My commute is about 7 miles round trip. I wear chinos to work and I have been wearing holes in the seat at a steady pace. I just threw another pair away tonight, so a wake up call. I gotta do something.

Is it the saddle? Is it cheap pants (Dockers BTW)? Should I just not commute in my work pants?

What do you people do?

If you wear nice pants at work, don't commute in them. There's not much you can do about wear to your pants, but some saddle / pants combinations are worse than others. If your saddle has a lot of stitching or a rougher surface, that's a contributing factor. I find that smooth leather saddles cause the least wear, but if they get wet they can stain, so that's a whole additional problem.

I generally commute in cargo pants or shorts, then change when I get there.

Bingo.

This is exactly why I switched to wearing abnormal bike-specific clothing that has elastene (no Koch brothers lycra for me). That and the fact that when I ride...I'm too sexy for my pants:

The rivets on a brooks gobbled up all my carhartts cargo shorts.

Apparently, there ARE "work clothes" designed for bike commuters, and I think I've seen ads for chinos that are built extra tough to withstand all that time on a saddle. However, I just wear shorts with padded underwear on my commute, then change when I get to work. Even if you DON'T wear your chinos out from riding in them, you're likely to stink up the joint if you then wear them to work all day.

Cotton pants are not very durable. Try wearing some other pants made from synthetic fabrics.
Polyester or nylon is a lot more durable then cotton. Personally I wear Adidas track pants and change into work clothing when I get to work.

You probably need to clean up anyway stud...

But 3.5 miles each way is not that far. Allot of time you blow out your crotch because you don't have your pants pulled up. You might want to try wearing some slick shorts that are pulled up to your waist to decrease the tension and space...

For example, I noticed that I quit blowing out the crotch on my long Johns from winter rides when I started wearing them under my spandex bike shorts...

Those fabrics also get smellier a lot faster. Changing is the real solution, here.

Seat cover?

- Andy

You may want to try ride-to-work pants made from stretchy high performance fabric such as Schoeller Dryskin. These are pricey but they can withstand a huge amount of abrasion, are windproof and water resistant, and hold their shape well. Several makers out there. Unfortunately for me, sizes over 38 are hard to get.

I often see pants wearing out mentioned here but have never experienced it myself. A seat cover sounds like a lot less hassle than special clothing just for a short commute.

A 7 mile round trip is nothing (no offense to anyone). I really can't believe bicycling is having any effect on your chinos Dockers.

"Holes in the seat" as you posted... is more likely due to a wallet or cell phone. Or maybe large pants worn low... causing folding and abrasion in the lower seat area. But nothing I know of associated with cycling should shorten the life span of those Dockers.

Want to run through the pants quickly? Commute in jeans. See how those hold up.

If your bike seat's nose is too wide for the riding position, it may come into contact with pants fabric, and if there is a plastic trim piece around the bottom as some do, it could hypothetically cause some premature wear. Only other thing i can think of is that your natural leg position has your feet not straight down from your pelvis, which would lead to the inner thigh part of the pants to rub 2x per crank revolution........ that could add up over time.

My oldest pair of jeans (7 years) recently got a hole in left knee. No other wear that i can detect. I've used them enough that there is the shape of my cell phone, ipod, and important cards bleached/stretched into their respective pockets. I've literally never not ridden in jeans when not wearing shorts, never been an issue....

- Andy

I wear jeans on my short commute. I've had the jeans wear out a saddle. Changed to a saddle with a more narrow nose and no more problems. I think the riding does shorten the life of the jeans but, mine are still holding up for a couple of years so, not really a big issue. Someone mentioned wearing shorts over the work pants. I would probably give that a try first.

Who knew?!?! I was on the fence about dressing up in roadie kit but this brings a whole new perspective, I'm going out right now to buy some lycra shorts today!

My Go to pants Are Black, from a track warm up suit .. a jersey-knit nylon, not tights .. Bring your work pants , change in the bathroom.

[MENTION=345721]blastro[/MENTION], what is the saddle? I do virtually all my riding in chinos. That's 5000 - 6000 miles each year. I wear chinos for my commute (12 miles daily) and for recreational rides (I ride a century every month, and usually a metric century as well). All in chinos; padded bike shorts &c just don't work for me. Of course my pants do wear out eventually, but by that time they usually grease stains and worn out pockets as well. Clothes don't last forever.

My guess is that your problem is there's too much friction between the saddle and the pants; hence my question about your saddle. I'd recommend a hard leather saddle (i.e. Brooks type) with a smooth surface and the rivets beaten down so they don't protrude.

I will attest to the fact that even with shorter commutes, like the OP's, pants can get destroyed in no time. My partner only rides about 20 miles per week, and she recently noticed that a pair of corduroy pants that she'd had for years had worn really thin on the, ahem, seat part in about two years of commuting - and she doesn't even wear that pair all that often when bike-commuting. I myself have thrown out more than my share of pants due to the wear in that region.

A seat cover or a smoother seat might help. It won't eliminate the friction entirely, but may reduce it enough to be worth a shot. 3.5 miles is a short commute, and it's a bit of a hassle to have to change before and after every single day. It's not as though this kind of a distance will have you arriving at work all sweaty and smelly, necessitating a shower and a change of clothes, especially if you aren't riding up a mountain or trying to beat any speed records.

If your saddle is too high, you could be rocking from side to side as you pedal.

I work in an office and usually either bike in Lycra or athletic shorts, or I have Levi's Commuter jeans in a beige/khaki color. Very durable, and I wear them around the office. Just be careful of getting chain grease on them!

I sometimes ride in jeans, and commute 14 miles a day in cheap work pants, none show the slightest sign of saddle wear, and this is on Brooks saddles. Going by the posts here, perhaps its the difference in riding position? I can see why sitting upright could put less stress on the crotch of pants.

Yes, I know my short commute is wimpy! Wish it was longer.

I should mention I ride a single speed, so I'm doing a lot of pedaling. I have a smooth seat.

Lots of great points made on this thread. I get a wear spot the goes right through the pants at, wait for it, right where the seam of my underwear is. The constant sawing motion of the pants against the seam is the obvious culprit.

I'm going to change up what i wear under my pants.

But is it a hard leather seat, or padded?