Breaking down a rider: The equipment on race day

Like diamonds and snowflakes, no two Little 500 Riders are exactly alike, especially when it comes to equipment.

Some wear jackets, leg warmers or arm warmers to fend off the cold. Others may wear their road ID — a bracelet that identifies the rider in case he or she is riding alone on the road and gets in an accident.

Some teams wear matching socks or hot pink shoes. All riders, however, wear the basics: helmet, eyewear, gloves, jersey, shorts and shoes.

Wing It Cycling’s junior Abigail Legg reveals a bit of her track fashion.

HELMET
“We don’t put a ton of stock in our helmet,” Legg said. “On race day, they all kind of do the same thing.”

She wears: Hot-pink Giro
Popular brands among riders: Bell, Trek, Giro
Cost: Anything from $35-$135

EYEWEAR
“If it’s sunny out, obviously you want to wear them just because it’s hot and you’re squinting and everything else,” Legg said. “Even on a rainy or overcast day, you want to wear them because the cinders will kick up.”

She wears: Tifosi Glasses with changeable lenses
Popular brands among riders: Tifosi, Polartec
Cost: $30-$130

SHORTS
“Usually most upper-tier teams match, so all of them have the same (brand). A lot of teams will have their greek letters screen-printed on them,” Legg said. “We didn’t last year. We just had plain black shorts that all matched.”

She wears: Etxeondo
Popular brands among riders: Pearl Izumi, Etxeondo
Cost: $125-$280

SHOES
“When you have varying heights on a team, you’ll see teams with lifts, so they’ll get a tennis shoe, and they’ll take it to the shoe doctor or some other place, and they’ll take out the sole, and they’ll build stacks on them,” Legg said.

What she wears: Pearl Izumi X-Alp Seek
Popular brands among riders: Pearl Izumi, ordinary gym shoes
Cost: $40-$120

GLOVES
“Some teams will wear $15 or $10 (gloves) just to have gloves on their fingers,” Legg said. “It depends. Again, it can be as expensive or as little as you want to make that purchase.”

She wears: Pearl Izumi
Popular brands among riders: Cannondale, Pearl Izumi, Trek
Cost: $10-$35