Why are there so many spandex haters in the MTB community? 

do you even enduro bro?

I usually find that I can out run haters when I wear spandex due to the 2% reduction in drag from wearing normal mountain biker clothes 

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What ever happened to hating on people based on what wheel size they ride?  If you want to shave your legs and wear your wife's leggins then go for it but for the love of god please stop hating people for it and get back to hating on 29ers.

I think I found the reason for the hate. I'd like to refer to the 95 commandments of Velominati, specifically rule 18

"Thou shall not be witnessed with the wearing of baggy shorts and thy jerseys while riding thy road cycle. lycra shall not be used when one shall ride the holiest form of two-wheeled cycle, thy mountain bike (unless thy shall race in the X-ing of C). Skin suits shall only be used on the crossing of cycle(cyclocross.)

a bit of paraphrasing but it's the same message

Confessions of an ex hater... I used to be one of "them", then I started riding 5 days in a row (with some recovery days of course) and set goals (weekly, daily, distance, speed) which led to some unpleasantries.  I switched to bib shorts for comfort, better fit, and extra padding and the compression they provide overall (I find the liners in mtb shorts are only tight on the bottom to hold it on your legs).   

I wore  them under baggies for the first few weeks, then we had a 85 degree day and I tried them without baggies and see the benefits.  Only problem I foresee is wrecking and riding in the buff lol.  I still cant wear the tight fitting jerseys; I'm just uncomfortable in them from a psychological and physical stand point (they are always too tight on my arms and chest to the point where I feel restricted).  I've recently bought some XXL jerseys that are more of a club fit and I'm happy with those (they are probably way looser than they should be, but my main reason I like them is the rear pockets).

As far as the hate - I have yet to have someone "make fun" of or give me a hard time; and honestly if they can't state their opinion in person I have no reason to care what they say on social media.  I'm a large person with tree trunk legs (6ft 2 / ~210 - down from 228 in January wahoo) so I fit in the category of probably shouldn't be wearing it.  If I know you're a hater there is a good change I'm probably going to purposely wear it.


If this upsets yall, blame Enoch and Barnes for spiking my curiosity and leading me down the rabbit hole.

In my experience the ones hating are the same ones who have no business wearing tight fitting clothing in general... 


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I like spandex for long rides or on the road where it really helps moisture and temperature control

Plus I like to show off the goods haha...

IntheBush wrote on 04/19/17 at 4:29pm:


two years ago on a super humid day in New Jersey, I did a CX practice in just bibs.

also race a guy at Roth Rock with no shirt on, totally acceptable.

I've seen a couple of guys riding around with no shirt on. I always just assumed they were full of themselves but hey maybe they were just hot.