View Full Version : Bikes and Suits
TrojanHorse11
28-01-05, 04:46 PM
Is there anyone out there who commutes on their bike who also has to wear a suit to work?
I have water-proof overtrousers but the problem is that if I ride in heavy rain or the roads are quite dirty, the bottoms of my trousers get a bit wet/dirty. This has never been a problem before as I have always worked in a factory and went to work in grubby clothes anyway so it didn't matter. Also my coat is only "shower-proof" and if I am in heavy rain I get a triangle of wet in the middle of my chest area. Obviously this is no good on an expensive suit so I would like to know what bikers do if they have to wear a suit to work but also go to work on a bike.
Thanks for any suggestions as I am totally at a loss. :?:
Cheers
Troj
Until the day comes where they make armoured leather work suits, you won't catch me on a bike in one anyway. Is leaving the suit there and changing out of the question?
Balky001
28-01-05, 04:50 PM
I used to leave the suit jacket in a cupboard at work and just put the trousers and short in a ruck sack - neatly folded. I used to leave shoes in the bottom drawer and so could wear my bike boots when riding. Used to get in 20 minutes early to change.
northwind
28-01-05, 04:52 PM
I leave my jacket at work and wear my belstaff cordura over the trousers, seems to work. though to be honest I doubt I'll be doing that any more, unless I can find cordura trousers with hip armour.
Gforceuk
28-01-05, 04:53 PM
Until the day comes where they make armoured leather work suits, you won't catch me on a bike in one anyway?
ditto
TrojanHorse11
28-01-05, 04:53 PM
I don't know about leaving it at work - I thought that was the best solution myself, but when you are new somewhere it's a bit awkward isn't it. The other problem is that it's at a place where there's no private/office parking. If you go in a car, you have to pay god-knows-how-much per hour to park in a pay-and-display car park. That would add up to a fortune all week.
wyrdness
28-01-05, 04:58 PM
We have a shower room at work where the bikers & cyclists change. Disabled loos also make good changing rooms. Do you have either of those at work.
I tend to leave jeans at work and change out of leathers when I arrive. No suits here though. That's why I like media companies. I used to work with a guy here who'd just stay in his leathers, complete with knee sliders, all day.
dya work in london ?
i wouldnt worry about the changing bit at work . as its what most people do.
TrojanHorse11
28-01-05, 06:15 PM
We have a shower room at work where the bikers & cyclists change. Disabled loos also make good changing rooms. Do you have either of those at work.
I tend to leave jeans at work and change out of leathers when I arrive. No suits here though. That's why I like media companies. I used to work with a guy here who'd just stay in his leathers, complete with knee sliders, all day.
It's a small solicitor's office and I'm only there for a week's experience starting on 7th Feb - but of course this will apply if and when I get a job. At my last workplace (factory), there was a guy who came to work on a Honda NTV650 and stayed in his leathers all day!
Bikageboy: I'm in Staffordshire
svpilot
28-01-05, 09:00 PM
I wear trousers, shirt + tie (I don't bother with the jacket - can you leave it at work?). Make sure your smart trousers are tucked inside your boots and your waterproof trousers over the top. If you have a long way to travel, roll up (avoids creases) you shirt and tie rather than wearing it. I travel about 14 miles and wear cordura type jacket and trousers over the top of my smart gear and don't have a problem with creases.
Unless you 'have' to wear a suit, my tip would be to opt for trousers that are cut like jeans, they can still look smart when teamed up shirt and tie, but don't crease so easliy (and generallly you can get away with not ironing 'em ) :wink:
Good luck with the job!
Spiderman
28-01-05, 09:06 PM
I had this dillema last year when i first got a bike. Small office but I asked the boss and in his office there was a wardrobe so i could hang suit and leave shoes etc. Then it was just a clean shirt every morning. And for gods sake dont ride wearing a tie!
Protection is your main priority my friend. I wore those over trouser things until i had enogh money to get a decent pair from hein gerick, armour n all.
Now i can wear them all day with my boots.. evn in the office cos when clients come in i'm behind the desk... all they see is a nice shirt and trendy tie... they assume the rest.
TrojanHorse11
28-01-05, 09:42 PM
Unless you 'have' to wear a suit, my tip would be to opt for trousers that are cut like jeans, they can still look smart when teamed up shirt and tie, but don't crease so easliy (and generallly you can get away with not ironing 'em ) :wink:
Good luck with the job!
