved in humid, hot summers? I have ..when I got badly sunburned on the 2nd day of a 3-wk. long cycling tour in Canadian Maritime provinces during the summer. And this is despite wearing sunblock! It worried me nearly to tears, being at the start of a bike trip. So in tiny town of Shelburne, Nova Sotia, I went to the Salvation Army store and bought a man's white cotton/poly dress shirt for $2.00. I rolled up the sleeves to my wristwatch. And wore that shirt nearly 80% for the remainder of the trip.

I wore that shirt several times during our first trip in Hawaii when I was on bike and hiking around. It finally fell apart after I used it as an art painting-cover up shirt.

[OakLeaf]

I really need the pockets.

And I am protecting my precious shoulder skin

+1, except that I'm protecting my precious shoulder skin from road rash should I crash. (Lycra's not motorcycle leather obviously, but it slides and provides a lot more protection than you'd think.) Years ago I used to race, and racing rules require you to cover your shoulders, and it's just an old habit from those days that I don't buy sleeveless jerseys.

But technical T's are available with sleeves too obviously. I just really need the pockets, and although I'm not tall, once you add the pockets, the extra length in back is pretty much a necessity too.

(Chanlluv, TE has lots of long-sleeve summerweight jerseys right here right now - more than I've ever seen anywhere else. To the OP, who didn't want sleeves, here are 78 sleeveless cycling jerseys with pockets.)

[papaver]

That's also the reason why many pro cyclists wear two layers, even when it's hot!

[alpinerabbit]

Except in the hottest of conditions, it's good wearing a mesh underlayer too that wicks clammy sweat off you.