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Commuting: cycling shorts?

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Old 05-31-09 | 03:03 AM
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Commuting: cycling shorts?

When you commute do you wear any form of cycling shorts or padded underwear?

If so what do you do with them when you get to your destination? Do you keep them on all day or change?
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Old 05-31-09 | 03:06 AM
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I wear bib shorts to and from work. I have a place to hang them in my office and wash 'em everyday when I get home.
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Old 05-31-09 | 03:26 AM
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26 mile commute . It's proper cycling shorts or a sore rear..
Regular cycling shorts.. But, before I got to work I'd put a pair of soccer shorts over my cycling shorts. Did not want to show my quads to the secretaries..
Luckily, with my long hours, I'd have time to rinse out my bike gear and have it dry before I return home.
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Old 05-31-09 | 03:57 AM
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No. Either regular shorts or pants...Depends on the time of season.
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Old 05-31-09 | 05:26 AM
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I'm fortunate to have an office in which I can hang my stuff. So I carry a set of office clothes with me each day for the next day- they hang overnight to de-wrinkle. When weather supports wearing shorts;
I like the J&G touring short- they have a light pad, are comfortable, long wearing and don't make me
look like a stuffed sausage.
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Old 05-31-09 | 07:27 AM
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I wear bike shorts and hang them on the back of my office door.
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Old 05-31-09 | 07:37 AM
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I put a dress shirt over mine and wear them around the office
Seriously, I hang them in my cube. 28 mile each way commute = pain in regular shorts. Bibs FTW.
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Old 05-31-09 | 07:53 AM
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I can go either way...bibs or flat-seamed wool/poly undies under regular shorts or pants (preferably with a gusseted crotch).
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Old 05-31-09 | 08:03 AM
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Regular shorts.
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Old 05-31-09 | 08:11 AM
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15.5 miles, one way for me. Trail shorts with a chamois or liner shorts with regular shorts on top. I bring 3-4 days worth of cloth into the office on my non-bike day (either Monday or Thursday) and change into clean clothes in my office. Sometimes I stop at the gym on the way to the office for shower if i'm especially sweaty.
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Old 05-31-09 | 08:27 AM
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Denim cutoffs or cargo shorts...but my regular commute to work is 1.8 miles. I change into pants when I get to work.
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Old 05-31-09 | 08:42 AM
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I wear bibs and a jersey on my ride (~7.6 miles each way). When I arrive at work, unless I've got a meeting right away, I usually lounge around in my bike clothes until they're dry (30 minutes or less) or until Solidworks crashes for the first time (30 minutes or less), then I go change into the work clothes in my panniers. Depending on how much I sweat on the round trip, I'll wash the bike clothes every day or every other day.

At a previous job, my boss chewed me out for wearing bike clothes at my desk, so I'd change right when I got in and drape them over the bike to dry.
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Old 05-31-09 | 08:54 AM
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Originally Posted by tobywuk
When you commute do you wear any form of cycling shorts or padded underwear?

If so what do you do with them when you get to your destination? Do you keep them on all day or change?
There's a long running debate on these forums as to how necessary cycling clothes really are. It seems to boil down to how far you ride, how hard you ride, weather conditions, personal anatomy, and personal preference.

The longer and more challenging the commute, the more likely you'll find some benefit from cycling shorts. On the other hand, there are people who do fine without them no matter how long the ride.

Personally I use them. I have access to showers at work and keep them in a gym bag in my office until it's time to go home. They get sweaty and while I suppose I could just pull a pair of pants over them, I would feel pretty grungy. They wouldn't dry well that way and walking around all day in damp shorts isn't probably the best thing for you skin.
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Old 05-31-09 | 09:06 AM
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Cycling shorts, of course. I mean you have to wear something on the bike, you might as well wear something adapted for the purpose. If you can ride in your work gear, fair enough, but I don't see the point of wearing non-cycling shorts...
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Old 05-31-09 | 09:28 AM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
Bibs FTW.
No foolin. It's bibs for me. My commute is only five miles, but the fact that I can get to work and change into non-sweaty clothing is a huge bonus. Plus the comfort factor while on the bike.
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Old 05-31-09 | 09:41 AM
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6.5 mile ride to work for me. I usually commute in baggie mountain biking shorts.
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Old 05-31-09 | 09:42 AM
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Why do most of you prefer bib cycle shorts rather than normal ones?

I saw them on the cycle shop when I ordered my normal shorts and they reminded me of borat and his mankini.
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Old 05-31-09 | 11:40 AM
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Originally Posted by tobywuk
Why do most of you prefer bib cycle shorts rather than normal ones?
They're generally more comfortable around the waist. Personally, I prefer the one-piece cycling suits over bib shorts, though they're much harder to find.

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Old 05-31-09 | 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by ryanz4
No. Either regular shorts or pants...Depends on the time of season.
And by pants, I mean jeans.
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Old 05-31-09 | 01:15 PM
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ass-less chaps. leather or no play.
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Old 05-31-09 | 02:49 PM
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40km commute.
Shower and change at work. Since I'm hauling two large panniers stuffed full of gear another pair of shorts or winter pants is no big deal.
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Old 05-31-09 | 04:26 PM
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regular pants or shorts for the commute, it's only 4 miles.

anything over 10 miles, I wear cycling shorts.
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Old 05-31-09 | 04:45 PM
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Originally Posted by nahh
regular pants or shorts for the commute, it's only 4 miles.

anything over 10 miles, I wear cycling shorts.
+1

No real reason to bother with cycle shorts unless I'm going to be in the saddle for longer than an hour without any planned stops or stopping for traffic. Chamois shorts don't last as long when people wear them around like regular clothes. When I have a long commute, I change upon arrival. So many reasons why it's not the best idea to keep them on all day, reasons which most people can surmise without me needing to repeat it. Wear and tear alone is enough of a reason.
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Old 05-31-09 | 04:50 PM
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Originally Posted by nahh
regular pants or shorts for the commute, it's only 4 miles.

anything over 10 miles, I wear cycling shorts.
This is my thought as well. My commute is only about 6 miles each way, so I don't really need them. Plus I leave as much clothes at work as I need, but want to leave as little as possible. Wearing bike shorts means I also need to bring extra underwear. Wearing normal athletic shorts reduces the amount of things I need to store at work.
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Old 05-31-09 | 07:01 PM
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Padded cycling shorts. I hang them outside onthe fence to dry out.
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