Yes, I have to wear a suit, and I quote from my letter "We would advise you to dress appropriately and request that you wear a suit with a shirt and tie". aaaahhhhh!
Spiderman: I like what you do with your clothing :lol: Unfortunately I can't do the same as I've been told that I'll be visiting courts, prisons and police stations (sounds good eh!?)
:takeabow:
"We would advise you to dress appropriately and request that you wear a suit with a shirt and tie". aaaahhhhh!
Suggest you put your suit & shirts & tie in a backpack on day one, get there early and hang them up in the gents'. I doubt that anyone would object, they'll see it as interesting and funny. And when you come to apply for a job with them, they'll remember you as 'that biker bloke who used to get changed in the toilets' - from personal experience of having vacation students and work experience people, there'll be damn all to remember other work experience peeps by. And you can tell the clients about your bike, it'll break down barriers, again it'll give the partners something to remember. They'd have to be very stuffy not to like it.
Spiderman
28-01-05, 10:59 PM
Spiderman: I like what you do with your clothing :lol: Unfortunately I can't do the same as I've been told that I'll be visiting courts, prisons and police stations (sounds good eh!?)
:takeabow:
Sound like your gonna enjoy your work experience. Hope you do :)
EVERYTHING that Sythree said is true and correct and agreed with imho.
You never know... even if they are old it dont mean they didnt have a bike at one point.
My next door neighbour is 78 and when i first got my bike (a whole 7 months ago now) he saw me and said "Ah bikes.... i used to have a BSA in my day... got married and the bike went. looked sad for a mo and then smiled and looked over the bike with the glee of a kid (well same as i did when i bought it too :oops: )
Do you have any idea how many strangers chat to me just cos they see the spidey lid? I never expected it when i bought the thing. i thought a few would smile but god it gets silly some days.
Not suggesting you get a Spidey lid or anything.. point i'm getting to is any lid or bike thing will by its nature stand you out in a crowd a bit.
How many times you been in a que some place and a biker is in it... you just notice it dont you.
Like if some fool was standing there dressed up as Spiderman. Not that i do like :lol:
Muttley
29-01-05, 01:58 AM
I take my shoes, suit trousers and a shirt to work in a rucksack (folded and rolled), get changed in the loo.
On nights I tend to just stick a pair of trainers and jeans in the rucky, if all the day staff have left for the day I'll change in the office.
At the weekend I have been known to wear my leathers all day.
Jelster
29-01-05, 08:22 AM
Guess I'm lucky, but I have a locker at work with 2 suits and up to 14 shirts, about 8 ties, 2 pairs of shoes and all my shower gear. I just shower at work, and have an account at the local dry cleaners which I pay every couple of weeks.
The bike is also parked in a locked compound under cover..... I can put up with all the crap as it pays well and it makes biking to work easy.
.
Spiderman
29-01-05, 01:14 PM
Guess I'm lucky, but I have a locker at work with 2 suits and up to 14 shirts, about 8 ties, 2 pairs of shoes and all my shower gear. I just shower at work, and have an account at the local dry cleaners which I pay every couple of weeks.
The bike is also parked in a locked compound under cover..... I can put up with all the crap as it pays well and it makes biking to work easy.
.
Perfect... they got any jobs going there mate ? :lol:
TrojanHorse11
29-01-05, 01:20 PM
Perfect... they got any jobs going there mate ? :lol:
seconded! :riding:
coombest
29-01-05, 01:39 PM
though to be honest I doubt I'll be doing that any more, unless I can find cordura trousers with hip armour.
Have a look at RST Syncro Plus Jeans. (http://www.rst-moto.com/index2.html)
The blurb on them doesn't tell you that they have hip armour but I have a pair and can confirm that they do.
It might not be CE approved but is held in place in a velcro 'pouch' so you can replace it with anything you want (Knox, for example)!
I was wearing these when I had my accident and had not even so much as a bruise on any of my legs or hips, etc.
From the marks on my kit and having seen photographs of the accident scene, I would have expected to have had some kind of damage to this area.
Not bad for only a ton, too!!
HTH
The only one of my design jobs where I had to look smart was for a Pharmaceutical company... but we had a similar thing to Jelster.
