Terrierman

I bought a couple of pair of real bicycle shorts, one the regular shorts kind and one pair of bib shorts. Have I lost my mind? Or merely my former identity as the one who only rode a bike and refused to take on any of the accoutrements?

Monoborracho

My wife was looking at supported bike tours around the country when she came across one which asked you to classify yourself according to the following descriptions:

#3 You own a bike, and ride sometimes and perhaps wish to ride more often and for longer trips than you currently do.

#2 You own a pair of bike shorts

#1 Your bike has a name.

Terrierman, you have now moved to second class biker.

old and new

I'd say you've grown,I've yet to take that step,rather than waiting 'till I lose weight,I'm ordering real cycling garb,by week's end actually;mountain/more relaxed style.Advertisers here in the forum have clothing that's large,plainer etc.

SaiKaiTai

No, T-Man, No! Say it isn't so...

Tom Bombadil

Your inner Fred-dom is much weaker than I thought.

Tonight after work, I put in a few miles on a rail trail. Red hybrid bike, silver helmet, yellow bottle cage, khaki crochet-back gloves, white water bottle, blue $9 jersey, gray sneakers, white socks, lightweight full-length khaki pants with a yellow reflective Fred strap on my right ankle. I did have padded lycra undershorts on.

It was bliss. Very comfortable ride.

Terrierman

DG gave me an idea. Maybe I'll just send them back? After all, what's next? A jersey? Gloves?

Terrierman

Hey, you bought bike specific clothing before I did!

Tom Bombadil

Those undershorts are my only bike-specific clothing. My saddle was killing me and I popped for a pair on sale from my LBS to see if they would help. They did.

My bike-specific clothing is stealth. No one can tell I have any on.

Terrierman

I'm counting on no one noticing when I have bike specific clothing on too. I may need a cloak of invisibility to pull it off.

Tom Bombadil

My pants will have to split for someone to notice mine.

NotAsFat

As Yoda would say, "Turned to the bib side you have. Forever will it cushion your butt."

Seriously, I hated the idea of spandex shorts, too. Back then, I was as fat as I used to be, and the thought of going out in public in them was absurd. But my bike had a 1-hour saddle, and the only way I could increase my training time was to get some extra padding under my butt.

I broke down and got some shorts (XX-Large), and my 1-hr saddle became a 2-3 hr saddle. And the sight of me in spandex did not lead to the collapse of civilization as we know it.

"Roadie kit" is a collection of clothing designed to help you to ride a bicycle more comfortably and efficiently. You haven't lost your mind, but you may well lose your disdain for roadie kit (and that's a good thing).

cccorlew

When your bike crap budget goes higher than your gas budget, get back to me.

Must go check on Performance deals now. Bye.

Retro Grouch 

Once you come to grips with the fact that your tan lines going to look riduculous in a swim suit anyway the whole accroutrement thing just happens.

tsl

So yesterday, when I slipped on my new pair of Pearl Izumi Attack Shorts and looked in the mirror, it as like, "Damn! I haven't had buns like that in 30 years!" I love how they lift and separate...

Oh, they ride nice too.

MichiganMike

Welcome to the darkside Terrierman. I went to Bibs about three or four years ago and love them. I was a little self conscious about the lycra thing at first, but don't think about it at all anymore. The comfort level is much much better for me. Happy Trails.

Beverly

+1 on the comfort level.

I wore baggie shorts the first year I had the road bike but switched to the regular lycra shorts for more comfort. Those baggies were always riding up and I even managed to get them caught on the seat a couple times while getting off the bike

Beverly

Your body will thank you for the shorts and you'll soon wonder why you didn't buy them sooner

cfblue

I started riding about 10 years ago. i thought all the extras around the bike from clipless to the brightly colored spandex was pointless. Not any more. If I even ride the two mile round trip to the grocery in street clothes i can tell, it is less comfy and doesn't breath, and not having my feet attached to the pedals feels even less secure than driving w/o a seatbelt.

I bought a pair of MTB baggy shorts with proper padded liner and three pockets for doing those kind of rides, places to put wallet and I feel like I blend into the crowd better.

All but one of my jerseys are plain, I won't wear anyone's advertising on my back unless they are sending me checks.

stapfam

Try the regular shorts and the Bibs- most of us that have tried bibs now only have them in our wardrobe in fact I only have one pair of normal shorts and they were given to me by my LBS as sponsorship for a Big ride. Well I had just spent $5,000 in the last 6 months in Upgrading the Tandem- Not buying it- just upgrading it. Since then I have wangled BiB shorts out of them so the regulars are spares for when the 5 pairs of bibs are not available (6th ride of the week?).
Now you must have done it- Followed a girl rider in her lycra on a ride. If not followed- then it must have caught your attention. On a ride last year I started getting Verbal Sexual Harrassment from a few girls following me. Not only me but the other rider was over 50 aswell. The comments really boosted my ego.and it was only when we slowed down to see who was making the comments- that they managed to see that the face was not as good as the Butt. Should have stayed in front of them.

stonecrd

A lot depends on your location, around here if you are not wearing Lycra and full kit you stad out. Really though I think you will find the reason for the material is based on comfort and will enjoy your new duds.

The next step of course is upgrading from performance bibs. I could not convince myself to pull the trigger on Assos so I tried some Castelli which were $80 compared to $50 Performance and $130 Assos. I can actually tell the difference the chamois is wider and more comfortable and the Lycra is quite a bit nicer. Now I am afraid I should have went whole hog with Assos. Assuming you get there anyway you pay $130 instead of $50 performance + $80 castelli + $130 Assos. So you actually save money

SaiKaiTai

I'm telling you, my wife took one look at the bibs in the new Performance catalog and had but two words: "Don't ever" :lol I might be willing to try spandex without the baggies -I *do* like how my quads are looking these days- but bibs I just cannot see.

The Weak Link

My wife has bought me, in the past, pink sweaters and pink shirts. I don't care for them myself, but I wear them somethimes to keep my wife happy.

I'm confident of my masculinity. I can handle pink. You know what I mean?

So I also now wear bib shorts because they are extremely comfortable. I'm sitting in a pair right now (had a test ride I'll be reporting on).

Buy them. Wear them. Wear a jersey over them so no one sees the straps. Soon, you will come in from a ride, all hot and sweating, your legs firm and massive, each muscle sharply defined, smooth and glistening (you'll be shaving your legs soon, too). You'll peel off your jersey, exposing your pects, now hypertrophied and outlined by your bibshort straps. Your wife will gaze upon your body, lusting mightly and...I better stop. You get the idea, I'm sure.

maddmaxx 

How about a pink ONCE jersey over bibs? OCP to the Maxx

jazzy_cyclist

Five years ago I would laugh at those silly looking guys wearing spandex and odd colored jerseys. Now I've become them.

howsteepisit

I really don't understand the objection to bibs, or is it Lycra? I have both bibs and Lycra shorts, they are both comfortable, with the bibs being less chaffing on long rides. My wife has no issue with either one. Maybe because she knows from experience ow grumpy I can get when chaffed or saddle sore.