Professionalism and the bike commute

Posted on November 23, 2011 by .
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Corporette — “a fashion and lifestyle blog for overachieving chicks” — ponders a reader’s question: Does her riding a bike to work make her appear ‘unprofessional’?

The reader asks:

I ride my bike to work and struggle to look professional and yet arrive at the office safely at the same time. I’ve started keeping my clothes at work, and so now, I frequently wear leggings and sneakers and then run to my office to change before anyone notices. Other times though, I need to go out for dinner or a client meeting after work, and it can be annoying to have to “change” into my sneakers afterwards so that I can bike home.

What do I do? Should I just start riding the subway? I love biking because it’s fast and refreshing, but I wonder if it’s unprofessional.

Several dozen people weighed in with their personal bike-to-work stories in the comments following.

I work in high tech where I dress like a slob, so professional appearance has never been an issue for me. I only occasionally see bike riders dressed for the office in a suit — business casual or jeans is probably the most common bike commute uniform in the San Francisco Bay Area.

More –> Corporette and the Style of Cycling: Is Biking To Work Unprofessional?



See also:

  1. Marin to SF bike commute in the Wall Street Journal
  2. San Francisco Bay Area survey shows 7% commute by bike
  3. 9% of Boulder commuters commute by bike
  4. Why the winter bike commute is fun


  • Andy

    I hope to never work somewhere that cares about clothes. I just keep a single button down shirt at the office in case I need to “fit in” at a meeting, but otherwise I wear what works.

  • http://www.bikecommuters.com/2011/12/19/is-cycling-to-work-unprofessional/ Is Cycling To Work Unprofessional? | Bike Commuters

    [...] a look at the question (and response) by visiting Corporette’s page. Hat tip to Richard of Cyclelicious for posting about this a few days [...]