rgconner

You need to get out more before making comments that have no basis in fact.

Motorcycling is another activity were you have padding in the shorts.

Motorcycle Riding Underwear - Motorcycle Superstore

AS well as horse riding:

https://www.doversaddlery.com/underwear/c/1702/

And these are for sking/snowboarding/inline skates/skateboarding:

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-...-goods/3416331

Of course in motorcycling and horseback riding do you not need to move your legs, which is really what "padded" bike shorts are all about.

motosonic

I just screwed a piece of plywood onto my seatpost and toss a bed pillow on top of it and ride that way.

Racing Dan

Lots of made up arguments to justify initial knee jerk answers

Racing Dan

No. It will negate the anti-chafing effect of padded shorts. You are NOT supposed to use underwear in cycling shorts.

Racing Dan

Of course you CAN get padded underwear for some activities, but is certainly isn't common. Also what you are linking to is accident protection, like the helmet. Its not comparable to the pad in bike shorts.

Hypno Toad

Actually true for snowboarding - I have RED padded snowboard shorts for BX (lots of hard slams in that event).

However, equestrian padded shorts are not for accidents. I grew up on horses and you can get VERY sore from a long day in the saddle (padded shorts weren't a thing when I was growing up). Like biking, you need to toughen up your saddle area. Anybody that's spent a day on a horse will tell you, it's not 'just sitting there'.

Racing Dan

But that doesent mean you put on "bike shorts" when you ride. You either harden up or put a cushion on the seat.

Hypno Toad

I didn't ride horses with padded shorts, and I don't always use padded shorts on my bikes. I did most of my riding in college in jeans. Back then I had one pair of bikes shorts (no padding); so most of my rides were in jeans. I'd do 20 to 30 miles a day in jeans.

So I guess I'm into 'hardening up'.

Now I use padded shorts, but that's because non-padded bike shorts are almost unavailable. So I get the thinnest padding I can find.

If you want the minimum padding, check out the Zoot tri shorts; I got some a few years ago and there's not real padding in them.

rgconner

You really don't bother listening to what people are telling you, do you?

You don't put padding on a horse saddle, you put it on your ass, just like biking.

Motorcycle can go either way, but the advantage is with padding in the shorts I can decide how much/little I want.

My BMW F700 I have a Corbin saddle, which is just a layer of leather on fiberglass. Off road I want no padding so I can feel what the bike is doing, and anyway you tend to stand most of the time .

On road? Well, I know people that use them, I don't but then a wide saddle that I just sit in spreads the weight much better than a small saddle... but you can't pump your legs on it either.

Same with horseback riding, sometimes you don't want padding because it isolates you from the horse and shorts are a damn sight cheaper than saddles.

ttusomeone

Beside cycling, none of those other sports that I can think of involve moving your legs up and down roughly 90 times a minute over several hours. Pads in the seats/saddles in motorsports or horse back riding are more to cushion impact - cycling chamois and saddle padding's primary purpose is to minimize chaffing.

ksryder

OP asked a question, didn't like the answer from dozens of people with infinitely more experience, and is trying to convince everyone that they're wrong. I bet he's fun at parties.

That said, I'm always amused by the amount of things people on bicycle forums attribute to some evil nefarious conspiracy by bicycle marketing types.

Integrated shifters are just a ploy by marketing to get you to buy shifters! Padded shorts are just a ploy by marketing to get you to buy shorts! Any cassette more than 7 speeds is just a ploy by marketing! Carbon fiber frames are just a ploy by marketing!

Marketing responds to to consumers, it doesn't create them. The reason everyone rides carbon fiber frames with 11-speed drivetrains and wears bib shorts with chamois is because THEY WORK. (I ride a steel road bike but I digress.)

It's not marketing. I've ridden thousands of miles on 8-speed with downtube shifters and 10 and 11-speed integrated shifters are an obvious improvement to everyone but the most intractable retrogrouch. And disc brakes are, objectively, a massive improvement over rim brakes and the only reason I still have rim brakes is because I'm not ready to get a new frame at the moment.

