Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Choosing Cycling Socks: Win with Pearl Izumi

Win Pearl Izumi Socks Below
Admit it.  When you ride past a store window you look at your reflection, your flat-backed position, your dandy color coordinatedness.  In your best Dave Chappelle voice you shake your head and say, “Mmm.  Damn.  I’m one fine looking two-wheeled specimen.”  Like fly-fishing, cycling is half fashion show.  Rolling past Cincinnati’s Verdin bell and clock factory on Riverside Drive, I checked myself out in the reflection of the blacked out windows.  Holy hell!  My socks were as hideous as rubber waders.  Tall white socks with light blue stripes stuck out of the top of my red accented jet black Pearl Izumi shoes like aero bars on a group ride.  It was a triple-snap-clash sista. 

My Team Jersey
Getting ready for a work meeting, my wife stands in front of the full length mirror.  She kicks off one pair of shoes for another, keeps the bag, but ditches the belt.  She asks if the shirt looks better tucked in a little or a lot.  “A little tucked in,” I answer.  There’d be a lot less dorky looking male cyclists if they took a tip from a primping business woman and wheeled their entire ensemble (bike, shorts, jersey, helmet, shoes, sunglasses and all) in front of a full length mirror. 

Drunk Artist Rendering of Perfect Sock
Instead of learning from my wife, my fashion feeble man brain thought I needed tall blue cycling socks…you know, to match my blue and white BioWheels team kit.  I typed the exact phrase into the image search of Yahoo.  Magically 300 pictures of tall blue socks appeared in every shade, length and color combination imaginable.  Row by row, page by page, I dismissed every last one of them as too aqua, too tall for UCI, not enough style.  I went so far as to drink 3 beers and design the perfect sock with Microsoft Crayon 2.0.

I was Mister Pitt, Elaine’s incessantly picky boss in a sock buying episode of TV’s Seinfeld.  He screams, “I want a decent sock that’s comfortable THAT WILL STAY ON MY FOOT!”  Mister Pitt proves what has eluded scientists for centuries.  The fashion part of the male brain can only decipher two variables, in his case, comfort and tightness.  Shorts match jersey.  Bar tape matches bike.  Socks match team kit.  Throw in patterns, design, helmets, shoes, gloves and glasses and the male fashion brain drops to its knees like Elaine, covers its head and screams away the impending frustration induced aneurism.  Hence, most men end up with two pair of work shoes, black and brown. 




Socks Bridge Jersey & Shorts to Shoes & Bike
Two pair of shoes!  That was the key right there.  I have two pairs of cycling shoes.  My road shoes are black with red accents (at left).  My MTB shoes are white with green accents.  My shoes match my bikes.  I needed socks that bridge the gap between team kit and my bike and shoes.  Like my wife’s belts, shoes and bags, cycling socks tie the ensemble together.  I virtually rolled each look in front of the full length mirror.  I ended up choosing three pair of socks, one for each look …road, cyclocross and mountain. 

WIN THREE PAIR OF SOCKS FROM PEARL IZUMI:
1-Consider your three favorite cycling looks: road, mountain, cyclocross.
3-Post a comment with your 3 choices (style/color/size) by 11:59p 7/25/12.

RULES OF THE ROAD: Winner will be chosen randomly from all entries.  “Anonymous” comment entries will not be considered.  Please be aware that we’ll need to get in touch with you, so include an email in your profile and/or “like” us on Facebook so we can get in touch with you if need be.  Winner will be announced on 7/26/12.  Good luck and thanks for reading!

13 comments:

Joe Biker said...

You're in the right place. After visiting the Pearl Izumi website, return here and tell us your three sock choices. Good luck!

Christopher Averett said...

1. ELITE Tall Sock / Honor Lime / Large
2. ELITE Tall Wool Sock/ Black Plaid / Large
3. ELITE Tall Wool Sock / Shadow Gray Argyle / Large

Roderick Vesper said...

1. Elite Sock - Wheelie Good Wheat - Medium
2. Elite Tall - Honor Lime - Medium
3. Elite Sock - 1950 Safety Orange - Medium

Grant Inglis said...

ELITE/Black/XL
ELITE Tall/Layers/XL
ELITE/Black/XL

Anonymous said...

That's the funniest damn post I've read in a long damn time

JeffC said...

1. ELITE Tall Sock / Honor Lime / Large
2. ELITE Sock/ Mercury White / Large
3. ELITE Tall Sock / Varsity Black / Large

Carolyn said...

I'm in the minority here:
1. Attack Low Sock
2. Infinity Low Sock
3. Infinity No Show Sock

Joe Biker said...

You are a trend setter Carolyn. My wife likes the shortie and no-see socks too.

Jason said...

1) ELITE Tall Wool Sock / Shadow Grey Argyle/ Large

2) ELITE Tall Wool Sock / Black Plaid/ Large

3) ELITE Tall Sock / White / Large

Sam Klontz said...

All 3: Elite Tall Wool, Shadow Grey Argyle, Size XL

Us guys with small calves need to hide them as best as possible with fancy patterns and length!

Chris Uberti said...

ELITE Low Sock, all L

Black and White

tall sock tan lines look terrible

Joe Biker said...

Contest is over. Thanks for reading and entering to win Pearl Izumi socks. We'll contact and post the winner's name shortly.

Joe Biker said...

Congrats to Grant Inglis. The Best Trained Monkey Ever drew his name from a bike helmet. He's the winner of the Pearl Izumi sock contest and will be stylin'!