I'm trying to convince a female friend of mine to wear more appropriate cycling clothing. Almost every day she cycles in a normal jacket, jeans, no helmet etc. Every day of bad weather she complains about being cold and damp.
She resolutely refuses to wear any of the accessories that I don’t just take for granted but I couldn’t live without. A jacket that isn’t highly visible and waterproof and breathable? Getoutahear!
It’s a pretty hot topic at the moment. Should cyclists just be left to their own devices, making it ‘less intimidating’? Or would better, safer clothing make it more likely to keep the new cyclist cycling?
Being a liberal sort of bike shop we don’t presume to tell any of our customers how to ride their bikes. Since I’m a fully paid orange jacketed, padded short wearing man, I might not be the most convincing voice anyway. I recently found this article by Zoe Williams revealing some important arguments for kitting yourself out appropriately. Being a woman who cycles I'm hoping she'll have more impact than me just repeating myself.
I’ve picked out my favourite quotes below: