Two-Face Bikes

This is Two-Face. Two-Face is a villain from Batman and he is hideous.

This is Radioshack's team bike in the 2010 season. The mismatching wheels are trying to match gray-to-black fade paintjob on the frame, which makes the bike look like Two-Face, ergo hideous. If they had put a black front wheel, it would look better.

This is an SE PK Ripper collaborated with The Hundreds. It's a 26" BMX cruiser with mismatching wheels and tires. Don't make me say it, all right I'll say it: it, too, looks hideous. Another fail is that the picture is of the bike's non-drive side.

Never intentionally mismatch wheel colors to match the frame colors or color scheme, it's ugly. Except for time trial bikes and track bikes, try not to mismatch wheels (unless the situation calls for it, e.g. flat during a race). When buying used bikes, a bike with mismatched wheels is also an indication that it may have been in a severe crash, needing a front wheel replacement.

Faux Pas Friday: Jersey-less Revisited

Too shy to wear bibs, but not shy enough to ride jersey/shirtless? Some things people do, I just don't get.

No Glove, Yes Love

As kinky as the title sounds, what we'll be talking about today is gloves for your hands. Riders wear gloves for a few reasons, including palm protection in the event of a crash, something to wipe off your nose with, for warmth in cold weather, etc. Some people may argue that gloves with padding are good for cushioning road vibration, but the best gloves are unpadded ones; there's a smaller chance of getting blisters on your hands and you get better road feedback from the handlebars. Here are some tips for gloves:

Gloves shall be half-finger in white or team colors.

Light full-finger gloves for colder weather, preferably white.

Racing gloveless is awesome.

Glovelessness also cool in time trials. Wear aero gloves if you have them.

Gloves are unnecessary for training rides as shown by HTC-Highroad.

Emily Batty is notorious for mountain biking gloveless. Badass.

Speaking of mountain biking, mountain bike gloves are not meant for road, so keep those off the road (pun intended). Sure, they work, but it's a faux pas to wear them; you get dropped faster in a paceline.

Faux Pas Friday: Comfort Time Trial Bike

This is a really sad looking Ridley Dean; comfort and aerodynamics do not go together.

Well That Socks...

In keeping with theme of footwear, we'll be highlighting on footwear. No, I do not have a fetish with feet, I just really like shoes and all things related to them. The topic this week is socks. They're a minor component in terms of cycling apparel, but they could define or erase the word "stylish". An ideal pair of socks would be high top socks that approach 2cm to the bulge of the calves; anything longer or shorter are frowned upon. (OREC #6) Here is a series of pictures for reference:

Appropriate pair of socks, demonstrated by David Millar.

These socks are way too short. (Tyler Farrar)

Black socks are ok if the shoes aren't black too. (Bradley Wiggins)

As mentioned two weeks ago, black shoes + black socks = no go. (Lance Armstrong)

Riding sockless is banned!

Sorry to bash on our multisport brethren, but socklessness is as shameful as riding jersey-less; it's simply unstylish.

Faux Pas Friday: Cotton Socks

In keeping with the topic on shoes, here are some cotton socks with cycling shoes. Those sexy* Shimanos, ruined!!

*Sexy because these shoes have been donned by some of the most legendary cyclocross and mountain bike riders.

OMG Shoes

I think you have too many shoes... except if they're cycling shoes. By now, you should know why white is the color of choice for many cycling items, including shoes. There's no denying that white shoes are stylish, period. You may see some bright yellow shoes in the peloton occasionally, which are pretty cool, but black shoes are a no-go*. For today's entry, we'll look at what's hot and what's not in a series of pictures:

Lance Armstrong, the only one wearing black shoes with black socks, when everyone else is wearing white shoes.

Armstrong (right) in black shoes again. Notice Levi Leipheimer (left) was in white shoes, until...

...the 2011 season, when Leipheimer (left) started wearing black shoes too. 

Mark Cavendish also used to wear white shoes.

But then he downgraded to black shoes ( though he still won, just not in style).

These yellow Mavics are pretty sweet too.

Stick with white to be safe, and stylish.

The lesson is to get white shoes. Studies have shown that people wearing white shoes tend to win more often because they look better. Looking good is the equivalent of winning; it's science.

*Look out for an entry regarding shoes for off-roading (mountain bike and cyclocross) in the near future, where black shoes might be acceptable!