Cyclist0084

....to buy real bike shorts???

I'll admit it, at 5' 10" and (currently) weighing in at a rather hefty 243 pounds, I am a "wide load" clyde. As far back as I can remember, when I ride, I ride in either sweatpants or regular shorts...with briefs underneath. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but since I'm not a distance demon, it has never really bothered me all that much....until this year.

This is the year when I'm trying to get serious about my cycling and my weight loss. As such, I want to be more comfortable in the saddle than I have been in years past. Kind of hard to do when your undies are crawling up your you know where. I've kind of been wanting to get a pair (or two) of biking shorts the past couple of years, but I knew I'd look horrible in spandex. This year, however, I came across MTB shorts. Hmmmm, I thought to myself, now those I could probably wear. A baggy shell over a padded short? Oh yeah, what wouldn't be to love? Performance Bike had some on sale a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to bite the bullet and order a couple pairs from their website. Picked them up from the store a couple of days ago and wore a pair for the first time today.

All I can say is "Wow, what a difference!!" Today's ride had to be one of the most, if not the most comfortable rides I've ever done. I've already got a very well padded (wide) saddle, and with the addition of the shorts it felt like I was riding on a cloud. No seams to irritate, no undies riding up where they shouldn't. Nope, just 13+ miles of comfort. I can definitely tell that these babies will make my TdC ride in a couple of weeks a lot easier to handle. I won't be spending all my time squirming around trying to get comfortable.

It's amazing that something so simple can make such a huge difference, but they do. Definitely should have done this years ago. Makes me wonder what I'll be upgrading to next...clipless pedals?

psalm

Bibs

CraigB

Yes, bibs, in actual, for-all-the-world-to-see Lycra.

IBOHUNT

Motion seconded.

On a similar sentiment I had taken off the clipless from the mountain bike to add to the cross bike I'll be getting.
Turns out it had rained yesterday afternoon and the roads were still damp so I thought I'd take out the mountain bike.
What a mistake! How in the world did I ever manage to put 1500+ miles on a bike WITHOUT real pedals. I felt like a duck on ice with my feet all over the place. Took me .6 miles before I turned around and went back home.

So in this order-

Bibs - because there is nothing worse than pulling up to a place to get water with my gut and other fat hanging out because my jersey rode up
Clipless

dave5339

Yep, bib shorts. They are comfortable.

Semper Fi

Yo Spiff

I'm partial to the lycra shorts myself, and I don't care how they look to others. They are functional. Until I lost enough weight to fit back into them, I did have some MTB baggies and I still have a pair of Performance Flint shorts for when I want to look like a normal human. Still way better than riding in jeans. I know some folks that do ride in jeans, and they wouldn't be caught dead in spandex.