I know I'm going to get some answers along the lines of "it's up to your preference" for this kind of question, but are padded bottoms necessary for cycling? What's the worst that could happen, you bruise your butt? What works best for you?
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I know I'm going to get some answers along the lines of "it's up to your preference" for this kind of question, but are padded bottoms necessary for cycling? What's the worst that could happen, you bruise your butt? What works best for you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mariacycle
Oh dear me. I'm laughing.
You clearly do not have very much imagination. I suggest you not use padded bottoms and do some long rides and maybe you'll figure out the worst that can happen :)
Yeah my longest is still 10 miles. Another question is why is a padded saddle a no-no but everyone wears padded shorts? I also don't find the padded shorts particularly comfortable :/
I'm a big fan of padded shorts. Let me put it this way: Would all of us willingly make our butts look big or bigger if we didn't derive a benefit from them? You don't want bruised sit bones or genitals that have been rubbed raw. Really, you don't.
The trick is finding shorts that work for you. It's a very individual thing. As Muirenn said, buy the best shorts you can afford in the smallest size you can comfortably wear. TE has lots to choose from.
What brand/style shorts have you tried?Quote:
Originally Posted by mariacycle
I despise "padded bottoms."
After about 10 years of wearing them, I finally realized that they just don't work for me, especially on longer rides (50-60 miles).
I've got a lovely collection of good ones, and cheap ones, tri-chamois, sculpted chamois, etc and so on.
The best thing for me is just plain ol' UnderArmour 7 inch inseam compression shorts. $27. No chamois.
Generally I have either a skirt or capris/shants over them.
Whatever works for you is good. Some folks (and there are a few out there) will freak and go into apoplexy if they discover you don't use chamois shorts, or you wear underwear under your shorts, or you ride on platform pedals, or you prefer steel, or you like downtube shifters, or are happiest with upright bars. That's only their binary thinking and insecurity coming to the fore - if you are different, then maybe THEY are wrong, so you MUST change and do everything just like them so they can feel good about themselves. Don't sweat it. Try everything. Then do what works for you. ;)
ETA: here's a link to the compression shorts: http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/e...rt/1001226-001
Yes, by all means do what's right for you, but I'd still venture I guess--and I apologize if my alleged insecurity is coming through--that Knotted is in the minority in terms of not preferring padded shorts. I'd at least try out some decent pairs before concluding they don't work for you.
Oh, yeah, I'm definitely in the minority!
(and you're not insecure for pointing that out... if you ripped into me over it, that would be a red flag. I've had someone do the apoplexy thing at me over riding without a chamois. It was funny. Later.)
The take-away message here is don't be afraid of trying riding without a chamois if you just can't seem to love chamois.
At least it will give you another data point!
I'm a very long-distance rider - 200-miles a week kinda gal. I need to adjust something on my bike and thought I could just hop on and try it on the trainer for a few minutes without bike shorts. Even that was just amazingly uncomfortable. I'm addicted to chamois. :(
For most people it's more a case of what you'd wear instead, cos sweat + seams = chafing. The chamois doesn't have seams (and the better shorts have flat seams elsewhere for the same reason) and lets the sweat get away so it doesn't rub you raw, as well as providing some padding that doesn't bounce you around like a fat heavy saddle. Yes, it feels like a maternity pad initially but you get used to it. Try both and see what you think. But all chamois are not created equal!
I'd venture to say at least a plurality need (or at least strongly prefer) a seamless, soft chamois to prevent chafing, but do NOT want any padding. For me, padding = chafing. The longer the ride, the more important it is for me to have a very minimal chamois.
Chafing is SOOO bad! I can get chafing when I am in SIngapore when it's hot and sweaty and I walk. Once it was so bad I had abraded the skin right off and it was bleeding, hot and swollen in two patches between my legs.
You find it hard to walk, sit, go to the toilet and it really hurts.
I think the main thing is to wear something that allows dampness to dry or wicks it away. Therefore cotton, demin etc are NOT great things to do exercise it.
Cycling shorts fabric allows the dampness to evaporate and the pad wicks away as well as padding.
Bruised sit bones I can live with, but chafing, it's no fun!
Just ride.
When it feels good you'll probably be thinking about something more interesting (the road, the birds, the trees, dinner, boys, girls, sugar, spice, etc.)
when it feels not good---you will be thinking mainly of getting out of the saddle.
