skijor

New to bents this year. I ordered unpadded shorts from several makes. Here are my results:

Road Runner 6" inseam shorts - Road Runner makes great gear, but they measure an inseam differently. I'm no tailor, but basically subtract 2" from whatever they state. Their 6" are actually 4" . I'm sending the 6" back to get the 8" version.

Aerotech unpadded shorts - excellent, exactly what I was looking for. Good length great fit, and made in the U.S. of A.

Kucharik Recumbent Skin shorts - too long...they go down almost to my kneecaps. I am 6', typical biker physique. I had ordered a medium and a large, one for me and one for a friend who's 6'3". They were too long for him too. They're going back. FTR, John at Kucharik mentioned that they could be shortened for me. Nice to see a smaller biz going to those lengths to please the customer. Try getting that kind of service from PI.

Champion compression shorts - cheapies from Gander Mountain, good length but leave little to the imagination...definitely wearing underwear with these. But they're a good fit.

Pearl Izumi - I cut out the pad from a lightly padded pair of old shorts after trying unsuccessfully to undo the seam...man that stitching is tight. They should work, and again...underwear is a must.

After much [mostly online] shopping, the term "compression" short has a rather broad meaning. Some could work as an external garment [and therefore as biking/receumbent shorts], others definitely not.

Balsawings

I have the Aerotech shorts as well. They are great shorts that fit well. I wear a size 38. Ordered the XL and they fit perfectly. The legs cuffs are a couple of inches above the knee while riding. I highly recommend these shorts.

Recumbent Apparel specifically designed for Bent Bike Riders


Bob

rydabent

I take full advantage of riding bents. Since I do not have to buy expensive short to protect me from my bike, I wear $15 rugby shorts I get from Scheels sport store.

BlazingPedals

Last year I bought 3 pair of the cheapest shorts sold by PricePoint, and took the pads out. I was very happy with them. Bike shorts are cut more ergonomically than plain old lycra running shorts or compression shorts - and I never bought into the 'compression' argument. IMHO anything that constricts is bad and may cause hotfoot.

I think having two layers in front is just about a necessity, though; so if you remove pads, definitely wear something underneath! I have coolmax underwear and some lycra ones. Just don't wear cotton for long, hot, sweaty rides!

JBHoren

Underarmour 8" compression shorts. She said they're uncut... and a full 8". I believe her.

House-brand nylon gym shorts on top, from Eastbay.