What is the safest colour for cycle clothing?

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What is it about black? Season after season, brands from the mainstream to the cutting edge, pro-team kit designers, and keen amateurs stand in front of a rail of kit flicking through soft-shells, gilets and jerseys. They might admire the look-at-me red (a colour proven to enhance sporting performance in some studies), run a hand over the sleeve of a bright blue top… but then reach for the black one. 

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Why is it that so many of us feel safe with black? Are the clichés about it being the most flattering colour true? Or is it simply a consequence of the ubiquity of this non-colour that makes us choose it time and again? 

This year’s Team Sky kit by Rapha is, of course, predominantly black, and casting an eye over the peloton in recent years, any follower of the sport would have noticed that it seems to feature more dark colours than ever, perhaps a marketing response to the potential spin-off sales. Giant-Alpecin, Etixx-QuickStep, Trek-Segafredo, Bora-Argon and others also chose a dark base for their kit again in 2016. 

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It almost makes you wonder whether the corporate bods have briefed the design teams to: "pick any colour so long as it’s black." Whatever the truth, it’s hard to buy the marketing blurb that a strip of colour on a black background is the best way for riders to stand out in a road race, when the whole thing looks like a heaving monochrome mass.

Black's ninja image

Apparel designer Soudi Masouleh, who has worked on collections for everyone from sportswear giant Nike to Eddy Merckx, says that black is intrinsically cool. “We all associate black with expertise and seriousness as well as style and sobriety. Black has that ninja-ish image: it’s precise, understated and failsafe. And now that reflective clothing has moved on, all-black kit can be made to stand out just as much in the dark as brighter kit.

It’s not in the least surprising that men and women are most likely to opt for dark colours on their bottom half

The more conservative sex

Expensive, tricky processes

Neither all-black, nor eye-popping

High-vis reservations

Contrast is key

Visibility depends on the quality of daylight/streetlight and background environment. Backing this up, at its most surprising, this means that sometimes a black jacket may be the best option for visibility in an urban environment

Take your pick — but make it reflective

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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