gauvins

What do you wear on long distance tours? Padded bottoms? Regular ones? Lycra or loose fitting?

I've been riding wearing stretched long or shorts pants depending on the weather, sometimes padded but more often not (including unpadded centuries, without any sign of chafing). But never long enough to conclude that one type is better or that another should be avoided. I would tend to think that on long tours, padding becomes less of an issue as your butt learns to cope with the saddle and that washing an unpadded short is easier. But the reality could be the opposite -- on long tours padding might become more important than ever and drying overnight not being an issue.

bikemig 

lycra shorts are great; not only are they super comfortable but they are very easy to hand wash and dry on your bike.

I like using a pair of baggy nylon shorts with pockets over the lycra shorts. They're comfortable for walking around in and pockets are sometimes useful.

chasm54

Usually I tour in lycra bib shorts, sometimes loose mtb shorts with padded undershorts. I have toured in street clothes, though those have tended to be gentle, shortish affairs.

Wearing lycra bibs isn't a problem as far as washing is concerned. They can be washed out each night. If you wring them dry in a towel they'll be dry in the morning in most conditions. If they aren't, having a spare pair weighs little and doesn't take up much room.

Obviously, if your saddle suits you it's perfectly possible to tour without cycling-specific clothing. But the longer the tour, the more time you'd have to manage in the event that you did get saddlesores or similar, so a long tour might not be the best time to experiment.

imi

Nylon running shorts with cotton underwear...
Works for me. I wear cotton t-shirts as well ;p

CliffordK

Jeans

Biketouringhobo

look at Aero Tech Designs

Cycling Apparel, Bike Shorts, Bike Jerseys by Aero Tech Designs

staehpj1

Lycra shorts with tights as needed. I do have some 3 ounce wind pants that I only rarely wear over them in some conditions, but use a bit more in camp.

Tourist in MSN

For touring when it might be cool enough that I want something on my legs, I use the Zoic long pants with zip off legs. They have pockets and a padded liner.
Zoic Black Market Convertible Bike Pants - Men's - REI.com
Black Market Convertible Cycling Pants | ZOIC Clothing

The only thing I do not like about them is that they do not have ankle zippers, so you have to take your shoes off to get the legs off. I do not use their buttoned bottom on the right, instead use a normal pants leg strap. I bring a spare liner on tours in case I need a dry one some time. I wear Ex Officio under pants under the bike short liner. And for sink laundry, I bring a flat drain stopper that works in campground sinks, this is an item that virtually nobody remembers to bring.

mstateglfr 

I use padded cycling shorts with some mtb shorts over.
I have REI, Canari, and Zoic padded shorts and use Zoic mtb shorts as they dry well, have good pocket placement, and fit well(don't get stuck on the nose of the saddle).

There are so many thousands of options out there that clothing is one of those things where you have to try it because fit is different for everyone.

One person may think some cycling shorts feel like a diaper while another thinks it fits great.

If a ride is over 30mi, give or take, I'll rock padded shorts. Under that and just basic compression shorts under mtbs is enough for me.

veganbikes

I find bib shorts or tights to be the most comfortable but I tend to ride in my Gore chamois shorts for most longer rides along with a good chamois cream.

DropBarFan

I've ridden many miles w/'wrong' outer/inner shorts combo with little to no chafing. AFAIK it's unlikely that padded shorts will convert a painful saddle into a comfortable one. I'd like to see nice wool loose cycling outer shorts like the tweeds English tourists used to use. Soft, moisture & odor-resistant & classy looking. London even has the "Tweed Run" to commemorate the style. The swells might invite you into the yacht club, heh:

MassiveD

They don't look like they are doing 70 rpm for 10-16 hrs. I think it would work with an insert, or at least work for me.

You are right that a badly designed painful seat will not be made perfect by fleece inserts, but they certainly do make hard sensible seats like Brooks cushy.

Tony Marley

For multi-day/multi-week touring, I am a fan of the Jackson-Gibbons boxer style bike shorts. Enough padding, without looking like they are padded (or like a wet diaper....) Easy to maintain on a tour.

gauvins

Interesting that you mention these. I came across their site while researching bottoms and thought they might be great for touring. But I feared that the fabric might be flopping and eventually cause discomfort. Will try them.

indyfabz

The same padded bibs I use for road rides along with leg warmers and rain paints of conditions might warrant them.

Leebo

Padded mt bike shorts. Comfortable and breezy with plenty of air flow.

tarwheel 

I always wear padded bib-style cycling shorts when on tours, commuting or any other rides. In cold weather, I wear un-padded tights over the shorts. On tours, I wear one pair of shorts and carry 1-2 spares. I wash and wring out my shorts every day after riding and hang them to dry. Sometimes it takes more than a day, such as during humid and wet weather, which is why I bring more than one pair of shorts.

Rob_E

I use fast-wicking, non-padded boxer-briefs under nylon shorts. But I keep a pair of padded shorts, too. and I usually where them the first day, and then rotate them in every few days to change the pressure points on my seat area.

Tourist in MSN

At my health club the exercise bikes have rock hard seats that are designed for wide bodies. I wear the padded cycling underpants under nylon gym shorts.

I did not mention this option above in my post because I never use the exercise bike for longer than 90 minutes so I have no clue if it would be a viable option for an all day ride. But it certainly makes the hard wide body seat more comfortable for exercise.

pdlamb

Padded shorts, like almost all my riding.

I take a couple extra pairs so I only need to wash every few days. Damp, rainy/foggy days make drying anything difficult, but I'm willing to find a motel if needed to dry things out.

djb

Salut M Gauvins, I have always used padded bike shorts simply from the added comfort angle, even with my brooks saddles. For me two of them work well and generally I prefer washing them when I shower , so it has as much time to dry

djb

I should had added, its been about 25 years or so that I have always worn padded bike shorts touring, but I have noticed that my really old old ones that are still fine for shorter rides, do become less comfortable on long days (4, 5, 6 hours of riding) than my newer ones that have better padding.

I think the key thing with any touring, is to get out and ride a lot, including some long days of being on the bike, so that you really see what works best for your comfort. Long rides will always show up clothing or bike position, seat position, all kinds of small details that won't necessarily be a bother on a shorter ride.

yes we do get more fit the more we ride, and yes our bottoms become more used to being on a seat also--but I would say that this last part is always only going to be to a certain extent. Wearing diff clothes from one day to another is also a good way to really feel what is better for general comfort, this can even apply to socks and tops.

When I find what combo of diff clothing works best for me, I just basically always wear that stuff because it is a known thing.