Road Cycling - What shorts to get, and best road bike magazine

Looking to get a good pair of biking shorts, what size would be best for me - if I buy online. Im 5'10 165. Also, is bicycle magazine for road biking only. What is the best mag subscription out there for road biking. Thanks for all the great advice - love this forum!

Depending on your budget there are a number of options for shorts.
I own Pearl Izumi Attack shorts, Pearl Izumi Ultrasensor shorts (for dress-up occasions ;) ), $29 Nashbar shorts (can't remember the style), and Canari shorts ($30 from REI).
I look at Performance, Nashbar, Sierra Trading Post, REI, and my LBS for good deals on shorts, jerseys, shoes, or anything bike related.

If ordering on-line, be forewarned that the sizing charts are not always 100% correct. The sizes vary somewhat between manufacturers.

If this is your first pair or pairs, I'd advise going to your LBS and actually trying on a few pairs of different styles to find a good fit and something that is COMFORTABLE. Since summer is winding down, they may start putting "summer" items on sale soon.
Look at the padding inside. Chamois is best but there are several good synthetic pads.
A pad that is too thick or thin will not be comfortable on long rides and may cause chaffing or saddle sores from rubbing.

Don't buy the cheapest but don't get the $110 Pearl Izumi Microsensor shorts either.

Comfort in cycling shorts is very important.
Remember to try them on without any underwear. That's how cycling shorts are intended to be worn. The seams in regular underwear can cause chaffing and are uncomfortable.


Magazines are another story.
If you are new to cycling you may want to try Bicycling magazine for a while. Just don't believe all their reviews and opinions.
Or there is VeloNews. It's focus is primarily racing.
There is also CycleSport(?). They also focus a lot on racing.

Cycle Sport, Velonews, and Procycling are THE best magazines out there! Forget about Bicycling, it's only a 10 minute read. The three mags listed above contain intelligent articles and pictures made for galleries. I particularly like reading Robert Millar's road tests. Superb!

You can buy Cycle Sport and Procycling in Barnes and Noble. I bought a couple of Velonews issues at Performance Bike.

thanks for tips guys, Barnes and Noble is right next to the Starbucks that I hit each morning. I will check out those mags!:D

You should look at Mountain Equipment Co-op (www.mec.ca) They are a canadian mail order company. They sell a basic bike short for $34 canadian (+/- 24 us) - an excelent deal! I've had 2 pairs for 2 years, use them most days and they are still in great shape (OK I've got a wear spot in one leg - A great badge of honor!). I'm 6 ft and 185 lbs and wear a large. Hope that helps!

I subscribe to Bicycling even though I consider its format an insult to my intelligence (or anyone's intelligence for that matter). The editors must think all cyclists have ADD. However, it does have enough useful information to be marginally worthwhile. My favorite is CycleSport. It doesn't have the tips and training info Bicycling has, but it has great articles on pro riders and races. I guess it depends on what you want. I like both aspects. Wish one mag had both.
Regards,
Raymond

What ever happend to the Bicyclist magazine? I wasnt a subscriber, but i would pick up this mag at B&N a few times a year...

Check out www.velowear.com for your shorts. They're the "factory outlet store" for Voler, one of the most respected team clothing manufacturers around. They have the best sizing charts in the business (bottom of the home page under "sizing"), and their gear is top-of-the-line. Also, consider bib shorts as well as regualr shorts. Very comfortable, and most of the pros wear them!

In my experience (and I have bought and wrecked a lot of pants) you have to find out by trial and error what brand fits best then stick to them. A good pair of shorts are your most important piece of apparel

I think Bicyclist is no longer published. I got a rain jacket for subscribing, but never heard from them again.

Nitter, It looks like the last issue of bicyclist was published in Sept of last year. Bummer.

Colorado Cyclist has a page that gives comparative sizes for several different manufacturers. Summary: European stuff tends to run much smaller.
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/help/sizingcharts.cfm

Performance Elite shorts are a good, all-around lycra short with a thick chamois at a decent price. (No connection with the company, just a satisfied customer.) Although I'm puzzled by their sizing, for example M (32-34) L (36-38) leaves you guessing if you really have a 35" waist. Best to go with the next size up... they'll still be snug enough.

There needs to be a good, all-around magazine for the experienced, knowledgeable "road cycling enthusiast," (that's us, right?) but currently, I don't know of any.

For what it's worth, I consider Buycycling to be a completely different type of magazine than CycleSport, Pro Cycling, and VeloNews. The latter three are almost entirely oriented toward bike racing. Bicycling has many faults, but it's probably the only general road bike rag out there. It does have lots of useful info for beginning serious road cyclists (in my opinion). Granted, the articles repeat pretty much the same info every year (I mean, there's really only so much that can be said about training for your first century), and continually promise that you'll be able to ride like a pro (doesn't matter... without the right genetics, spare time, and motivation reading articles only does so much). If you accept that they don't want to p!ss off their sponsors, don't accept their opinions as gospel, and just generally don't expect too much, especially as you gain experience, it's worth the $10 or $12 a year it costs.

Stay away from shorts that are obviously fabric- they are only good for short rides. Go for chamois, even un-padded is good,
you'll have to settle for synthetic, real chamois is either unavailable anymore or very scarce. If anyone reads this who is a female type person and finds real chamois, don't buy it, the synthetic is better for the ladies.
Ride Chafeless
Pat

CyclingPlus is a English mag that is very good. It is similar to Bicycling in that it covers racing,touring, commuting, etc. On the down side, alot of the products they review are not readily available here in the States. It's the best I have found. I pick it up at Borders book store.Or visit the website which isnt as good as the mag www.cyclingplus.co.uk

My favourite shorts these days are Louis Garneau Ultra Pro Bibs. I get them for around C$70 (@ $45 US at my LBS). I like the padding, but I particularly like the fit. It is REALLY hard to find a pair of shorts that FITS well on the bike.

For magazines... I read VeloNews... Bicycling is garbage.