Cycling Shorts

LaughingWater

LaughingWater

Cathlete
Hey guys,

I know we have some cyclists out there. My 14 y/o daughter and I have discovered we really enjoy bike trails. We've also discovered that regular old shorts aren't going to cut it for anything beyond a couple of miles. (We did 6 miles our first day out, and our sits bones weren't too happy. :D )

I have read that Pearl Izumi is a favorite bike short and found a few varieties on Team Estrogen's site. Any suggestions as to which kind to try?

Any other brand suggestions?

Our butts thank you!
 
Hi Lori - You have to be careful when getting bike shorts and if possible, try them on if you have any stores around. You don't want a seam going down your crotch and some of the Pearl's have that. PrimalWear is supposed to be a good brand as is Sugoi. I have a pair of TYR tri shorts that I like. They were even comfy on a 50 mile ride except that the stitching for the pad ended up pinching my inner thigh and actually left bruises. You also want to investigate different types of padding - gel, chamois, etc, and you the more panels you have, the better the short (you will usually find 4,6 and 8 panel shorts for the most part - 8 being ideal). Also, you don't want to use a big and/or gel seat and wear those shorts. And no undies under the shorts either. I like my harlotwear shorts - harlotwear.com. They are not the spandex shorts and don't feel like diapers. Team Estrogen has some good sales sometimes so watch for those. I generally don't have problems riding in regular shorts unless I got past 15-20 miles. What kind of seat do you use? And is the bike fitted for your body? That will make a big difference too.
 
Hi Lori. I love mountain biking and my husband thinks I'm weird that I don't use padded shorts. My butt and crotch sorta just built up a tolerance. Thats kinda weird to say but I just use regular shorts in the summer and long tights in the winter.
 
When we bought our bikes a couple of years ago, we didn't give it much thought and purchased a couple of mountain bikes. My daughter's seat is okay according to her. My seat is awful, and I ended up buying some padding to go over the top of it. That's fine for a neighborhood ride, but after a few miles on the trail, my sits bones were hurtin'.

When the time comes to purchase new bikes, I'll do my homework behorehand. Until then, I'm stuck with these, hoping shorts and/or a new saddle might help.

Janie, maybe I just need to toughen up. :)
 
Janie - I totally agree. Those parts do build up a certain tolerance. That is why I don't bother with shorts either, unless I am going long distances. Your bike was also fit specifically for you, if I remember correctly, and you most definitely have a good saddle. It makes such a difference. Of course, there is infinite tweaking to be done!

Lori - this reminds me -both of my bikes are the skinny saddles with the cut out in the middle. This makes a tremendous difference in feel. One of mine is a Specialized and it was not expensive at all and I love it, and the good thing about Specialized is that you can return it at any time if you become dissatisfied, or if it just doesn't work.
 
LaughingWater said:
When we bought our bikes a couple of years ago, we didn't give it much thought and purchased a couple of mountain bikes. My daughter's seat is okay according to her. My seat is awful, and I ended up buying some padding to go over the top of it. That's fine for a neighborhood ride, but after a few miles on the trail, my sits bones were hurtin'.

When the time comes to purchase new bikes, I'll do my homework behorehand. Until then, I'm stuck with these, hoping shorts and/or a new saddle might help.
Click to expand...

How far do you ride? Depending, a new saddle may do the trick for you. I would try that first before investing in shorts b/c shorts won't fix a saddle problem. Those gel covers actually make things worse, generally, as strange as that may seem. Get the saddle, adjust it so that your legs are almost straight but not quite (not a big bend in the knee) and fiddle with moving the seat back and forward, tilting up and down. If the bike is your size, you can make the rest of it just right.
 
We did about 6 miles. I probably could have done more, but I was starting to feel uncomfortable. Figured it was better not to push things.

Thank you for the advice. I'll pull the cover off and play with the saddle adjustment.
 
Fashion note: I have a black Sugoi skort that has bike shorts underneath the skirt. It's the CUTEST THING EVER! :D I love the padding of bike shorts but hate the "giant diaper" look of them so the skort is perfect.

I bought it from LL Bean (of all places) a couple of years ago. I've also seen them at Athleta and Title 9 sports. Enjoy your biking!
 
meowracer said:
How far do you ride? Depending, a new saddle may do the trick for you. I would try that first before investing in shorts b/c shorts won't fix a saddle problem. Those gel covers actually make things worse, generally, as strange as that may seem. Get the saddle, adjust it so that your legs are almost straight but not quite (not a big bend in the knee) and fiddle with moving the seat back and forward, tilting up and down. If the bike is your size, you can make the rest of it just right.
Click to expand...

Great advice Shana! I totally agree about the gel covers making things worse. I have a saddle from here http://bontrager.com/
 
I'm with the majority here. If you could not ride 6 miles without your sit bones hurting, it's your saddle and all the padded shorts in the world won't help. I also agree to skip the gel seat pads.

So, what to do? Get a different saddle. On the Team Estrogen Forums there are a lot of posts on how to get a saddle to fit properly, including how to measure your sit bones, etc. Go there - they know bikes (I'm a member, too). There are all sorts of good saddles in all sorts of price ranges. If you have a good Local Bike Store (LBS), find out if you can try various saddles (and I mean really try - take it for a few rides, etc.) to find one that feels right to you.

I ride Brooks saddles which are expensive ($125). Believe it or not, they are HARD, but they are leather. Leather absorbs sweat and that makes a major difference on long rides. If you really look at anyone who rides long distance, they ride a leather saddle. I recently did a century ride - 100 miles on my bike. I bought a new saddle - brand new - the day before - kind of like buying new running shoes the day before a marathon. In other words - pretty stupid. But, it was a Brooks. I rode 100 miles on a brand new saddle and I had aches and pains for sure, but none in my butt. I will never ride on another saddle. period. But, not everyone rides the distances I do - and as I said, there are many saddles out there at many different price points - try them, and do not be afraid to return them to the store if they just are not comfortable.
 
I love this saddle so much, its on my road bike too and I regard the saddle as the first line of defense. http://www.selleitalia.com/eng/index.html

To me, if the chamois is too big it tends to bunch up which makes me very uncomfortable. There are times I ride without shorts, mainly in the winter and I usually never have a problem because of my saddle. Take a look at Sugoi and Shebeest too, and check out these sales at Sierra:

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/d/260_Womens-Bike-Shorts-and-Bibs-and-Tights.html

I've found that if I pull on a pair of lycra shorts, and I'm not talking baggy shorts (I have Oakleys) they should fit and contour immediately to your body. And listen to Shana...no undies :p.


Looks like that link to Selle Italia isn't working, but its their Diva and Gel flow.
 
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I have a pair of Terry shorts that fit well. they do have somewhat of a diaper feel but the padding is much more anatomically corrrect than some older shorts I had. I've tried with and without underwear, but for me it works either way as long as the undies fit and don't wander. we usually ride 30-40 miles. I never used to wear padded shorts and got used to the saddle, a nice narrow leather one, but padded shorts make it more comfy right away especially if you don't ride often.

there's also a product called Chamois butt'r, a non greasy skin lubricant that helps with chafing or friction. you put it on yourself and/or the chamois part of the shorts. You can use it anywhere you have friction problems, it's not limited to bicycling. .
 
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