Female Mountain Bike Apparel

[reneejd10]

I am very new to mountain biking and I rode on my first trail yesterday. I had so much fun and would definitely do it again.
But I have an issue. My crotch hurts. HA go figure. My boyfriend who was an avid mountain biker 5 years ago did suggest for me to get padded shorts but I declined since I though that since I do crossfit, nothing will hurt as much. But it does.

I want to get reviews from women who had bought women's mountain bike apparel and what their reviews are on certain padded shorts, gloves or high socks etc. Basically I just want to know what women out there think about the best clothing or accessories they have bought that they deem worth paying the price for. I just dont want to buy expensive clothing or accessories out of the whim without knowing how people really thought about the durability or performance of the product is.

If you could please kindly give me your input. I live in Florida and will mostly be going on trails down here, its mostly sandy and hot..So maybe anyone who has an input on summer apparel will work.

Thank you so much in advance! hope to hear from you!

[thekarens]

What's best for one person isn't necessarily best for another. However, I'd never go out without padded shorts. They will save you every time :-)

Along with the shorts I wear a moisture wicking shirt (not necessarily a jersey) full fingered gloves, helmet and glasses.

[Irulan]

I like "baggy" style with a lightweight liner with a pad. Currently I have a couple of pairs of Dakine I got off Steep and Cheap that I really like. You will just have to try lots to see what fits right.
No underwear with padded shorts! This is really important. Full finger gloves, without padding to protect your hands are important. Any wicking top is good, it doesn't have to be bike specific. I wear safety glasses for riding. Some sort of eye protection is very important also. I shop sales a lot. You don't have to spend a ton of money. I'm a sucker for cute bike socks. I only wear tall socks on cold days or if the weeds are really bad.

[reneejd10]

Thank you @thekarens, Now I know to never go out without padded shorts because I am definitely paying for it now.
Are there anything specific I need to get? Why do you prefer full fingered gloves? I have heard that some people prefer short fingered gloves because they feel less of a grip with full fingered gloves. Is this true? Why do you like your gloves?

(Pardon my questions, I am just really new to this and I would like to be fully knowledgeable about these type of things.)

Thanks for the reply!

[reneejd10]

The bike trails here in South Florida are really narrow, bushy and have tons of foliage.. I have a couple of scrapes just from brushing into twigs yesterday...
Wouldnt i get hooked if I had socks on? or are there specific MTB long socks I should buy?

Shoes, I wear my crossfit shoes when I went riding yesterday. My shoes are very light weight and have a very nice grip for my pedals. But my feet kept on slipping! I couldnt even tell you how many times I lost my footing on my pedals yesterday but maybe that is because I have plastic pedals vs. metal?

[thekarens]

FWIW I got my mountain bike shorts on the clearance racks at Performance and REI.

[Becky]

I feel like I have better grip with full-fingered gloves because my sweaty fingers don't directly connect with the shifters and brake levers like they would with half-finger gloves. Full-finger gloves also provide better protection against brush and debris.

[Irulan]

Shoes- yes, certainly your feet will slip if your shoes don't have the right kind of sole to stick to the pedal. Since I'm on my phone the best thing I can say about shoes and pedals is to google " the flat pedal manifesto" which goes into shoes, pedals, clips vs flats and has lots of good info about all of it.