Lockers, changing rooms showers etc - they were meant to be only for the techs who worked in the clean rooms, but I blagged a space there.
Had two new receptionists while I was working there both of who stopped me from going through to the offices as they thought I was a courier!
Most other offices I've worked at were a bit more forgiving on their dress code (if they had one) when they realised that a motorbike was my only real means of transport.
northwind
29-01-05, 04:00 PM
I was wearing these when I had my accident and had not even so much as a bruise on any of my legs or hips, etc.
Those look the business... My Belstaff ones have served me well, they're totally dry and got me through 2 crashes unscathed, but I want a bit more protection now my leg's held on with Meccano :) Thanks a lot!
northwind
29-01-05, 04:01 PM
Guess I'm lucky, but I have a locker at work with 2 suits and up to 14 shirts,
You own 14 shirts? :shock: I doubt I even own 14 socks!
I used to ride with the suit carefully folded in my Rucksack. I wouldn't even consider getting on the bike without full protection...
Even had one very nice customer that used to allow me to store my leathers in their locker room during our meetings - the only customer I used to bike to.
Stu
Jelster
31-01-05, 07:53 AM
Guess I'm lucky, but I have a locker at work with 2 suits and up to 14 shirts,
You own 14 shirts? :shock: I doubt I even own 14 socks!
Well it means that I don't have to get to the dry cleaners every week. It's also handy if I happen to decide to wear my lunch on my shirt and I have a PM meeting :oops:
.
I never go to the same place twice, being a sales man and have not used the car in over two years.
Sorry to all you passionate top box haters but thats the best solution for biking to meetings.
Put shoes, Laptop bag and jacket in the top box wear a slightly oversize gortex suit over work trousers and shirt and tie. Once parked take of bikeing gear and put on jacket, all the biking gear will fit into the top box (Givi 52) and the helmet locks to the bike.
I have presented to boards of directors and they have no idea that I came on a bike.
saying that though.
i dont think id leave my helmet with the bike (lock or no lock) anywhere near london.
saying that though.
i dont think id leave my helmet with the bike (lock or no lock) anywhere near london.
I do, I know one day I will return and it will be gone but then I'll buy another one and claim on my household insurance. Now having said that I normally am not parked much more than an hour and am rarely in the sme place two days in a row.
I'd not leave my helmet with my bike for fear of some idiot bashing it without me knowing. :?
Is there anyone out there who commutes on their bike who also has to wear a suit to work?
I have water-proof overtrousers but the problem is that if I ride in heavy rain or the roads are quite dirty, the bottoms of my trousers get a bit wet/dirty. This has never been a problem before as I have always worked in a factory and went to work in grubby clothes anyway so it didn't matter. Also my coat is only "shower-proof" and if I am in heavy rain I get a triangle of wet in the middle of my chest area. Obviously this is no good on an expensive suit so I would like to know what bikers do if they have to wear a suit to work but also go to work on a bike.
Thanks for any suggestions as I am totally at a loss. :?:
Cheers
Troj
I used to like you wear over torusers and suit trousers. I tucked my suit trousers in me boots, the then the over trousers over the boots. I then decided to just take a pair of torusers into work, and change at work. A lot easier
saying that though.
i dont think id leave my helmet with the bike (lock or no lock) anywhere near london.
I do, I know one day I will return and it will be gone but then I'll buy another one and claim on my household insurance. Now having said that I normally am not parked much more than an hour and am rarely in the sme place two days in a row.
Patch - make sure you're covered for theft of items away from the home. Also beware excess. I learned the hard way :roll:
TrojanHorse11
31-01-05, 11:50 AM
I'd not leave my helmet with my bike for fear of some idiot bashing it without me knowing. :?
I always put my helmet in my topbox. A few years ago, I got back to my bike to find some kids had smashed the topbox from the top/lid, so my helmet must have taken some blows as well. :evil:
A few years ago I locked my lid to the bike. On my return I found a half eaten melted ice-cream in it. Could have been worse!
I'd not leave my helmet with my bike for fear of some idiot bashing it without me knowing. :?
I always put my helmet in my topbox. A few years ago, I got back to my bike to find some kids had smashed the topbox from the top/lid, so my helmet must have taken some blows as well. :evil:
sure it wasnt jonboy ?
I leave my shoes under my desk. My jacket on a hanger on a hook. I wear my trousers and shirt under my cordura clothing.
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