Road Cycling - Shorts... How many miles can we expect?

As mentioned in a previous thread, my $70 Giordana CP4 bibs died this week, a small 1" tear around the chamois pad. I'll retire these to commuting work with a short liner, but don't expect them to last more then a few weeks of use.

I had around 3200 miles on these shorts, I purchased them mid-season last year.

One of the guys I ride with has shorts from the mid-80's! I know its not his only pair, but I am sure he has more then 10,000 miles on them. I don't know the brand, they look very generic.

I have ~4000 miles on a performance elite bid I bought at the beginning of last year. I cannot tell the difference between my first one and my last one I bought three months ago.

Am also ridding with the Performance Elite bibs. I am a believer that washing does as much damage as wearing (unless one falls over, etc.), so I bought three pairs when they were on half-price sale ($35) and rotate them. So far the only wear I have noticed ina about 8,000 miles of riding in the past three years (this is the start of the third riding season) is that one of them is showing some small amount fraying on the inside along one edge of the chamios. Nothing major and I don't expect it to have an appreciable effect on the life of the shorts. Based on what I have seen, I expect these three pairs to last me at least another 8.000 miles of wearing. And for the price/performance quotient, I will be buying more. The half-price sale generally pops up in the late fall.

I forget what type, but I bought performance shorts and the nashbar sunday shorts, both have about 1k miles on them so far, and the performance shorts have a small tear, only because I wrecked in them :o otherwise I'd expect another 1k miles at least.... but either way they only cost about $35 so I'd be happy for them to last that long :p

Here's something to consider when you're looking at wear and tear on your cycling shorts: your saddle. There may not be much you can do about it if you've found a saddle that you like, but the newer designs that incorporate embroidered logos, stitching or other accoutrements on surfaces where your legs and seat rub over them are really tough on shorts compared to the less flashy, smooth models, e.g., Sella Italia Flite, Avocet 40R, etc.. that they have slowly replaced.

This became obvious to me when I realized that I rarely had riding shorts wear out in the seat -- more times than not it was a tear on the hip from a crash or the back panels worn thin enough by UV rays and repeated washings that they became translucent (the subject of another recent thread**) that sent them into the trash.

Now that I've started using saddles with the anotomic cut-outs and various forms of stitching I find that the inseam of my shorts -- right along the chamois -- are getting chewed up and worn down well before the rest of the shorts are "used up". Again, I probably won't change my saddle but at least it offers and explanation for why my shorts aren't lasting as long as they used to.

**I fondly recall the "cheap thrill" of briefly sharing a draft with some of the gals we'd encounter on our weekend rides from Redlands to Newport Beach, CA, along the Santa Ana River Trail who failed to properly align the back seam on their well worn cycling shorts... Of course that was a long time ago -- what I refer to as PD, Pre-Debbie. Now I just take care to make sure her seams are straight, lest we pick-up any testosterone-charged 20-something roadies on our rear wheel on a bright and sunny day.

Mark, you bring up a good point, I use the "Selle Italia - Trans-Am" Saddles on all my bikes, and yes, they have the fancy "no slip" stitching. I am sure this is the culprit to the premature short life. I may look into changing saddles.

I've found that the worst thing you can do to your lycra shorts is throw them in with the "regular" laundry. The beating in a machine is hard on the delicate material and the detergent is too strong.

I wash mine by hand using Woolite and cold water. I usually have about four pairs in service during a season and try to spread the workload evenly. A pair can last three or four seasons this way. Oh, and I don't buy top of the line shorts either. Perhaps the more expensive brands would last even longer.

This applies to jerseys too, and jerseys should outlast shorts, IMO.

*nod* I would hand wash my shorts after every ride and hand dry. I think they may have been machine washed once by accident.

I have like 8 pairs of shorts, So I don't know how many k they last.. Seems a couple years would be my guess. Have to think about the no slip saddle on my touring bike..? Seems my favorite pair is probably 3 years old( mabye 5,000 miles), no rips but I notice the stitiching on the leg grippers gives out and shorts with multi-colored panels sewn in, get very thin..
I also believe machine washing is tough on them. I put them within a pillow case to cushion the aggitation. THink it helps? Like to know I really get the smell out..
Anyone heard of 'Jackson and Gibbens' shorts. Bought them through Adventure Cycling. Advertise for tough wear, like a messenger would put upon his shorts. They are really tough.. I'd check them out...
By the way, my wife gets upset about the use of pillow cases. Why do you wash them all the time? I tell her she drools. Luckily she does not check out my washing to see my shorts washing within the cases..
Guess, I came up with the pillow case idea because our machine's gentle cycle does not seem very gentle..

As a long time lycra junkie, I don't wear the same garment twice without washing. (Top or bottom) I washed either by hand in cold water or when I have enough for a small load, in the gentle cycle they go using Woolite & cold water, then hang dry. Your shorts, etc. will last a lot longer.

