Cycling jacket sizes

jonnyburgo

In the charity shop yesterday bought a Castelli Rosso Corsa windstopper softshell cycling jacket brand new for£9.99 size XXL got it home and oh dear, in real terms this is at best  about a medium, i look like a frigggin sausage wrapped in a childs coat. What is it with these sizings? Now I realise why they are "pro" wear, designed for friggin 8 stone athletes. Fits my 15yr old son so used him to model it for ebay pics.

Ebay here we come!

DiscoStu

It sounds like an Italian brand? I had the same problem with an Energie leather jacket I bought online years ago, size Large but being Italian it was more like a Small.

CHRISB50

jonnyburgo said:

In the charity shop yesterday bought a Castelli Rosso Corsa windstopper softshell cycling jacket brand new for£9.99 size XXL got it home and oh dear, in real terms this is at best  about a medium, i look like a frigggin sausage wrapped in a childs coat. What is it with these sizings? Now I realise why they are "pro" wear, designed for friggin 8 stone athletes. Fits my 15yr old son so used him to model it for ebay pics.

Ebay here we come!

A majority of amateur cyclists do. 

It always amuses me seeing the chaps on their £8k, 7kg bikes with probably at least 7kg of extra timber of their own.

Seems to be a bit of a male phenomenon as you never see women doing the same.  

Majorscale

CHRISB50 said:

A majority of amateur cyclists do. 

It always amuses me seeing the chaps on their £8k, 7kg bikes with probably at least 7kg of extra timber of their own.

Seems to be a bit of a male phenomenon as you never see women doing the same.  

What about guys with 10k guitar collections who can’t string more than a few basic chords and riffs together????

Back on topic, cycling gear is definitely sized small as a rule. Those not built like whippets need to browse the xl section!

Sassafras

Aren't they supposed to fit like sausage skins to be more aerodynamic?

jonnyburgo

Sassafras said:

Aren't they supposed to fit like sausage skins to be more aerodynamic?

Yeah, I think so, they just leave very little to the imagination. When something is that snug, if you ain't ripped then it just looks disappointing all round really

thermionic

Italian brands (and Swiss brand Assos) have always been “buy one size larger” than uk brands like Endura, Lusso or Wiggle’s DHB.

Neill

Actually, I've always found road jerseys to be far too large, though the last one I bought was in the 1990's...

But yes, it's always amused me how much folk will shell out to lose a few grams off the bike when I've never seen a club cyclist who couldn't afford to lose a few pounds.   It didn't matter back in the days when we just wore a bloody big black coat but lycra is very unforgiving.

CHRISB50

Majorscale said:

CHRISB50 said:

A majority of amateur cyclists do. 

It always amuses me seeing the chaps on their £8k, 7kg bikes with probably at least 7kg of extra timber of their own.

Seems to be a bit of a male phenomenon as you never see women doing the same.  

What about guys with 10k guitar collections who can’t string more than a few basic chords and riffs together????

Back on topic, cycling gear is definitely sized small as a rule. Those not built like whippets need to browse the xl section!

Not as amusing to me personally, but again, I’d imagine mainly a male thing. 

Teetonetal

Neill said:

Actually, I've always found road jerseys to be far too large, though the last one I bought was in the 1990's...

But yes, it's always amused me how much folk will shell out to lose a few grams off the bike when I've never seen a club cyclist who couldn't afford to lose a few pounds.   It didn't matter back in the days when we just wore a bloody big black coat but lycra is very unforgiving.

Hmm

I am still overweight, despite my recent weight loss (110 kg to 95kg) but I still have a carbon MTB bike and it is still worth it.

As my weight has decreased I get more benefit from it, but It's also probably a 4kg weight saving overall, so still reasonably significant in it's own right. 

Now, if we look at shaving a few grams here or there on race spec gear on a decent bike, then yes, probably not the best use of your cash - especially if you are overweight as you are likely putting more strain on less strain resistant gear.

77ric

Yep roadies gear is always sized to the slim fit side. Mountain bikers gear much less so. 

It does get comical when you see non serious (ie they don’t compete in races every weekend) who have clearly splashed the cash to shave a few hundred grams, when having a shit before hand will save just as much and be cheaper. Of course that applies less so when if comes to saving weight on your wheels, where you might have to have 2 shits to gain the equivalent benefit. 

Bowks

Yes they are tight, but they are also designed to fit in a riding position, so they do feel tight across the chst when stood up.

Neill

77ric said:

Yep roadies gear is always sized to the slim fit side. Mountain bikers gear much less so. 

It does get comical when you see non serious (ie they don’t compete in races every weekend) who have clearly splashed the cash to shave a few hundred grams, when having a shit before hand will save just as much and be cheaper. Of course that applies less so when if comes to saving weight on your wheels, where you might have to have 2 shits to gain the equivalent benefit. 

Yep, that used to be the drill, try and have a good crap before the start of the race.  The problem is when you have 60 guys all sharing one village hall toilet.  

A young lad once asked me if it was true that you needed a strong stomach to be a good bike rider.  By that he meant strong stomach muscles, but I said sure and you'll find out why when you do your first proper race. 

m_c

Roadie sizing generally comes in two variations.

Race fit, which means it's sized to be tight, and club fit, which is sized to be less tight.

Italian stuff is always a bit slimmer. You really need to look at sizing charts before buying.

AK99

77ric said:

Yep roadies gear is always sized to the slim fit side. Mountain bikers gear much less so. 

It does get comical when you see non serious (ie they don’t compete in races every weekend) who have clearly splashed the cash to shave a few hundred grams, when having a shit before hand will save just as much and be cheaper. Of course that applies less so when if comes to saving weight on your wheels, where you might have to have 2 shits to gain the equivalent benefit. 

That's never going to work for me - I couldn't really give 2 sh1ts about where I finish..