stevelon

Ever wonder why shorts only seem to be available in black? I live in central Florida and summer sun can be brutal. Ever see shorts in white?

SemperFi

Never saw them in any color but black.
I guess someone with more knowledge about cycling trivia than me probably knows why and I'm equally sure that they'll check in before too long.

NOS88

I've seen them in almost any color you can imagine, however, they are usually part of a team kit. Performance sells some in blue pretty regularly. I suspect that the balc evolved as a result of leather seats that would leave stains on lighter color clothing.

dpara

velowear.com sells the Voler brand in a number of different colors.

dauphin

black is a slimming color and pretty much matches any color jersey you might wear. Unless you are super fit like a TDF pro...then black is a good choice. Colors are out there though as others have pointed out.

starship

change a tire or put a chain back on and wipe your hands on WHITE shorts! That's why their black.

This was the days before single handie wipes that I keep in my bag.

Little Darwin

This link shows why some people say that you should only wear black shorts...

https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mul...content.1.html

With searching the forum you will find even better examples...

mollusk

Post this question in the Road forum and you will get an image much worse than that. Trust me: Stay with black.

webist

I have ventured to wear dark blue as well as black. Some sell black shorts with a section or panel of a different color, usually on the sides.

Little Darwin

Here you go... I decided to search.

One team with black, and one with "other"...

https://www.alivewithlove.com/cyclists.html

turtleguy54

+1000. I saw a guy posing outside a midtown coffee shop in white shorts. The girls walking out were spewing their coffee when they got a look at him.

chipcom 

Another reason is leather saddles - the black ones are painted (edit: dyed) that way and if one uses too much goop in an effort to break them in, one looks like they have been sitting in cow pucky.

Personally, I rarely wear cycling shorts, I wear plain old cargo shorts with flat seams, sometimes wearing lightly padded undies for long rides.

p8rider

According to guys on the road forum, black doesn't show up differently when soaked with sweat. Whereas light colors appear darker where you have been sweating. Guess where you sweat.

Monoborracho

think 1910....leather (Brooks) saddles or such w/ black dyes ...that is the "traditional" reason for black

granularus

To echo some of the above - when I started cycling again about three years ago, as well as getting black I got some blue and gray Voler shorts from velowear. Due to sweat marks, I only where them when using rollers or under tights in the winter. Black is best. By the way the light color ones aren't any cooler either.

Carusoswi

Ok, I admit to being naive. I’m looking at the pics of the guys in non-black shorts. What the heck ‘do they got’ under there? I can’t think of any parts I have in that region that would make more than three bulges – and two of those should be well tucked away at all times so as not to cause bulges.

I’m a musician by trade – have spent many an hour in venues where professional male ballet dancers were part of the show. Talk about bulges – I am convinced that the costumes were designed to accent the bulge. But, generally, it was just one bulge – and, while prominent, not broken into all these “separate pieces” as the pics on this thread show.

To make myself look a little less like an old f**t on a bike and just a little more like these fancy pants with their colorful costumes, I went out an purchased what I consider to be miracle fiber shorts and shirts. The shorts are black, shirts are white. Both are made of fabric that simply will not hold moisture. I can sweat them up like crazy or get caught in the rain . . . or drop them on a filthy chain ring (I’m working on cleaning it up, thank you). Neither water nor grease sticks to the fabric. Just rinse with water and hang up for an hour and, poof . . . dry – neat stuff I think.

Anyhow, I have absolutely no clue how real bikers dress. My “miracle” shorts have a liner that will suffice in lieu of briefs – and I go both ways depending on my mood.

So, looking at the pics of the non-black shorts: what is worn beneath them – jock straps, briefs, nothing, what? Do they have a liner?

I’ve really been watching my diet and putting in the miles. I’d love to be in good enough shape before the wrinkles set in to be able to put on one of those fancy outfits. I’m still not certain I would ever wear it outside the house, though.

Caruso

John E

My REI expedition shorts are gray on the outside, black on the inside.

mcadam

Carusowi, you speak truth...and do it very well. Thanks for a great post.
ROFL! ROFL!
~Mcadam

FarHorizon

As explained to me in the Road Cycling forum (and by the Underwear Nazi), to avoid pinching between your thigh and the saddle, the common position for all parts is front, centered, and straight-up. "Tucking away" is an option with sports slacks, but not with bike shorts. My experience with spandex tends to confirm the common knowledge, here.

I do wear bike shorts, much to the chagrin of my daughter, but I find them comfortable, practical, and best of all (I speak from experience here) seriously abrasion resistant! I slid down the road at high speed on my cycling shorts with no loss of skin. That alone makes me a believer. Feel free to wear what you want - for me, I'll tolerate the giggles & snickers in order to get that abrasion resistance. I hope I never slide down the road on my butt again, but if I do, you can bet I'll be wearing my cycling shorts!

cyclezen

I've seen team kit shorts in a white/Silver combo and a white/Light Blue combo and I gotta say, it wuzn't pretty they were bad enough when the 'owner' was just walkin around at a stop, but ridin behind someone with those shorts was awful. Still gives me nightmares.

reminds me of that awful pic of the Polish National cycling team - poor guys had to wear that awful stuff!

lhbernhardt

Back in the days when I was a young Cat 2 racer, it was actually forbidden to wear anything other than black shorts. Yup, black shorts and white socks (or no socks) were in the rule book of the ABLA and its successor, the USCF. This was back before lycra shorts, so all our shorts were wool, and our jerseys were either wool (road) or silk (for the track). And it was a real challenge to get real cycling socks. All the pros wore these expensive thin wool socks that just covered the ankle bone. I'd usually go to the men's dept at the dept store and get white dress socks (because they were thin) and fold them down to "pro" height. The worst thang was seeing some dude who just didn't have a clue wearing black shorts and black! socks that came halfway up the calf. Talk about just awful... And to top it off, hairy legs! Ugh!

I think the black socks were a result of some papal decree promoting modesty. At the time, cycling was the big sport in mostly Catholic countries (I guess Holland was the big exception). Anyway, this filtered down to the amateur level. I remember thangs loosening up in the 80's and 90's, and now anythang goes, y'all! But I think it's dawning on people that there are certain advantages to black. White is nice, especially on the track where you're going to stay clean, but unless it's really thick, it's easy to see thru, especially when it gets wet! (Why do you suppose the t-shirts are white in wet t-shirt contests? Oh, never mind...) Hey, I've got an idea for team kit for the women's team, heh, heh...

Our team (Gregg's/Specialized in Seattle) had blue shorts for a couple of years, but we decided we didn't like them, I guess for the reasons outlined above, and because it shows dirt and spots really easily, so we're back to black shorts, but with color in the side panels.

- L.

Mo-bile

Here's a good reason to only wear black..

https://www.americaseagle.com/images/...orts%20Red.jpg

Dogbait

From Leather Saddles by Sheldon "Hidebound" Brown:

"Most leather saddles are dyed black. Oiling the saddle will partially dissolve the dye, which will stain on your clothes. This is why cycling shorts are black. Wear light colors at your own risk! If you must wear day-glo pink shorts, put a seatcover on the saddle."

Chuck5.2_in_CA

Does this mean I have to throw away my powder blue shorts? They match my Tour De Cure Jersey spectaculary well. I thought the cofee spewing the other day at the bagel shop was for other reasons... . like my shiny dome !