Anyway, back to the OP - if you don't want to ride with padded shorts then don't. BTW what's your annual mileage?

Racing Dan

Its a joke that its assumed that everybody has "infinitely more experience", just because I dare ask a simple question. Your assumption is also wrong. I have some 40 years of experience. Your personal attacks and snark is not appreciated.

Also Im not trying to convince you of anything. Im questioning your answers to the question posted in #1, because they are not very convincing.

Bike Gremlin

Most of the time, at least the way it is made and sold, a lot of those things are marketing.

ksryder

The fun thing about the internet is you can say anything whether it's true or not.

This thread started out civil, until you responded with argument and personal attacks when you got answers that didn't agree with your preconceived notions.

You aren't responding to any of *my* answers because up until now I have not participated in this thread.

BTW what's your annual mileage?

ksryder

Citation needed.

SWorksRoubaix

Agreed. OP is a

Racing Dan

Yes of course. I didnt auto agree to the wisdom of those with infinite experience Ha, Ha. Then I must be a troll

Hypno Toad

I'm curious, what shorts your using that are high maintenance?

I've had a wide variety and won't define any has high maintenance. Examples:I put them in the wash machine on cold and hang them dry.

southpier

HAI!

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=...5fdeb3.jpg&f=1

Bike Gremlin

Shimano STIs that are expensive and made so they can't be serviced.

Chains over 8 speeds that don't have reliable quick links for easier cleaning.

11 speed drivetrains that offer 2, or 4 more gear ratios, of arguable value to an average recreational rider (IMO), at double cassette and chain price. 1x drivetrains being a special "jewel".

I'd find hydraulic disc brakes with ABS as a more reasonable "upgrade", than 11, or (if MTBs "migrate to road equipment) 12 speed drivetrains, for example.

Hypno Toad

I cannot address each of these points, but I feel like I have feedback on one:

My Pugsley has a 10-speed cassette with a quick link... with over 3,000 miles including gravel centuries, technical single-track, exploration riding, pouring rain, blizzards, sub-zero temps (F), ... I'd call that a reliable quick link [/knocking on wood].

I know I just pissed of the bike gods and I'm gonna break that chain tonight...

ksryder

Those are all matters of personal preference (except the thing about quick links, I have quick links on 9, 10, and 11 speed chains) and you're certainly entitled to your preferences.

But what it is not--and this was my point--is proof that the *only* reason these things exist is because of a shadowy conspiracy of evil bike industry marketing departments intent on selling us things we don't need -- AND -- the bicycling public at large being duped by said hype.

As an aside, if the bicycling industry marketing departments were as conspiratorial and nefarious as some people on message boards seem to think they are, they sure are doing a terrible job given the overall shaky financial circumstances of the bicycling industry at large.

Bike Gremlin

Manufacturers recommend not reusing the links. Thinner side plates, less material, they are not ready to state the links are safe to be re-used.


Stand corrected - there are quick links, just not (reliably) reusable ones.

There's no shadowy conspiracy. It's pure capitalism: make things more expensive, less durable and convince people to buy them as an "improvement", "upgrade", "added value".

An objective view would be measuring average time of an average Joe with 2x11, and 3x8 drivetrain.
A bit more vague, perhaps less objective view would be measuring "gains" from a few seconds/minutes (if any at all) shorter ride from point A to point B.

Dan333SP

The beauty of all this is that you can buy a used bike with 6 speed downtube shifters. Problem solved!

grolby

Heck I run mine in the dryer (gentle cycle, but then I run everything on gentle cycle). Shorts aren't high maintenance at all, and even then most people treat their cycling clothing with a much more delicate touch than they need to. Modern athletic clothing is very easy to live with.

I'm not all that interested in the arguments about why padding in shorts doesn't work/shouldn't work/is the result of a nefarious industry conspiring to sell us snake oil. I've done things a few different ways, and I know what works for me. Back in the day when I rode 50 miles in normal athletic shorts on a basic saddle, I thought I was plenty comfortable. Eventually I started wearing spandex (first some unpadded rowing shorts, eventually cycling-specific shorts) and realized I could be more comfortable. And that was really the end of that.