Riding gear for the wife

Matt_

Matt_

I Get Jokes
My wife's back into riding and I'd like to get her some shorts, pants, and jerseys. .. well at least pants and a longoing sleeve jersey to start (unless winter never shows up!)

What are some of the preferred brands and models for the ladies? What's true to size, and not? Do any local monmouth/ocean shops have a decent inventory? I recall reading a while back some disdain for lack of female riding apparel in stock....

Any help is much appreciated!!
 
whoa boy... i could go on and on about the lack of selection in women's bike clothing... but i won't ;)

well... first i think it's awesome when i hear guys say they want to buy stuff for wives/girlfriends to encourage them to keep riding... but i also suggest just taking her shopping and letting her pick out stuff... not only do you need to worry about general sizing and design preferences... but you also have to take into account the difference in sizing with (and i'll just be blunt) boobs, hips, butt, thighs... so i'll chime in with what i like, but take it with a grain of salt since i might not be the same body type as mrs. sk1er18.

for reference, i have a very straight body type (not much difference in the chest, waist, hip ratio)... 5'4", 122 lbs area. in "real" clothes, i'm usually a small, or size 4 dress size

shirts: i own a variety of jerseys: primal wear, v-gear (custom jersey), louis garneau (not sure i spelled that right), giro, novara (REI brand)... and they're all size small but some are a little baggier than others even within the same brand. i'm not usually a big jersey wearer tho. i prefer just general athletic tops (which i'll talk about in a minute).

shorts: i only wear fox baggies... size small. i've tried other stuff but none have really fit that straighter body type i was talking about earlier. i usually have the problem with the waist being too tight with the butt/hips/thigh area being gigantic. (Pearl Izumi runs small... Zoic & Giant have run big... Canari more or less true to size)

jackets: i have novara, suguoi, harlot bike wear (but they're clothing up shop so all sales are final) and again all size smalls. to be honest, i think i have an easier, more forgiving time buying clothes since i don't have to worry about big boobs.

non-bike stuff... i run and sometimes kickbox too... so i like to look for multi-purpose clothing. i love Athleta and GapFit clothing. even if it's meant for running, i can usually wear them for biking too... they're pretty good with making shirts a little longer to cover any potential crack moments... i fluctuate between XS and S. Athleta have this magic material that somehow doesn't smell. it's weird and awesome at the same time.

as for bike shops that carry women's clothing... um... well... in my experience, it's usually a pretty crappy selection usually with only one or two brands in limited sizing... you might have to hit up a variety of stores or check out stuff online (and really look for reviews... women are not shy about what they like and don't like in their athletic clothing)



sorry this is kinda long winded... i hope some other ladies chime in because i know everyone has their own preferences and there's a lot of different body types out there....
 
Thanks @MissJR ! That's actually very helpful considering you basically described my wife in terms of build and I'm always weary whether I should be ordering small or medium. She's just a tad taller. Also good call on the multi use clothing! She's a gym teacher and is likely picking up a 2nd job running training classes at a Max

@mattybfat that stuff looks awesome. She could use some of that for work!
 
Miss JR hit it right. Let wifey do the shopping. Brands vary greatly in sizing. A LOT! I also find I tend to prefer mens jerseys over womans because of the way they "cut" them. I want shirt and sleeves cut longer than a traditional womans cut. I also do not like traditional cycling pants with a chamois so end up buying running pants.

Dont get me started on the lack of womans stuff in ANY sports store. Go to sports authority and they generally only carry smalls and a few mediums. Nothing for us fat chicks to wear? seems they would carry more larger sizes to encourage us and help us to feel good about getting out there and exercising.

also, JCPenny has a small athletic section and they tend to send out coupons for $10 off combined with the clearance rack you can get some nice stuff for just a few dollars
 
Lol I'm catching a general theme about lack of selection at stores... guess I was remembering that correctly!

To compound that slight issue, my wife absolutely hates "shopping". If she spends more than 5 minutes in a clothing section she gets antsy and leaves.

....and with 4 kids (ages 7mo to 6 yrs) it's not easy bouncing around to multiple stores.

Plus she hates spending money on herself so I'd like to surprise her with some gear. :)
 
Old Navy has active wear... pretty cheap so might want to check them out for base layers and stuff.
 
@mattybfat the only club ride stuff i've seen is the horrible bright pink flower crap that's been on the sale rack for what seems like forever... but those henleys are pretty cute... i really like that sprint hoody and the deer abby shirts... Nicely done! :)

@sk1er18 if you wind up just ordering stuff online, check out the shipping and return policies... with the holidays, you should be able to get free shipping no problem, but some places have really limited return policies and if the clothes are a gift, you might chip into that return time... some places are as little as 15 days return :/

and old navy, gapfit and athleta are all owned by the same parent company... so if you have gift cards for one, you can use it at one of the other places too... same with their store credit cards and any rewards you accumulate for the card. i still think athleta has the best stuff out of the three, but they are $$$ and they don't do as many sales/discounts as the other two

good luck! :)
 
GREAT discussion. Your wife is in luck because I find most women's cycling things are cut straight up and down! I am not shaped like the Mrs. as you describe her, I quite tall and on the curvier side and its hard to find good women's gear. I will chime in though, in case anyone else is reading and wants info that has come from 7+ years of experimenting.

For casual riding I finally landed on one pair of stretchy FOX baggies that fit (because the waist can be cinched) and I scooped up some Maloja baggies (they are German and hard to find) which are fantastic. Underneath I wear either a Pearl Izumi, SheBeest, Terry or Fox chamois. For the winter, I just got a great pair of Novara foul weather cycling pants from REI that I wear over the chamois.

Riding jerseys are a lost cause. To get them to fit the boobs I have to get L or XL which means they drape like a bathrobe everywhere else. I detest the ones with the elastic or non-slip bottom which is always too tight. And the sleeves are also always too tight (not all chicks have toothpick arms). So I gave up on those and wear regular athletic tops from Nike, UnderArmor, Athleta, or whatever and just deal with not having zippers or pockets (I use a backpack anyway). In the winter I do multiple layers of wool (SmartWool or IO Merino) and a wind-resistant fleece jacket that came from ChampSYS that fits perfectly.

Racing in my kit is usually supremely uncomfortable.

I would love to work with a company to design women's cycling jerseys that fit someone larger than a size 4!
 
2Julianas said:
I would love to work with a company to design women's cycling jerseys that fit someone larger than a size 4!
Click to expand...

Even some of us size 4s would love to work with a design company! :)
(Let's face it... There's a lot of crap out there)
 
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