How long until cycling kit is retro-cool?

still wear my old gan,linder mcartney,htc,quikstep,and z kits,dont think im retro cool just to tight fisted to buy large quantity of new kit. Id rather spend my money on components.I also buy a lot of secondhand Belgium club jerseys a lot of which i feel are better than the rapha stuff that i own.Also you never see anyone else wearing club jerseys from koekelare so they often become abit of a talking point with other fellow cyclist.The best bargain i ever got was a bio racer top for £2.It outperforms any other kit ive ever tried and looks fantastic.think id like to be buried in it.

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Going back to the GB kit comments, in Manchester* you even have to be careful where you park your bike for fear of being shown up:

http://pic.twitter.com/vyD4YRu0

*Most people outside the North West wont be bothered but the loveable caffeine dealership in this photo is actually in Gatley which is technically Stockport and I heartily recommend them if your ever up this way and fancy a brew:

http://www.wearecoffeefix.com/

And no, I'm not connected with them in anyway other than following them on twitter, I'm just a customer.

Seconded. Some days I reckon less than 40% of other riders can be arsed even giving me a nod.

No pro kit for me...Do like last years Garmin kit though...
Mix of Altura/Biemme/PBK for bad weather...for the finer weather it's mostly sportwool type jerseys...ShuttVR,Swobo,R@ph@ and Cervo Rosso ...only usually because of discounted prices or extraordinarily great service(ie freebies/offers)from kind folks- facebook pays off!-
I've no issues with anyone buying and wearing pro kit, irrespective of their body shape or cycling prowess.
What I don't like is the 'I'm better than you attitude' of some club(s)/members that cannot even avert their '1000 yard stare' to give fellow cyclists a cheery wave and a nod of acknowledgement as they cycle past...irrespective of the kit they are wearing...

please delete

I was purchased a Bianchi jersey for Christmas, but I don't own a Bianchi bike. I can't wait to receive some grief when out wearing that.

I will relent and only wear it on my white bike, I think the vision of a celeste jersey with a red bike is a bridge too far.

Whoa there, it was AMS1 who won Cavendish the SPOTY, undoubtedly. I loved it when he said that they frequent the same bike shop;

but "I should imagine that he'd leave me standing"

...

It appears that everyone has glanced over the fact that Sir Alan Sugar looks like a chopper!!!

small-minded, insecure people

one man's small-minded insecurity is another's 'having a sense of respect', obviously.

I got a couple of pro-team jerseys a few years ago, but don't much use them now. I'll keep them just in case, plus they do tend to be visible on the road.

I also got some Mellow Johnny's stuff that I quite like. Different - a nice variation on the Livestrong stuff. You don't see many people in the UK wearing this kit.

A couple of years ago (2008 presumably) Santani produced "anniversary" kit to commemorate Pantani's Giro/Tour wins. Pantani is a hero of mine so I bought the kit, but its still got the tags on. Next year it'll fit!

Our summer holiday this year was in Luxembourg, everything so expensive that I didn't buy much in the way of souvenirs, but I did pick up the Lux national kit in a brilliant bike shop over there. A nice souvenir of a great holiday and some excellent rides. Have no problem riding that around the New Forest. Not sure I'd want to on the Schlecks' doorstep.

Only shirt I bought recently that I've had second thoughts about wearing at all was the KoM jersey from the ToB. Loved the green polkas so very much an impulse buy when I watched a stage. But out of respect for the jersey (I'm a truly awful climber!) have not had the guts to wear it yet.

Wear whatever you want is my opinion. You see millions of people all shapes, sizes and ages with footie kit on and no one blinks an eye so why not wear whatever cycle kit you want.

I won a BMC team kit a couple of years ago. I went for a ride earlier this year, sadly on a TdF rest-day, had a bit of a crash and was fixing myself and the bike by the side of the road when some twat went past and rather than asking if I was okay shouted "Nice one Cadel". Whether he'd have asked if I needed help if I'd been in my normal gear, no idea but it makes me think twice about the team kit.

