Another cycling short question...

I am not riding super far right now, but I thought that I would be a little proactive. I read the thread about larger than average girly bits awhile back, with great interest. Nice to know that I have company. I have found that I really need a saddle with a cutout or I am in for a painful ride. I also find that if I wear padded shorts with my comfy cutout saddle, I am almost as sore when I am done as when I use a saddle with no cutout. Consequently, I have been riding in non-padded shorts. (I was going to say riding without padded shorts, but that image didn't seem right, LOL!) As I've increased my mileage to 20 miles a couple times a week, I am finding that my sit bones would really appreciate the extra padding. Anyone have suggestions for a happy medium...shorts that won't hurt the girly bits, but pad the sit bones?

Triathlon shorts have very minimal padding.

I wear UnderArmour compression shorts (no padding) or a pair of very nice Sugoi tri shorts that I got here on TE.

The pad on the tri shorts isn't wide enough to be under my sit bones, but then I've never found any padded shorts that were. :rolleyes: I've got monster huge wide sit bones.

Really "padded" shorts is a misnomer... the reason to put the "pad" (aka chamios) in shorts is to provide a seamless and soft surface for your friction prone areas rather than to protect your sitbones. Adding more padding (as you've found) usually has a negative impact on other parts of your body, not to mention makes you feel like you are wearing a diaper. Your sitbones will adapt in time and no longer feel sore after a ride, but your soft tissues never do. So go for the shorts that don't cause soft tissue pressure or chafing and don't despair, with regular riding your sitbones will toughen up.

+1 eden.
excellent reply.

It never ceases to amaze me every time I shop for cycling shorts, the amount of padding some have. Eden is right; I think the clothing designers forgot the reason why the pad is there. Padded shorts were basically a strip of chamois for your skin to slide on before the marketing department turned them into pillows for the beach cruiser croud. Big thick globs of gel- I avoid those like the plague. Unfortunately, many of the nicest looking high quality shorts have that padding and I find I have to hunt for good lightly padded shorts. I found some Specialized ones last year on sale for $50 bucks with thin smooth padding that is wide enough in back to cover my wide sit bones, but nice and soft so it conforms to my body shape. I should have bought more than two, because they are 90 bucks now :(. Castelli makes some nice shorts with soft thin flexible padding that almost goes unnoticed as I ride. They also make the thick crap too and that is what I usually find on the rack at the LBS. Pearl Isumi is out- their stuff is horrible, which is sad because their better shorts are really nicely made- but the padding is over the top.

So take a look at the Specialized shorts; they are not as fancy as some others out there but they get the job done wihout feeling like you are wearing your Tempur-pedic pillow. And if you can find the thinly padded Castelli check them out. They are excellent shorts.

Thanks so much everyone for your replies!!

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Originally Posted by tzvia

And if you can find the thinly padded Castelli check them out. They are excellent shorts.

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Do you know the model name of those shorts? Does TE carry them?

I haven't seen THICKLY padded Castelli shorts :confused:. I haven't seen the Free in person, but I've seen all of the other shorts and the chamois styles I've seen are all pretty thin (and comfortable, imo). The lowest end chamois, the Kiss, is the most flexible.

2+ on tri shorts. Zoot brand tri shorts have only a piece of fleece for the padding. DeSoto have a different kind of fleece, but still are nice and thin. Pearl Izumi makes a tri short as well. I don't know much about the PI shorts. But any tri shorts will have a much less bulky pad than regular bike shorts.

I've found that I use my tri shorts more and more and the "padded" stuff less and less. It's just more comfortable for me.

Oakleaf, Lisa,
Sorry, I don't have the model of the one I have, but it looks like the Cocoon Due Short I see here on TE. I bought them when Agoura Cycles was going out of business (:() and they only had the one pair. They are awesome shorts.

The other Castelli ones I have seen at the LBS here were thicker, but not crazy thick like the Pearl Isumis. However none are as nice as the real chamois ones I used to have 20 years ago but they were a pain to maintain compared to the synthetics.

Have you tried Ground Effect nicks?? Great stuff.

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Originally Posted by liza

I haven't seen THICKLY padded Castelli shorts :confused:. I haven't seen the Free in person, but I've seen all of the other shorts and the chamois styles I've seen are all pretty thin (and comfortable, imo). The lowest end chamois, the Kiss, is the most flexible.

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I think the Kiss chamois is in all Castelli shorts. I have a pair of Free and a pair of Cocoon and the both have the Kiss chamois even though their costs were quite different.

I also have LG, Sheebeast, Zoots and Sugoi's and I find the Castelli to be the most comfortable on longer rides. I like my Zoot and Sugoi tri shorts for shorter rides.

I like shorts with thin padding also! I have some older pairs of Hind and InSport shorts that I really like, but they are getting past their prime. They have nice thin padding.

I tried Pearl Izumi, but I didn't like them at all.

I have finally settled on Blackbottoms shorts and have 4 pairs of them. Some of their older styles have a wide real-chamois-looking pad and I really like those kinds. I have found two pairs like this on sale for $20.

I just bought my first pair of padded shorts today. Wish I had seen this thread before I headed out. Haven't had a chance to try them on, but I'm glad I passed up the gel shorts :) Looking forward to testing them out tomorrow.

I only have pearl Izumi and they do have a pretty thick chamois, but I thought it was normal?? I am new and need some advice. I was going to try some castelli cocoon, but they got horrible reviews. I was also going to try shebeest core comp. Any recommendations would be appreciated!!

If you like thin chamois, you might try REI. My first pair of shorts was their brand and it has pretty thin padding. It is all one piece, thin and fairly wide.
I am still trying to find my comfort zone for the *girly bits* too! I'm trying a terry butterfly saddle (good so far) and I have a pair of Bontrager women's sport shorts that I kind of like...they are nice and long on me (which I like) but the jury is still out on the chamois part-it is sectioned but seamless, with the thicker sections on the sit bone parts. I did a 45 mile ride in them and still had some pinching of the bits, even though I used some chamois cream.
Just not sure yet which combo is right for me.:(

I have a pair of Sugoi liner shorts that have thin padding. Sierra Trading Post often has shorts for really good prices. My favorites are the Shebeest SSS shorts. The padding seems to be just where I want it, and no more. I tried PI shorts. Ugh. But, my best cycling buddy swears by them (she also never changed out the guy's saddle on her road bike and I ride a comfy Brooks saddle). Try on as many as you can find. Make note of the ones you like, then keep an eye out for sales.

Deb