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Bike shorts padding and style preferences

Andy Mink

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I will just say, being a parent now, baby-wipes are the greatest secret that non-parents don't know about!
Essential camping equipment, trailer or tent.
 

cantunamunch

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I will just say, being a parent now, baby-wipes are the greatest secret that non-parents don't know about!

Hehe. Tell it to my office mates - who all now absolutely resent that smell.

(Also isopropanol. Also wintergreen iso. Also witch hazel. Also Hibiclens.)
 
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markojp

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... to clarify, too much cream is a disaster.
 

sparty

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I will just say, being a parent now, baby-wipes are the greatest secret that non-parents don't know about!
Learned that as a motorcyclist, likewise the other cleanliness tips Rudi mentioned above—keeping things clean really minimizes skin issues, especially those associated with longer days of riding.

And while I'll admit that my inclination to wear overshorts is partially for looks (I prefer not to wear spandex as outer layer; I'm not in the small percentage of my demographic group for whom that's an aesthetic win), I have a couple of good pairs of road bibs (Castelli that wasn't cheap even at 50% off on SteepAndCheap or whatever other outlet); they're quite comfortable, but if I crash and tear them apart, my wife is not going to be happy with idea of buying a comparable pair of replacement shorts. The Pearl Izumi liners and Garneau shorts I have work well enough for shorter rides, but aren't as comfortable when worn all day.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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I have one pair of Giro Base Liner shorts. And one seat. Please, please don't drag me down yet another rabbit hole (or two)! I don't know what I don't know! And yes, the shorts get washed or at least rinsed well after each ride.
You're welcome!
 

VickiK

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I tried a padded seat and padded short liners but neither one was efficient. Terry knickers were good for a while but for a while now my favorite shorts have been Specialized RBX. Boring and basic, they offer good protection on long or short rides (road and mountain).
 

Rudi Riet

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I tried a padded seat and padded short liners but neither one was efficient. Terry knickers were good for a while but for a while now my favorite shorts have been Specialized RBX. Boring and basic, they offer good protection on long or short rides (road and mountain).

Amazingly a more cushy saddle is most often the wrong move to make in terms of finding a comfortable perch on a bicycle. As comfy as the padding is on day one, it will break down and the saddle will press into more sensitive areas after a short while. While harder saddles seem counterintuitive, they're meant to support the sit bones and get out of the way of softer tissues. Yes, there's a bit of a "butt learning curve" that will take time, but it's worth it.

As is trying out saddles until you find one that works.

As is finding the chamois pad that works best for your personal anatomy.

I don't wear overshorts for myriad reasons, even when mountain biking. I guess it's the lapsed MTB racer in me, or the roadie/groadie I am now, but I prefer the fact that lycra gets out of the way and doesn't flap much in the breeze. That said, I've had MTB shorts with liners that are super comfy, and I have some fall/winter knickers that are a water-resistant shell over a liner - they're awesome!

And Specialized RBX shorts are quite good! I wish their stuff fit me better but that means more for everyone else, right? ;)
 

Tom K.

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I tried a padded seat and padded short liners but neither one was efficient. Terry knickers were good for a while but for a while now my favorite shorts have been Specialized RBX. Boring and basic, they offer good protection on long or short rides (road and mountain).

RBX are darn fine shorts/chamois, whether in the bib or non-bib format. Bontrager Velocis are also great in both forms.

And, proving that price isn't always the arbiter of quality, Performance Ultra bibs also suit me really well. I think I bought 3 pair for $99 one year during a "dead of winter" kind of sale.

Fun, kind of superstitious, factoid: When I used to do mtb endurance racing, I raced in NOTHING other than Pearl Izumi drawstring shorts with pretty darn minimal padding. Why? Because that's what I owned for my first 100, and they caused no harm, so I never changed. I've still got a pair in reserve, in case the sickness ever reappears. :ogbiggrin:
 

cantunamunch

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And, proving that price isn't always the arbiter of quality, Performance Ultra bibs also suit me really well. I think I bought 3 pair for $99 one year during a "dead of winter" kind of sale.

I still have some too - the fit is fine, the material is comfy but the pad stitching is coming apart. :(
 

Rudi Riet

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I still have some too - the fit is fine, the material is comfy but the pad stitching is coming apart. :(

Ah, Performance. Their stuff was entirely dependent on which vendor they used as their supplier each year. It would change about every 18-24 months. For a few years (approximately 2006-2012) they used Voler as their manufacturer (when they touted "Made in the USA!" on their Century, Ultra, and Elite lines) and those bib shorts were fantastic and often on sale.

