womble

As the title says, can anyone recommend a brand/model of shorts with minimal padding?

Most bike shorts I've seen either have a cheap, basically cut chamois, or an expensive 3D moulded affair, neither of which I am looking for. I'm after something thin without any attempts at fancy shaping.

I've always found that less padding, the more comfortable the shorts are. Even tri shorts, with their practically nonexistent padding, is fine. However tri shorts have the downside of tending to be incredibly tight all over, which just isn't comfortable.

va_cyclist

I'm with you on the padding thing. I've got a 6-year-old pair of Sugoi shorts with no real padding, just a thin chamois, and they are very comfortable. I recently bought a pair of Pearl Izumi shorts off the web that turned out have a thick sculpted pad, and I hate them. It feels like I'm wearing a diaper.

Garfield Cat

In Hong Kong during the summer months, it really gets humid and I tend to sweat a lot. That's when the thick padded shorts really feel uncomfortable. The tri shorts by TYR are good for me because I'm thin to begin with and to me, its not tight all over. Yet, on longer rides, say over 30 miles, I prefer not to wear the TYR tri shorts.

tsl

I too prefer minimal padding. Three years back, Nashbar had some shorts by DeMarchi that are just about right. After a single pair test purchase, I bought another five pair. They were cheap too. I don't recall which model they were, but right now, stock is limited the size extremes anyway. I'm a bike commuter, so I've worn them every single day for three years now. On one pair the pad is starting to become unstitched.

When they go, I was thinking of replacing them with one of the shorts from Aerotech Designs. There one model that says the pad is "not so thick". At $40 regular price, there's not much room for buyer's remorse if it turns out their idea of not so thick is different from mine.

fietsbob

There are spandex exercise shorts with none , probably stuff for recumbent riders too.

I have shorts with the synthetic chamois in the sit place that other than the thickness of the shammy, are un padded.

they've been OK.

cyclezen

I have a few different pairs of Canari shorts which have a traditional thin chamois, nicely shaped so they don't bunch. But I think it's in their 'budget' items.
I suspect most manus these days will use the 'hi-tech' sculptured look chamois in their higher lines.
some older belwethers I have, also thin chamois.
PI 'attack' model, also a basic chamois, but with very slight pad... still OK for me...
if I had known about the DeMarchi's I wooda bought a few...

travelmama

I too, suggest Sugoi. There is nothing worse than riding for miles on a maxi-pad.

Steve in MA

Check out the different levels of Specialized body geometry bibs and shorts. I have a couple of pairs of their comp-level shorts and the padding is pretty minimal (but still very comfortable), and from the description the Pro SL model is a little more minimal.

AlmostGreenGuy

I LOVE my Pearl Izumi 2009 Men's Elite Tri Shorts. The legs aren't as freaky long as most bicycle shorts, and the chamois is very minimal. There's none of that diaper look or feeling when wearing these shorts. The bonus is that the shorts have thin pockets on either side of the waist. Just big enough for a cell phone or Cliff Bar.

The secret is to look for triathlon shorts. They have a chamois for cycling, but the chamois is intentionally small and thin so it doesn't get heavy when wet from the swimming portion of the event, and weigh down the athlete during the running portion of the event.

martianone

Try a pair of J&G touring shorts.
They have a thin pad, don't look like plastic clothes, wear a pair for lots of activities other than biking.
Plus they wear like iron and are relatively inexpensive.

Doug5150

The problem with using plain exercise shorts is that they show a bit too much for many people.

They're meant for wearing over underwear, and underwear when riding any bike is bad.

There's compression shorts, but oten they don't have as tailored of a fit, since they're cut usually for standing, not for being hunched over.

Tri shorts and recumbent riding shorts are two options.

Also have heard of many recumbent-riding-sort-of-people using Sew Sporty rowing shorts:
https://sewsporty.com/rowshorts.html

You can also ask in the recumbent forum (on bikeforums) or over at bentrideronline (another website).
~

nthach

Voler Avanti series.

bike eagle

Man, do I ever agree with the OP. I've said this in other threads, but I can't understand why shorts manufacturers put padding anywhere other than under the sitbones. I especially don't get the ones with two ridges right where the testicles are. C'mon, shorts-makers, our balls are soft. They don't need padding. In fact, all the padding does is crowd them!

To me, the ideal pad would be padded in the sitbones area, then just have a small thin "modesty" liner in the front.

spkerer

How little padding do you want? I want none since I ride a recumbent. My solution is gym shorts over a pair of "boxer-brief" underwear. I guess I'd best describe the underwear as "tighties" with legs that extend a bit. So the underwear essentially acts as unpadded cycling shorts and the gym shorts over them make it modest.

flypaca

Just a side note there are Patterns from "the green Pepper" on line for cycling shorts in 2 styles and if someone you know or in your family sews they could make you exactly what you want. I make my own because I ride both bents and DF and want different pocket arrangements and pad siting.

Peter

eofelis 

Blackbottoms makes some shorts with thin chamois padding. The lycra seems the be a bit thicker and tougher than some of the other brands too.