Originally posted by Joe Gardner
Mark, you bring up a good point, I use the "Selle Italia - Trans-Am" Saddles on all my bikes, and yes, they have the fancy "no slip" stitching. I am sure this is the culprit to the premature short life. I may look into changing saddles.

Actually, something else to check for is any interference with the seat rail or seatpost clamp. Again, from live and learn: I have the Selle Italia ProLink TransAm Saddle and for a short while I had an Alien U.S.E. Seat post. The seatpost didn't have any set-back compared to the original one that the bike was designed for and I "fudged it" by pushing the saddle pretty far back on the post to get the right reach. What I failed to note was that the clamp head was now sitting under the narrow part of the saddle's nose and -- even though I didn't feel it -- stuck out far enough to rub against the inside seam of the chamois and the short legs. I wore through a pair of Pearl Izumi Ultrasensor bibs in under 750mi before discovering this little interference problem.

I solved the interference problem by dumping the Alien post and fitting a Easton EA-70 which has tons of set-back (that would be one of three items puchased noted in the LBS thread). At the same time I also decided to sand down the mold line on the carbon seat rail that was also chaffing the inseam of my shorts -- something else I hadn't taken into account.

So, all said and done, while the stitching and what not can accelerate wear a bit don't forget to look at everthing your legs might be coming in contact with. I can also recall having a seatpack or two that rubbed against my leg and on some tandems I've seen several different stoker's legs hitting the noodle on their linear-pull brake "Travel Agents".

I use Performance Elite and Century bibs and shorts. I'd say I get about 8-10K miles out of a pair.

As far as washing, I generally wash mine after every use (warm wash, cool rinse, wash&wear cycle, hang to dry). The wear always is always at saddle contact points. Water and a little detergent can't be worse than the residual mineral and bacteria deposits that would otherwise encrust my gear.

Originally posted by Joe Gardner
*nod* I would hand wash my shorts after every ride and hand dry. I think they may have been machine washed once by accident.

Joe,

Wash them in the same type of bag that women use to wash nylons. It prevents the rubbing, pulling and tearing that happens when they hang free in the wash.

Nylons are easier to tear and wear out, and those little bags seem to work wonders for them.

Just a thought.

I would like to add that I wash mine on the gentle cycle also and hang dry. All my cycling clothing is usually done once a week (yes, I ride almost everyday). I throw in my socks and jerseys with my bids. Once in awhile I throw in my gloves and headband along with my leg and arm warmers. I do go through gloves about once a season though.

If you look at the label on most cycling clothing it describes how to clean them. Gentle wash, cold water, and air dry. My jerseys used to never last until I read the instructions on them.

Styk.. Articles of cycle clothing I do religiously hand wash are arm, leg warmers and sweat bands. Those specific articles seem to loose their elastiticy very quickly..

I actually cut out the tags on my warmers since they bugged me the first day. Thanks for the tip.

i've read good reviews about blackbottom shorts. they say they last forever.

Ok this is for the women in here... what type of shorts are you buying..and which are lasting the longest?

I hand wash everything I wear to ride the bikes. I strip as soon as I arrive home, load the sink with warm water amd add Assos detergent-It smells great! Then I shower while the clothes are soaking. After I'm clean, I rinse the clothes and hang them (no direct sunlight)
My clothes are then dry by the next day.

As posted under 'scrapping asphalt out of arm," Today I crashed when my bike unexpectantdly slide out from under me.
Relevancy to this post. I was wearing basic Performance Century cycling shorts.. I have a major case of road rash about my upper thigh.. The lycra shorts were just taken out of the washing machine. I checked the shorts adjacent to where the road rash is; the shorts show no damage. What, is there steel thread in lycra?

The only time I've ever had to replace cycling shorts and or a jersey is when I've shredded it due ot a accident. Other wise I've never had a problem with them wearing out.

I have 2 pair that I bought in 1997 both have over 8,000 miles on them, no real signs of wear. And this was when I still rode my road bike, before the recumbent.

The way I wash them is in the washer with cold water on what is called the "hand wash cycle". It is a very gentle wash cycle. I use woolite as a detergeant. For drying I use the medioum heat cycle. Our dryer has the sensor dry feature. Which means when sensor tells the dryer the cloths are dry it stops. There is no real time limit as it is controlled with a sensor. So far no wear and tear from washing and drying either.

Some good replies, sounds very familiar.

I bought a pair of shorts and a new saddle, after one ride there was a noticeable burring on one side of the shorts. It was due to the Sella Italia gel flight saddle. The damn thing had stitching at the top saying "genuine gel", it nearly ripped a hole in one ride! My wife and I took turns with a stich remover tool, it took nearly 5 hours over the course of a few days to remove the logo. I haven't had any more problems since.

Also seat bags that attach with velcro around the seat post can sometimes rub the inner thigh so look out for this.

I do machine wash on delicate and that seems OK but a "delicates" (Bra) bag does sound like a great idea.

CHEERS.

Mark