The solution (for me anyway) was that old Harry Truman thing, "Well, we'll try something, and if it doesn't work, we'll try something else."
thank you all very much for your advice, I really appreciate it =]
Thanks for linking! This is what is most comfortable for me too, but I have also been chewed out/treated like a moron because of it. Glad to hear someone else goes down this route...Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
I have several types (all from Performance) from the Performance brand to Pearl Izumi. I do feel like the padding is both too big and too thick. Also, the actual shorts are not comfortable compared to Underarmor compression shorts or other spandex shorts I have.Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
hey oak! that would be really nice... what do you use?Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
Perhaps I'm having an issue with semantics. To me, a chamois of any density provides some degree of padding, but perhaps not. My favorite shorts--Sugoi RS--does not have what I would call a minimal chamois, but in answering the OP's question, I had in mind any of the various types of cycling shorts, from those with a minimal chamois to those with a thick one, which is why I suggested it was a matter of finding the right short for her. I still think the vast majority of us wear some type of cycling short, i.e., with a chamois.Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
I hate padded cycling shorts. The make my soft tissues feel like they are on fire. I have a Brooks saddle with a cut-out, and I add a little BodyGlide if I'm going over 20 miles.
I'm going to have to try these.Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
My top choice is no longer made. They're an '80s vintage pair of Terry shorts, and the chamois is just a layer of fleece. No one could possibly consider it "padding."
My next favorite chamois is the one in the Etxe Ondo Very shorts. They're not my absolute favorite shorts overall, but that chamois puts them near the top of my list.
Almost as good for me as that one - and a much nicer pair of shorts overall - is the one in the LG Neo Power shorts. It looks thick in the picture, but up against my parts it doesn't squish or insulate me from the saddle at all.
I've never found a pair of workout/running shorts with a gusset the right size and shape that the seams don't chafe on the bike. I'd be happy to wear something like Knott does if I could find a pair that works for me.
HTH. It's really an individual choice.
At the start of the cycling season I find myself reaching for bike shorts with the chamois. As my sit bones get acclimated to riding I find myself going longer distances without the chamois. Someday I hope to ride tons of miles perched on top of my saddle sans chamois.
Have you looked at any tri shorts? All of my tri gear has a chamois that appear to be just a piece of fleece--some Zoot, some Louis Garneau. It might be something worth investigating if you like a minimal chamois.Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
I've looked at tri shorts, but they all seem to be super-short. Same thing for "spinning" shorts. Then they ride up my legs. That's why the Castelli Provocante shorts - another one with a nice chamois - aren't at the top of my list. Do you know of any tri shorts that have leg hems more like cycling shorts - 8" or longer?
I had the same impression that tri shorts were typically pretty short. I just checked TE & it appears that they have a few styles of 8" tri shorts. Maybe these are relatively new. Here's the link http://www.teamestrogen.com/product/...-c118-c14.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
I'm pretty sure TYR makes a short with an 8" inseam (model name might be Splice), and SkirtSports also has "multi-sport" shorts with an 8-inch inseam. And I've seen some Orca shorts in a local store that look longer than most tri-shorts, but I don't know any specifics about those.Quote:
Do you know of any tri shorts that have leg hems more like cycling shorts - 8" or longer?
Men's tri-shorts also tend to have longer inseams. Depending how you're shaped, those may work for you.
Out of curiosity, I checked what TE had to offer and found some CW-X tri-shorts with a 10-inch inseam and fleece pad.
http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodCW_135805.html
They also have 8-inch shorts from TYR, SkirtSports and Zoot.
Hope that helps. :)
(ETA: I didn't see Artista's reply above. Oops.)
In between my last post and now, a non-TE friend suggested I look at tri shorts instead of regular cycling shorts, I'm definitely gonna give them a try. Went out in just compression shorts today and could see where they would start getting uncomfortable.
I think I am sitting wrong, too...
Cool, thanks! I might have to try a pair of those Zoots. Not that I really need new shorts right at the moment :p
I thought about the Zoots, but TE staff recommended against it due to my shape. Apparently they don't work well if you have curves...if I remember what they said correctly. I don't know what shape you have but it might be worth the phone call.Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
Ah, thanks. "Curves" would be a polite way of saying I have a big @ss. :p So they probably wouldn't fit me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catrin
I love my CW-X running bottoms, but I just question the idea of compression on the bike.
I don't have a big @*** - all of my weight is in my stomach :o So I am "curvy" as well, just in a different way :)Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
I got the same advice from knot last season and I picked some up - i really like them. For me, I can go either way - padding or no. I wear Louis Garneau cycling shorts w/ chamois most of the time. But if I feel like going padless, I wear the underarmour compression shorts and am quite comfortable. I guess I'm bishortsual. I also don't wear cycling shoes and I use platform pedals.Quote:
Originally Posted by mariacycle
After years of trying every padded crotch out there I have reached the same conclusion as a few others here. Padded crotches just squish into my girly bits (makes me feel like I'm in 7th grade to say that) and cause chafing, boils and swelling. Angelina Jolie ring a bell? I certainly agree that it is counter-productive to put a padded crotch over a saddle cut-out that is designed to give your soft tissues somewhere to go. When I first realized this, I cut out the center of all my pads. That caused some serious problems and I do not recommend it at all. Fail! Then, a few months later I started spinning. After a month of spinning with plain compression shorts, I wore padded shorts one morning. Immediate problems. I literally split open the skin on my labia and dealt with the accompanying boil for weeks. The lights came on.
