This is a really curious question to me. I started cycling seriously in the very early '90s and raced for years. For a number of years, I had ridden a bike for transportation up 'til then, many of them exclusively using a bike as transportation. I took a break in my serious riding while raising a family and am back to it full tilt but have close to two decades of cycling under my... chamois . I have ridden in small towns, big cities, all over the world. Not one single time has anyone asked about my cycling kit. Not once. And if anyone did say something, I'm old enough now to pretty much tell them to put their opinions in their pipes and smoke 'em. I truly wouldn't care what other people say or think. Do what you feel like doing and don't worry about it.