Choosing a jersey color

[OakLeaf]

Jess, WHERE did you find a screaming yellow backpack? I have been looking for one for literally five years. It's seriously one of the reasons I don't commute more in the hill country ... what I've been doing is hooking my yellow knit cap through one of the loops in the lightest colored backpack I could find, but it's not much.




... My bike has matching royal blue tires, tape, and bottle cages on a blue/black/white frame. And one of my pairs of gloves is blue. That's enough matching for me.

[jessmarimba]

It's not a "structured" backpack, but I use an REI Flash18 (or something like that - it was a gift). It's waterproof (reverses to a dry bag), comfy, and light. It's not like highlighter hi-vis yellow, but it's as yellow as you'll get outside of that.

[OakLeaf]

It's not a "structured" backpack, but I use an REI Flash18 (or something like that - it was a gift). It's waterproof (reverses to a dry bag), comfy, and light. It's not like highlighter hi-vis yellow, but it's as yellow as you'll get outside of that.

Hah! The one I have is a predecessor to that backpack, which I ordered because it looked a lot yellower on the screen, but it's really more of an olive drab. I might've even posted a review complaining about the lack of bright colors...

IAE, thanks! Now, which one do I want?

[jessmarimba]

Haha, they must've taken your advice! It's a good bag to bring clothes to and from work.

[hulagirl]

I buy only if my conditions are met. I've gotten by with one jersey for about 8 months until the thing started to smell so bad that I couldn't go near it. God how I hate synthetic fabrics!

1. Fabric type/thickness. It's damn hot here in Hawaii. I do not want to ride in some 8lb jersey that is so thick and heavy that I lose half my body weight in sweat! I want thin, technical fabric with a good SPF rating

2. Full zip. How I love full zip jerseys!

3. Silicone gripper Free. Agh! Go away with those things!!!

4. Sleeves. Short. Sleeveless means I have put on sunscreen and I prefer to ride with my arm coolers to avoid the goop.

5. Color - no dark colors please. Again, sun = hot here. Unless it is wool, black is not worth it. (heat or visibility) I prefer bright, contrasting colors.

6. Cost - I know that I'm looking for a lot of higher end jerseys. I LOVE my Giordana 2010 FR Carbon jersey. In red and white! They had a pink and black one (sleeves only black) that I wanted but I can't find it any more. That jersey is my race jersey. It's the most comfortable, light weight, awesome in every way.

Now I do own more than one jersey. I weekend of bike riding in torrential downpours taught me a lesson - suck it up and buy a "junk" jersey that is cheap and can be used to get buy on training and messy rides. I have 2 of those. Plus a wool jersey that I don't like.

I do agree that folks should where bright colors. But I also feel stronger that lights do more for safety than color. Especially blinking lights. So many street signs are brightly colored and ignored now. I ride with front and rear lights, plus a front and rear lamp on my helmet (that is brighter than hell and I can point it right in a drivers face to make SURE they see me) and I have a flashing cord of lights wrapped around my seat post, top tube and stem. It's called the Bike Glow and boy does it stop traffic for me! People slow down as I go by and just stare!

[Owlie]

I have a mix, but my green, blue and black jerseys only really get worn on the bike path, or as underlayers. I have red, high-contrast color-blocked, and yellow/orange for road wear. I really need a high-viz yellow one, but new bike clothes really aren't in the budget right now.

DBF likes to match his clothes to his bike. Of course, he can do that because his bike's red. Try matching teal to anything!

[RidingBuddy]

Pink! I saw a study somewhere (sorry don't have time right now to cite the research) that motor vehicle drivers gave more passing space for riders wearing pink.

[jessmarimba]

Screaming pink is actually proven to be the safest color to wear hunting too...hahahaha...good luck talking hunters into that one.

[Becky]

On the flip side, for those who are red/green colorblind, pink and orange are hard to see (kinda gray, I think). Red appears black. Hi viz yellow shows up as white.

There was a study published about this that I read on the interwebz somewhere (here maybe?). I'll see if I can find it...

ETA: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sullivan/bike/colorbv.html