under your shorts>>>

[cyclingtosydney]

Hi everybody!

Im just wondering what you wear under your cycling shorts?

my sister and I are about to go on a trip where we will be riding everyday. I have bought some padded cycling shorts (before i just wore jeans or whatever was around and normal underwear)

Thanks a lot! this is a great forum

kira

[CorsairMac]

I don't wear anything under my shorts. I figure that nice big ol piece of chamois is gonna work just as well as undies and I can't even imagine all that elastic over the course of a ride! The shorts are designed to be worn a la naturale!

PS: if you get a chance there's a thread under the open titled "getting to know you"......gives you some laughs while getting to know us, and if you're so inclined tell us more about you - and this trip!!!

[DeniseGoldberg]

Me too - I'm a shorts only gal, nothing underneath!

[SadieKate]

Commando! That chamois is designed to wick and not chafe and be comfy. You don't want any seams or elastic or 'nothin between you and your chamois. OK, a little Chamois Butt'r if necessary but that's it.

[spazzdog]

As Brooke once said about her Calvins "nothing comes between me and my cycling shorts"

Nekkid as the day I was born under that lycra

spazz

[RoadRaven]

If you wear knickers under your chamois shorts, you'll find they bunch up and chafe and rub
Wear nothing and just make sure you get out of them asap after a ride and wash and dry them well
Avoid wearing them two rides in a row without a wash whenever possible
Lots of discussion here about creams, cremes, butters etc to make things more comfortable, and also about seat height and position too

Your tour sounds super, keep us posted!

R

[newbiechick]

I'm brand new to cycling ... When I was getting dressed for my very first ride I started to put my shorts on over my underwear ... my fiance caught me and explained that anything under there would only increase the chances of chafing and other undesirable experiences. So I'm definitely a shorts-only gal. I expected it to be somewhat uncomfortable but I've been pleased to find that's not the case at all.

[singletrackmind]

My big blindingly white fanny!

1) Wearing underwear partially negates the reason you get seamless chamois in the first place
2) No attack of the Undie lines!
3) Freedom!!! (Ok, I'm just making that last one up).

[bounceswoosh]

Im just wondering what you wear under your cycling shorts?

Absolutely nothing!

It felt weird at first, but now it's just normal to me. And you'll appreciate it when you can't find a restroom and have to pee; just find a tree to hide behind, drop trow, do your thing, then pull up your shorts and go. Trust in the chamois. (Yes, it sounds gross, but I've heard that sweat and urine are actually very close in composition.)

[Technotart]

and since the chamois does such a great job of wicking all the moisture away from your body, I'm sure it doesn't care what kind it is!

Ya can't have TP everywhere ya go. Elastic chafes. Some chamois are antibacterial. (Some folks have problems with the chemicals they use on the anti-bacterial type, if you suspect you might, avoid the antibacterial ones)

To make sure the shorts stay really clean in that area, I always pretreat mine with an enzyme type laundry pre-wash in the chamois area - shout or wisk or some other such thing. That will take care of any remaning bacteria, sweat, and/or odors. Just a fact of life. There are a lot of eppocrine glands in that area which is partly why the chamois is necessary in the first place. If we had the same kind of skin and glands there that we have on say our arms and legs, we would need the chamois for chafing but not so much for wicking.