The problem with Lycra is that you can often get into old jerseys and kid yourself you haven't put in weight. I found a photo of myself and a mate at Mont St Michel in 1995 and thought 'I still have that 1980's red and white hoop Alfa Lum top which is beautifully retro.' 'Hoops are very fattening...' was a club mates comment so at least I'm incentivised to slim back down into it! I fancy a Rapha Condor Sharp team jersey but as it's as tight as cling film I need to slim into that as well.

Just back from the Basque country - where everyone wears full team kit. There no black shorts in the Basque country.

And those boys are all way hot!

Wear what you like... but here are my own personal feelings and rules based on nothing much other than an ageing ex-racers stupid opinions and prejudices!

Basically if you wear *recent* Pro Kit you better be able to blast me at the lights or kill me up a hill... and not have a whacking great beer belly. Pro Kit belongs on racing snakes, and snakes are more likely to be in club kit. I LOVE overtaking expensively clad and be-biked slow wannabes in pro gear on sportives, overtaking people in normal gear has no such joy about it I'm afraid...

However old kit (ie before 2000) is exempt from this rule and is mostly cool, the more colours and logo clashes the better... Extra Kudos for kit of drug busted squads. Festina kit, etc... Quality old stuff (molteni, peugeot etc) used to be proper cool until the hipsters killed it all.

My preference for quality new gear is not to pay to advertise people who aren't actually making what I am wearing or riding, so I am a low-logo count rider.

Now I don't feel so bad about coveting this years FdJ kit

7-Eleven is a genuinely retro design that appears to be almost universally liked. I have been tempted by the Peugeot team jersey as it's understated and was worn by one of my favourite riders, Robert Millar.

Aesthetically I can't say I'm keen on HTC's 'abs' design or Mapei's cube jersey (£50 from Prendas), I don't really have any desire to be a mobile advert for chewing gum or a Garmin. It's not like they're paying me, but I have no issue with anyone else's choices.

The über-MAMIL shows how team kit should be worn (and it looks like he shaves his legs too):

I have a simple rule: wear whatever you like and feel comfortable in- tell anyone that has an issue with it to shove it up their chamois.

Personally though I'd never wear a race, world or national champion jersey/kit for the sole reason that I respect the effort involved in order to win one (one being the key word here).
However there are people out there that want to show their support for say their fellow contrymen/women or support for a race around a country steeped in history - that's fine too. Also there are people that just love rainbow (double ones even).

Team kit - this just comes down to personal taste. I own both plain and team kit. Be it current, last years or Molteni, go for it.

if we can work out a simple algorithm based on the type of kit, the number of years out of date and the ability of the rider, maybe we can make an app that tells you whether a particular kit is cool for you or not

So, question is, if a ProTeam doesn't have an issue with it, why should anyone else?
The ProTeam don't have an issue with it because they are making money out of the punters. And besides, they all sit in the team bus laughing their arses off at the hairy-legged overweight middle-managers pretending to be pros. It breaks up the monotony of riding bikes, eating pasta, and taking vitamins.

I still wear a Banesto jersey from the mid 90's, Just like i wear my retro football top to matches, I have quite a few 90's jersey's that i cant even find a trace of online, so they get kept in the wardrobe and not wrecked by wearing them.

I have never bought a pro kit since i was 16, 9 years ago, for a couple of reason's, the price is stupidly high and i could never be a pro, so why buy pro kit, its not really a "supporters" sport like football, I don't support A cycling team, i enjoy cycling as a whole sport

Ah!

I don't think people should care what you wear.. If you wear a pro-team jersey its because you think it looks good. Why should anyone else care?

Besides, if its good enough to wear for the pro's, then hey its probably pretty comfortable for you too.

I'd love to wear a full out Norway jersey.. Sadly the team is too small, and its not on sale