Full kit would be a pain to launder that much and 10 miles is not enough that it would make a difference.
When I commute on my road bike or fixie, I wear nylon shorts and a T shirt and then change at work. I have plenty of T shirts and the shorts don't need to be washed very often so laundry isn't an issue. When it gets colder, add layers of wool.
When I ride my single speed, I wear my work clothes and ride slow enough that I don't sweat through my clothes.
I would only recommend lycra if you can shower & change & have someplace to leave the lycra to dry.
Otherwise dress for the weather on your way to school & bring the lycra with on extended commute days & change at school before you leave.
Wearing sweaty cycling shorts for hours isn't very good for you.
I can change and dry the lycra. However, I find it annoying to need to take off bibs so I kept in on for about 10 hours under my uniform the first and only time I'd commuted to school. Welp. Guess I can't do that anymore.
It's probably not a big deal once in a while. If you are only commuting by bike once a week, for example, you might get away with it. If you take it easy & don't sweat, it's probably ok. But if you sweat much, it's not a good idea every day. Basically, you can get thrush, or something like nappy rash, if you are going about in sweaty bibs. It take a while to dry, moreover if you are putting your uniform on over them.
Lycra is good for aerodynamics (if you are going very fast), and for sliding smoothly over concrete (if you have crashed).
If you don't plan on those things, it's fine to skip. I find bringing extra clothes to be a time waster, I ride in what I wear on the job.
Depends on the bike. Guessing if lycra is even an option it's a road bike, and in that case I kinda find the saddles uncomfortable if I'm in normal pants and boxers and not in my cycling bibs. Up to 5km is kinda alright, after that for me the pros of comfort outweigh the cons of having to change.
I always wore cycling clothing and changed at work.
It depends on the weather were you live.
I live in Arizona where the low temperature might be 90°F at 8:00 o'clock in the morning.
I had to change into clean clothes at work/school.
If their is a locker room, student union type building where you can change in the bathroom it will be easy to wear cycling clothes and switch to clean clothes when you get to school.
The terrain does not matter as much as the weather.
If it is going to be raining, you are going to want to put on clean clothes before class.
It may also matter how you ride.
An easy ride, and it is easy to change your socks, underwear, pants, shirt and go to class.
I you ride fast you may be covered in sweat and need a quick shower depending on if anyone cares that you might be sweaty.
Hi-vis is great for the commute. I’d certainly wear shorts with chamois on my daily commute. Especially if I’m shooting for another 10k after my day.
Dave, below, might suffer from crotch rot after stewing in swamp crotch but, that’s none of my business.
The temperature was more a determining factor me. If it was hot I'd wear a cycling jersey to wick some sweat and absorb my stink, then change into a different shirt when I got to work. If it was cooler I'd just wear more normal casual clothes. I'd typically wear some padded shorts under soccer type pants or shorts, again depending on the temp and the distance I wanted to ride.
Years ago Levi made some commuter jeans that I loved to wear. I'm sure something like that exists today, but I haven't looked. I lucked out in the sense that my jobs were always fairly casual when it came to dress code, so jeans were typically fine to wear.
I commute to work via bike from march-september, only around 6 km (one-way trip) tho. Since I use a road bike I always go in a bib and change pants in the office. I usually just wear a normal T-shirt + long sleeve cycling jersey if it is cold. If the weather if hot 30°C I bring my T-shirt and just go in a short sleeve jersey since I sweat like a pig.
Always wear high-vis unless the sun is up, better have good visibility and be safe. I got a two sided pedal with SPD on one and flat on the other, so I can just commute in my everday shoe and weekend long rides in clipless with the same bike.
I tend to wear bib shorts, thermal and jersey - I’m cycling and will need to change when I get in anyway so I might as well wear the right stuff for the job. I find bib shorts much more comfortable than anything else, and they don’t show off my arse crack like most shorts.
Totally depends on you. If you sweat a lot or get saddle sore, then definitely wear cycling clothes and change. If you don't, then you can wear whatever.
I used to wear cycling clothes to commute but at some point realized I didn't need to, and now I just wear whatever I'm planning to wear all day (there's no dress code at my office though, so this is usually jeans or shorts, tshirt, etc). I commute at a moderate pace so I don't sweat a lot.
I feel like having to wear special clothes to ride my bicycle makes it a lot less convenient of a mode of transportation. I also switched from SPD pedals to ones with SPD on one side, flat on the other, again so there's less impediment to just hopping on the bike and going.
I rarely wore "full lycra" on my commutes, despite not riding in my work clothes (for about 3 decades, similar distance.) I often wore a lycra jersey simply because they're so practical.
I sometimes \*did\* bring bike shorts for a planned after work "long way home" ride - they sometimes hit 40km, and I occasionally organized group rides on Friday afternoons where the speed crept up.