Now I ride without a pad at all and have a much more comfortable ride. I have invested in some very expensive seats that serve me well- a Selle Italia Diva and a Terry ti. Generous cut-out without pressure ridges on each and the padded nose on the Diva for time trials. I do wish I could find padding just for my sit-bones. But I'll live with this over the alternatives. I do think that it may take some conditioning to get comfortable like this but no amount of conditioning ever got me comfortable with a padded crotch.
Ultimately, all you can do is ride and find out. Before you invest a lot of money, perhaps you have friends that aren't squeamish about these things that would loan you some to try. I have a stack of padded shorts you could have.:)
Haha Tand-rand!! I unfortunately bought about five pairs of padded shorts when I started out so I've already come to the conclusion that they are not for me. I'm going to buy a pair of tri shorts (thinking about these, which were linked earlier) and look into buying a cutout saddle.
I'm really glad to hear I'm not the only one that isn't a big fan of the thick chamois.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
Or two data points!
;)
Interesting discussion - I just asked this myself too. DH has gotten me an Assos Cycling Bib for a present but I just don't seem to like it enough for the price. They feel bulky at the front. He loves his Assos Cycling shorts and thinks they are well worth the money...
From my understanding, if you have a fitting saddle - so you are sitting on your sitbones - the padding in the front doesn't make much sense, does it? The chamois in the front does makes me feel hot and uncomfortable.
Maybe the chamois-design comes from a wrong understanding where women ought to sit on a saddle?
I wouldn't ride without a chamois, but I cannot wear any chamois that is thick, wide, or feels like a diaper. I bought a pair of cycling tights with a chamois from someone on TE last year. They were either Assos or Exte Ondo, so originally very expensive. The chamois was *horrible.* Wide, thick, with seams and so big in the front that it caught on the nose of my saddle. I truly could not believe any woman wore these, because I was in pain, chafed, and got abraded from them. Into the garbage they went, Thankfully, I only paid 30.00.
It's a personal decision, like anything else, but there is a huge range of chamois in different shorts, just like a huge range of saddles. I have found 2 I like, and I don't plan on changing.
I also prefer tri shorts to heavily padded shorts. The Zoot Endurance shorts are stretchier and fit my curves better than the Ultras (which fit like a sausage casing for me). My favorites are the DeSoto shorts, but they are an acquired taste. They're cut pretty low on top.
If you want more padding than just a tri chamois then look at DeSoto's 400 mile shorts. The padding actually has a channel in the middle, like a saddle cut out.
I think that chamois preference is just as relative as saddle preference. It depends on how we are made, our riding position and length of rides... It is good that we have a choice :D
Thankfully I have finally found a chamois other than PI 3-D chamois that also works for me - and that is Terry (Liberty shorts). The PI elite chamois certainly isn't very comfortable off the bike, but it works well for my on the bike - and it feels better on rides >4 hours than on small hour long rides. I have tried a couple of other brands but they just don't work for me - either they chafe or they don't seem to provide what I need in the right location.
I suspect that my PI Elite bibs will always be my short/chamois of preference for long rides - as much as I like the Terry Liberty shorts - I don't think they would work for my longer rides.
I am new to riding and do probally 40k's every other day(more soon) I have just been wearing my ordinary leggins/tights and ..really they have been fine...no padding at all. I was thinking propper padded tights might help me go further?? now i'm confused lol:)
If it's not the shorts you have that keep you from going farther now, why do you think that different shorts would let you go farther? Wear what's comfortable...
yes of course:) i start to get a little sore after about 40k's so thought that padding might stop that and allow me to go further...although I havnt been further yet...if that makes senseQuote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
Y'know, I'd forgotten that I have a pair of their 5" shorts at the bottom of my gear drawer. When I pulled them out this morning to run in, I remembered why they were at the bottom. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
Just another illustration about how everyone is shaped differently. Yep, these shorts have a nice big gusset ... which not to put too fine a point on it, is centered on my anus, so you can imagine what equally sensitive parts are directly underneath the front of the gusset where the three seams join, and then directly under the front center seam. :eek: The gusset creeps into my crack - putting the rest of the seams in uncomfortable places, too. And if that weren't enough, the legs ride up and I have to keep pulling them down. I don't even like these shorts for the gym.
I'm glad they work for Knott!! For my big butt (9" bigger around than my waist), these are not the shorts...