[fian]

Australian person here. When the summer temps are routinely over 30C and winters have many rainy days, cycling in casual clothes doesn't work except for only very short distances.

Most commuters in my city that ride more than 5km to work have adopted at least some lycra as part of their kit. It handles sweat better in summer and can be rinsed of sand then spun and air dried in winter, so you aren't getting into cold wet gear for your ride home.

My city commonly has a sea breeze with a wind speed over 35 km/hr in summer. A lot of committed cycle commuters end up adopting road/racing bikes simply due to it being more efficient energy wise. Riding a hybrid or MTB into/across the sea breeze is significantly more fatiguing.

Many people here also cycle casually for exercise. These are more leisurely rides specifically for fitness. It is rarer for people to ride to the shops, restaurant or a friends house. Why? because they don't want to turn up sweaty in summer or wet in winter.

Note that cycling in general has grown in popularity in the past decade here, regardless of the above:

http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6237-cycling-participation...

Australians are a sports mad bunch. We have had the Tour de France televised on a free-to-air channel for over 20 years now. Since the early 2000's this lead to many more people becoming interested in road cycling, especially men. This resulted in more cyclists on the roads (especially MAMILs). The increased number of cyclists on the roads, has in turn lead to more people being inspired to get on they bike for a leisure ride or to try cycling to work. Prior to that many people I spoke to would cite having to ride on the road as a big factor in deciding not to try cycle commuting as they perceived it as too dangerous.

So cycling as a sport has had a big part to play in getting more people cycling in general over here.

[brnt]

I lived in France where such temperatures were also the norm. In the Netherlands there is rain that will get everywhere.

Accepting these discomforts is part of cycling in my view. Iets always foreigners who complain about such discomforts (my wife is ons of thema ;)), Dutch people simply accept it.

[megablast]

This is a joke. Australia is one of the best places for cycling, weather wise. I’ve never missed a work day. And that’s in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The only problem with Australia is the majority are addicted to cars, so much do they can’t imagine going anywhere without them.

[fian]

Do _most_ people at your work cycle in? I work in a large office tower where thousands of people work. A small minority cycle to work. There are very good end of trip facilities (lockers, showers, irons, spin dryers, drying cabinets etc) available. I'd estimate there are 100 bike racks available. The bike racks get pretty full during spring and autumn when the temperatures are in the 20s (celcius) and there is no rain forecast. During the height of summer the patronage drops off (maybe 70%). During winter patronage drops markedly (often well below 40%, especially if rain is forecast).

I have been cycle commuting to school, university and various workplaces since the 80's on BMX and MTBs. I started out commuting in casual clothes (school), continued with casual clothes when I began cycling significantly further to university, but needed to carry a change of clothes due to sweat or rain. I joined the university cycle club and was introduced (admittedly with considerable skepticism) to the benefits of lycra (less chafe, faster to dry) and eventually also bought a road bike. The road bike made a big difference to my commute times/effort.

As a post grad student I had access to showers in my department. So I could ride faster/further (for fun) then shower and change before starting my day. Almost all my work places since leaving university have had shower facilities that allowed me to continue cycle commuting. Almost all the other cycle commuters at those work places that rode more than ~5km would opt to shower also. Why? because they got sweaty or wet and dirty.

If the weather is so good for cycling why do people want the end of trip shower?

By far most people I have worked with will not cycle commute at all (too far, too hard, don't want to mess up their hair with a helmet, too unsafe on the roads, take too long etc). Of those that did cycle commute, many are not all year round commuters, for the reasons I outlined above.

You may be comfortable riding in all kinds of weather. My experience is that the vast majority of Australians are not - even when end of trip facilities are available.

[donjoe]

Isn't Australia enforcing helmets since the 90s which led to a decrease in overall bicycle use?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmets_in_Australia