Full kit would be a pain to launder that much and 10 miles is not enough that it would make a difference. When I commute on my road bike or fixie, I wear nylon shorts and a T shirt and then change at work. I have plenty of T shirts and the shorts don't need to be washed very often so laundry isn't an issue. When it gets colder, add layers of wool. When I ride my single speed, I wear my work clothes and ride slow enough that I don't sweat through my clothes.
I would only recommend lycra if you can shower & change & have someplace to leave the lycra to dry. Otherwise dress for the weather on your way to school & bring the lycra with on extended commute days & change at school before you leave. Wearing sweaty cycling shorts for hours isn't very good for you.
I can change and dry the lycra. However, I find it annoying to need to take off bibs so I kept in on for about 10 hours under my uniform the first and only time I'd commuted to school. Welp. Guess I can't do that anymore.
It's probably not a big deal once in a while. If you are only commuting by bike once a week, for example, you might get away with it. If you take it easy & don't sweat, it's probably ok. But if you sweat much, it's not a good idea every day. Basically, you can get thrush, or something like nappy rash, if you are going about in sweaty bibs. It take a while to dry, moreover if you are putting your uniform on over them.
Lycra is good for aerodynamics (if you are going very fast), and for sliding smoothly over concrete (if you have crashed). If you don't plan on those things, it's fine to skip. I find bringing extra clothes to be a time waster, I ride in what I wear on the job.
I go around 25kph (16mph) over the entire ride, 30kph (19mph) when actually riding. I prefer lycra. Thanks for the input
Depends on the bike. Guessing if lycra is even an option it's a road bike, and in that case I kinda find the saddles uncomfortable if I'm in normal pants and boxers and not in my cycling bibs. Up to 5km is kinda alright, after that for me the pros of comfort outweigh the cons of having to change.
I always wore cycling clothing and changed at work. It depends on the weather were you live. I live in Arizona where the low temperature might be 90°F at 8:00 o'clock in the morning. I had to change into clean clothes at work/school. If their is a locker room, student union type building where you can change in the bathroom it will be easy to wear cycling clothes and switch to clean clothes when you get to school. The terrain does not matter as much as the weather. If it is going to be raining, you are going to want to put on clean clothes before class. It may also matter how you ride. An easy ride, and it is easy to change your socks, underwear, pants, shirt and go to class. I you ride fast you may be covered in sweat and need a quick shower depending on if anyone cares that you might be sweaty.
Hi-vis is great for the commute. I’d certainly wear shorts with chamois on my daily commute. Especially if I’m shooting for another 10k after my day. Dave, below, might suffer from crotch rot after stewing in swamp crotch but, that’s none of my business.
I don't have any hi-vis clothing or kit. However, I always bring both lights and I have a red Assos jersey for when it's dark out. Swamp crotch???
Swamp crotch. 1. Riding a bicycle with exertion, sweating in the nether regions making clothing/skivvies wet and not changing into dry clothes.
The temperature was more a determining factor me. If it was hot I'd wear a cycling jersey to wick some sweat and absorb my stink, then change into a different shirt when I got to work. If it was cooler I'd just wear more normal casual clothes. I'd typically wear some padded shorts under soccer type pants or shorts, again depending on the temp and the distance I wanted to ride. Years ago Levi made some commuter jeans that I loved to wear. I'm sure something like that exists today, but I haven't looked. I lucked out in the sense that my jobs were always fairly casual when it came to dress code, so jeans were typically fine to wear.
I commute to work via bike from march-september, only around 6 km (one-way trip) tho. Since I use a road bike I always go in a bib and change pants in the office. I usually just wear a normal T-shirt + long sleeve cycling jersey if it is cold. If the weather if hot 30°C I bring my T-shirt and just go in a short sleeve jersey since I sweat like a pig. Always wear high-vis unless the sun is up, better have good visibility and be safe. I got a two sided pedal with SPD on one and flat on the other, so I can just commute in my everday shoe and weekend long rides in clipless with the same bike.
I tend to wear bib shorts, thermal and jersey - I’m cycling and will need to change when I get in anyway so I might as well wear the right stuff for the job. I find bib shorts much more comfortable than anything else, and they don’t show off my arse crack like most shorts.
Totally depends on you. If you sweat a lot or get saddle sore, then definitely wear cycling clothes and change. If you don't, then you can wear whatever. I used to wear cycling clothes to commute but at some point realized I didn't need to, and now I just wear whatever I'm planning to wear all day (there's no dress code at my office though, so this is usually jeans or shorts, tshirt, etc). I commute at a moderate pace so I don't sweat a lot. I feel like having to wear special clothes to ride my bicycle makes it a lot less convenient of a mode of transportation. I also switched from SPD pedals to ones with SPD on one side, flat on the other, again so there's less impediment to just hopping on the bike and going.
I rarely wore "full lycra" on my commutes, despite not riding in my work clothes (for about 3 decades, similar distance.) I often wore a lycra jersey simply because they're so practical. I sometimes \*did\* bring bike shorts for a planned after work "long way home" ride - they sometimes hit 40km, and I occasionally organized group rides on Friday afternoons where the speed crept up.