Gravel Bike Clothing

Road cyclists wear skin tight lycra. Mountain bikers wear baggy shorts. So . . . if gravel cycling falls in between road & mountain, what do gravel cyclists wear? The easy answer is this:

When riding gravel, wear whatever you want! 

But if you want to dig into the nuances of gravel kit, then Gravelution.com is here to help. Here are the unwritten rules of gravel clothing:

Gravel Baggies

1) Any long & relaxed backwoods adventure gravel ride.
2) Any ride that ends with a cafe or restaurant or jaunt around town.
3) Any time that your Strava is turned off.

Gravel Lycra

1) All gravel races.
​2) Any ride that contains a good portion of paved road.
3) Any time you're aiming for a Strava PR

Gravelution.com's 2020 Recommendation

We were recently sent some kit from the good folks at ShowersPass. Specifically, they hooked us up with the Men's Cross Country Short (in a cheeky "Sand" color) and a Men's Apex Merino Tech Jersey.  The jersey is great, soft, subtle, and wicks well. But, the shorts are where the rubber hits the road (or gravel, in this case). The shorts are easily the lightest / flexiest baggy bike short I've ever ridden. Lovely LOVELY shorts. My fashion-conscious wife even commented that I could "wear them around the neighborhood!" (That's high praise). And they're so comfortable, that sometimes I sit in my bike barn still in the shorts after a long ride and just ponder the state of my life. See below.

(The author lounging post-ride in the Showers Pass "Sand" Men's Cross Country Shorts trying to figure out whether gravel riders should be wearing baggy's or lycra . . . decision still pending).