When exercising, you get to break into a sweat due to the combination of heat from your body and the sun. Hence, staying cool is important.
Staying cool during cycling can only be achieved when the sweat from your body evaporates which can only happen if the wind goes over your body. The most obvious option would be riding with no clothing. This will help the sweat evaporate as the air will flow over as much of your skin as possible.
Riding without clothing would be insane especially in summer when you can get skin burns from the hot gaze of light directly crawling on your skin. So we need to figure out, what type of clothing (especially a cycling jersey) to wear.
In this article, we would look into the physics and biology of wearing a black jersey in comparison with other colors.
Are Black Cycling Jerseys Hot?
Black Jerseys can be hotter than other lighter colors if the fabric is not of appropriate thickness. But on the other hand, black makes the sweat evaporate faster helping you cool down.
Do Black Cycling Jerseys Keep You Cool in Summer?
Summer is known for the hot atmospheric condition, this causes people to opt for cooler and comfortable sports jerseys. Most people are often seen in black jerseys even during summer.
There is a visible and invisible wavelength of light. All visible wavelength lights are absorbed by black color. This makes it the color that absorbs the most heat, followed by violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, respectively.
Light absorbed is transformed into thermal heat energy, this is the reason why heat is more absorbed by darker clothes.
However, it cannot be concluded that black color is the most terrible color to wear in summer as a jersey, just yet.
Over the years, cyclists have been advised to wear white and any other color aside from black with the aim of staying cool while cycling. However, with recent discoveries, this theory is being reviewed.
Light spectrum experiment in Physics has proven that white is the combination of many visible lights, causing it to reflect a great amount of wavelength of incoming energies.
The ideal color that should be considered during summer or while cycling is the one that reflects the sun’s rays and not absorbs them.
It shows that a Black jersey wouldn’t be a good option if you want to stay cool while cycling.
Why Do So Many Cyclists Wear Black?
Black looks chic and appalling, however, most cyclists wouldn’t be wearing it just because it looks fashionable. Behind every purchase, comfort is often considered.
Black jersey hastens the evaporation of sweat hence, help the cyclist stay cool in the heat.
Black vs White Cycling Jersey (Comparison)
Let’s see a comparison between white and black cycling jerseys…….
BLACK JERSEY
The color black absorbs more heat from the sun’s light than other colors. However, one edge that it has over the white color is that it reabsorbs the heat coming from the body of the person wearing it instead of reflecting it back.
How can You Make Black Cycling Jersey Work for You?
If you can get a thick black fabric, it will absorb heat but would not let it penetrate the fabric so that it touches the skin. But a thin fabric will allow this to happen.
Staying cool in a black jersey is possible if you try to get the fabric with the right thickness and looseness as the white summery jerseys.
Effect of Wind on Black Jerseys
With the presence of little wind, the black jersey releases the absorbed heat into the atmosphere, living you all cool. With every sweat that evaporates, the cyclist gets cooled.
Black Color’s Effect on Sweat
To cool your body down when are working out or cycling, you need to sweat and the sweat has to evaporate which will take away the body’s heat along with it.
Black hastens the evaporation of your sweat faster. With this hypothesis, the white versus black cycling jersey poll favors the black jersey.
WHITE JERSEY
When cycling or when making use of the body’s energy doing anything, heat exudes also from the body of the person. This shows that the source of heat isn’t just the sun.
During a sport, the energy given off in form of heat from the person’s body is a lot closer to the skin than the sun is. It can make the body burn up and make you feel highly uncomfortable considering that we are warm-blooded mammals.
The white fabric would reflect the body heat back to the body, making it terribly uncomfortable for the person wearing it. With a white jersey In summer, the heat from the cyclist’s body and the heat from the sun makes it impossible for the cyclist to stay cool.
Effect of Wind on White Jerseys
The atmospheric condition can be of help to white jersey if there is a little wind which is exactly what you get while cycling.
Do You Wear a Shirt under a Black Bike Jersey?
It would be best if you DO NOT wear a shirt under a black cycling jersey.
The black jersey helps evaporation of heat exuding from the body of the cyclist, the only way that this can be done faster is when the black jersey has direct contact with the skin of the rider.
What Is the Best Cycling Jersey Material?
A light non-leather material would be a great pick regardless of the color you are wearing a jersey.
Tips – Wearing a Cycling Jersey
Let’s look at a few tips for keeping cooler during cycling…….
1- Get a Shower
Your black jersey needs all the help that it can get to release the absorbed heat, hence, consider taking a cool shower before putting on your jersey. When you go out fresh, it would help you stay fresh for a while before becoming sweaty.
2- A Big “NO” to Moisturizing Lotions
Stay away from moisturizing lotions when getting ready. When cycling, the more moisture you get the more heat you generate. Completely avoid the use of body cream, lotion especially.
3- Stay Clean & Shaven
Keep your hair low, shave your beards to give room for ventilation which will again help you in keeping cool.
4- Wash Your Cycling Jersey
Ensure that your jersey is freshly laundered as it would lighten the material on your skin. The lighter you are, the less energy you need to exert. The less the energy exerted, the cooler you feel.
5- Consider Wearing an Armless Jersey
It would give a huge opening for the wind to come in contact with your skin. With that, evaporation of sweat will be a lot easier. Try to be as light as possible.
Final Thoughts!
While choosing the right color for your cycling jersey, make sure to consider all the facts about the nature of dark and light colors in relation to the sun and its heat.
Generally darker colors absorb more heat than lighter ones but a thick fabric can be of help here. Also, the black color makes the sweat evaporation much easier than other lighter colors.
I hope this quick guide was of help.
Cheers!
