Several female bicycle bloggers have expressed a certain dislike towards cycling in pants, and one of the most prominent reasons is due to pant leg cuffs rubbing against the chain and crank arm. I, too, have experienced this sensation, yet I do not have enough skirts in my wardrobe to completely avoid the possibility of wearing pants to work.
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I have also noticed that pants give me that business-intimidating look. (Aside: I have a theory where people take you more seriously in the work environment when you wear pants and jackets with strong collars). Being on the road, however, I’m not the best at remembering to pack bike-specific pant-leg straps; therefore, last week in Arizona, I had to utilize my creative problem solving skills and come up with an alternative means of securing my trouser cuffs to my ankles.
Behold! The scrunchie.
As they were adequately loose and soft, these little fabric-covered hair rubber-bands worked like a charm to keep my trouser cuffs away from the drive-train.
Due to their softness, when I arrived at my office, I sometimes left them around my ankles, underneath my pants, so as to make it easy to tuck the cuffs back in during the lunch ride.
There was a day where I did not leave the scrunchies on my ankles, and misplaced them within my tremendously large Brompton T-bag. Now that I was aware of the many possibilities of elastics, I found some rubber bands in the office supply cabinet which did the trick equally well, but they were not quite as comfortable as the soft scrunchies.
Although I cannot promise that you will be the most fashionable one in the bike lane while utilizing this trick, it just goes to show that you do not need fancy-pants velcro pant leg straps–rubber bands of all varieties will usually work in a pinch.
A scrunchie! What a simple and practical idea, yet I’d never thought of it before. I’m sure I’ll be using this trick in the future.
Our minds work in creative ways during desperate times
I (guy) have used scrunchies, too. I like your blog, and your bike. You might like mine: http://spokenaboutbicycles.blogspot.com/
I am liking wearing slacks for biking and being dressed where I go. This what I do. Wearing over-the- calf socks, I place an elastic band on each leg that just fitting below the knees. Pinching a peace of trouser leg on each side at about mid calf, bring it up to the level of the elastic strap, where you will grasp the elastic strap through the pant leg from the bottom on each side, pulling it away from the leg, and then tucking the trouser leg from the bottom up around under the elastic strap. When you let go, the bottom 4 inches or so of the trouser is hanging down from just below the knee. Bring the billowed trouser leg above this down to cover the tuck and the end of the trouser. This leaves the knee and thigh free for pedaling action, with a nice fluff around the knee covering the tuck and trouser bottom, and the rest of leg covered by the socks. Looks sharp, nothing to rub or entwine, and unrestricted movement. When you arrive, remember to simply reach down under the knee blouse, grab the end of the trouser, and just tug down; it will come out from the tuck under the elastic strap. The strap will usually stay in place where it is for getting back on the bike again, but if not, it falls down to the ankle where if visible, pull it back up over the calf – and you do not have to keep track of the elastic straps. The lower trouser legs might wrinkle a bit, but…
Thanks for sharing your trick in such great detail. I will have to try it sometime, as my scrunchie / pant leg strap method does not look quite as sharp.
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