I had a pair of Performance Century bibs last for multiple seasons of hard wear before the lycra started to become threadbare and a bit transparent. Plumber's crack in bib shorts is not particularly attractive, so these bis are now liners for me to be worn underneath street clothes or my winter knickers.

Once Performance's (and Bike Nashbar's, Breezer's, Fuji Bikes', and more) parent company, Advanced Sports Enterprises, was liquidated and all their stores shuttered in 2018 they've never really been the same. Their brick-and-mortar locations in many major cities made things like returns and exchanges super simple. Now that Tiger Group owns the brand they operate as an exclusively mail-order brand and it's impossible to tell who's making their house brand clothing right now. Sure, the line names are still there but it sure doesn't look like the same shorts and jerseys they sold back in the day.
 
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markojp

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Cycling bibs are fortunately almost like skis for me... they pretty much all work. One Sugoi, a Castelli, a PI, and a nice pair of insulated PI bib knickers for cold weather.
 

Primoz

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And while I'll admit that my inclination to wear overshorts is partially for looks (I prefer not to wear spandex as outer layer; I'm not in the small percentage of my demographic group for whom that's an aesthetic win), I have a couple of good pairs of road bibs (Castelli that wasn't cheap even at 50% off on SteepAndCheap or whatever other outlet); they're quite comfortable, but if I crash and tear them apart, my wife is not going to be happy with idea of buying a comparable pair of replacement shorts. The Pearl Izumi liners and Garneau shorts I have work well enough for shorter rides, but aren't as comfortable when worn all day.
I might agree that lycra might not look best, even though I spend some 80% of my training time in lycra (xc skiing is in lycra, cycling is in lycra, running and trail running is in lycra, but at least ski touring, alpine skiing and ice hockey are not :D). But for mtb, I simply can't imagine having extra pair of baggy shorts over proper cycling pants with chamois, especially when it's +35c. So looking good or bad is something that doesn't worry me all that much. Afterall, I'm on mtb in middle of nowhere, and if animals see me in lycra it's not that much of an issue. There's very little people who see me on my trails :D
As for crashing goes... my bib shorts are mainly some Chinese stuff for about 70-80eur/shorts (believe it or not, they are better then any Casetelli for 300eur, but top Assos models for 450eur still beats them). Normal baggy shorts are pretty much in same price range, and as for XC you can't have some super durable DH/MX pants, these are almost as fragile as lycra when crashing. So crashing and tearing one or the other is pretty much same expense in my case.
 

Tom K.

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^^^ +100 @Primoz. Why in the world make your hottest, dampest region hotter and damper?! And my wife sews very well for the occasional tear from bushes, etc.

I still have some (Performance shorts) too - the fit is fine, the material is comfy but the pad stitching is coming apart. :(

I wore out my old favorites (blue chamois). The newer, yellow pad versions seem even better, but they are a little bit like hot pants in terms of length. Road bike only, as this look might even disturb the woodland creatures I encounter on mtb rides! :geek:
 

sparty

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I might agree that lycra might not look best, even though I spend some 80% of my training time in lycra (xc skiing is in lycra, cycling is in lycra, running and trail running is in lycra, but at least ski touring, alpine skiing and ice hockey are not :D). But for mtb, I simply can't imagine having extra pair of baggy shorts over proper cycling pants with chamois, especially when it's +35c. So looking good or bad is something that doesn't worry me all that much. Afterall, I'm on mtb in middle of nowhere, and if animals see me in lycra it's not that much of an issue. There's very little people who see me on my trails :D
As for crashing goes... my bib shorts are mainly some Chinese stuff for about 70-80eur/shorts (believe it or not, they are better then any Casetelli for 300eur, but top Assos models for 450eur still beats them). Normal baggy shorts are pretty much in same price range, and as for XC you can't have some super durable DH/MX pants, these are almost as fragile as lycra when crashing. So crashing and tearing one or the other is pretty much same expense in my case.

At +35c, I'm only leaving the air conditioned building to get to the air-conditioned truck, and then maybe to get from the truck into a body of water. With our humidity, trying to do anything active above 85F (29.4c) just doesn't work for me.

The overshorts I've been wearing (Abit) seem to breathe pretty well while still being a lot more durable than I'd expect the spandex to be. I'm not overly brand-attached to the Castelli bibs, but I don't spend enough time pedaling to justify buying more stuff to try to find the best value (and I am rather convinced that I'd rather spend $100 more than I need to on a pair of bibs than spend two hours on a road bike in a pair I don't get on with). Not that I've even been on a proper road bike ride this year, but I'll probably convince myself to go out if I ever get around to doing a proper tune-up on the road bike.
 

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