{{Short description|Acronym for "middle-aged man in lycra"}} thumb|Grown man with expensive bicycle and tight-fitting clothes {{use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{multiple image | image1 = Middle Aged Man In Lycra.jpg | image2 = PXL 20220912 093157801.jpg | footer_align = center | footer = Middle-aged men in lycra }} '''''Mamil'''''<ref name="BBC News - 14 August 2010 - Rise of the Mamils (middle-aged men in lycra)">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10965608|title=Rise of the Mamils (middle-aged men in lycra)|first=Dominic |last=Casciani |date=14 August 2010 |work=BBC News |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|accessdate=14 December 2013}}</ref> (or '''''MAMIL'''''<ref name="SMH - 2 September 2012 - Middle Aged Men In Lycra">{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/blogs/cycling-tips/middle-aged-men-in-lycra-20100902-14oa6.html |title=Middle Aged Men In Lycra|last=Wallace|first=Wade|date=2 September 2012 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |publisher=Fairfax Media |accessdate=14 December 2013}}</ref>) is an acronym and a pejorative term for a "middle-aged man in Lycra"<ref name="Collins English Dictionary - Mamil">{{cite web |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mamil |title=Mamil |work=Collins English Dictionary |publisher=HarperCollins |accessdate=14 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/mamil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413221232/https://www.lexico.com/definition/mamil |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 April 2020 |title=MAMIL |website=Lexico |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> – that is, men who ride an expensive racing bicycle<ref name="BBC News - 14 August 2010 - Rise of the Mamils (middle-aged men in lycra)"/> for leisure, while wearing body-hugging jerseys and bicycle shorts.<ref name="SMH - 2 September 2012 - Middle Aged Men In Lycra"/>
The word was reportedly coined by British marketing research firm Mintel in 2010.<ref name="The Guardian - 11 September 2012 - The humble Mamil: why we need 'middle-aged men in Lycra'">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/11/mamil-middle-aged-men-in-lycra |title=The humble Mamil: why we need 'middle-aged men in Lycra'|first=Matt |last=Seaton |date=11 September 2012 |work=The Guardian |accessdate=14 December 2013}}</ref> It gained further popularity in the United Kingdom with the success of Bradley Wiggins in the 2012 Tour de France and at the 2012 Summer Olympics,<ref name="The Guardian - 11 September 2012 - The humble Mamil: why we need 'middle-aged men in Lycra'"/> held in London. British UCI World Championships victories in recent years have also spurred interest in cycling in the UK.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/writers/alexander_wolff/08/03/british-cycling-revolution/index.html |title=Olympics further sparking British cycling boom, but concerns remain |access-date=2014-01-26 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203113008/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/writers/alexander_wolff/08/03/british-cycling-revolution/index.html |archivedate=2014-02-03 |url-status=dead |first=Alex |last=Wolff |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=August 3, 2012 |publisher=Time Inc.}}</ref>
In Australia the popularity of this sort of cycling has been associated with the Tour Down Under and the 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans.<ref name="The Australian - 21 January 2012 - A new species of mamil hits the road">{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/cycling/a-new-species-of-mamil-hits-the-road/story-fn8sc2wz-1226249801273|title=A new species of mamil hits the road |first=Verity |last=Edwards |date=21 January 2012 |work=The Australian |publisher=News Corp Australia |accessdate=14 December 2013}}</ref> Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been described as a "mamil".<ref name="SMH - 16 October 2013 - Pest or indigenous species, the mamil abounds">{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/pest-or-indigenous-species-the-mamil-abounds-20131015-2vkki.html |title=Pest or indigenous species, the mamil abounds |last=Huynh |first=Kim |date=16 October 2013|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|accessdate=14 December 2013}}</ref>
Similarly, in Slovakia, the popularity of racing cycling and wearing colorful Lycra on the roads rose after Peter Sagan began winning in Tour de France and World championships.{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}
Buying an expensive road bicycle has been described as a more healthy and affordable response to a midlife crisis than buying an expensive sports car.<ref name="Bloomberg TV - 16 November 2013 - In the Land of the Mamils: Where Men Are Men and Bikes Are a Semester at Yale">{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-15/in-the-land-of-the-mamils-where-men-are-men-and-bikes-are-a-semester-at-yale.html |title=In the Land of the Mamils: Where Men Are Men and Bikes Are a Semester at Yale |first=Jennifer |last=Parker |date=16 November 2013|work=Bloomberg Television|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|accessdate=5 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="The Brunei Times - 19 October 2013 - Mamil at the crack of dawn">{{cite news |url=http://www.bt.com.bn/features-emmagoodegg/2013/10/19/mamil-crack-dawn |title=Mamil at the crack of dawn |date=19 October 2013 |work=The Brunei Times |accessdate=8 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108125427/http://www.bt.com.bn/features-emmagoodegg/2013/10/19/mamil-crack-dawn |archivedate=8 January 2014 |location=Bandar Seri Begawan |first=Emma |last=GoodEgg}}</ref>
There are documentaries investigating this cycling culture. ''MAMIL'' is the title of a one-man play by New Zealand playwright Greg Cooper, written for actor Mark Hadlow.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/lifestyle-entertainment/69070837/middle-aged-man-in-lycra-takes-his-issues-to-the-road |title=Middle aged man in lycra takes his issues to the road |website=Stuff |first=Charles |last=Anderson |date=June 4, 2015}}</ref> It is also the title of a feature-length documentary directed by Nickolas Bird and produced by Bird, Eleanor Sharpe and Mark Bird.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bicycling.com/news/new-documentary-explores-what-it-means-to-be-a-mamil|title=New Documentary Explores the MAMIL Mindset |date=17 October 2017 |work=Bicycling |publisher=Hearst}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://us.demand.film/mamil/|title=Mamil |website=Demand.Film |date=24 February 2018}}</ref> The song "''Every Time A Bell Rings"'' by Half Man Half Biscuit lampoons the concept of mamils with the lyrics:<blockquote>''...got a Boardman bike on the Cycle to Work scheme''
''... Started watching the Tour de France highlights on ITV Four''
''Worshipped at the altar of Wiggo and Froomedog''
''Goes out every Sunday in full Sky replica kit'<nowiki/>''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=John |date=2018-05-29 |title=Half Man Half Biscuit: No One Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your Fuckin' Hedge Cut |url=https://road.cc/content/review/242632-half-man-half-biscuit-no-one-cares-about-your-creative-hub-so-get-your-fuckin |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=road.cc |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Wiktionary|MAMIL}} * {{cite news |author-link=Catherine Bennett (journalist) |first=Catherine |last=Bennett |newspaper=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/30/modern-tribes-midlife-cycling-obsessive |title=Modern tribes: the midlife cycling obsessive |date=30 May 2015}} Category:Neologisms Category:Acronyms Category:Cycling Category:Middle age Category:Pejorative terms for men Category:Misandry