Cycling tights - confused!

[Veronica]

I wear my tights that don't have a chamois over my bike shorts.

Veronica

[kiwi girl]

I wear my tights that don't have a chamois over my bike shorts.

Veronica

ditto

[indysteel]

There are some tights out there that have a chamois. However, I, too, wear tights without a chamois over bike shorts or knickers. I like having two layers over my butt. I like Sugou tights the best.

[7rider]

If you're riding in temps where knee warmers are adequate, but find the droop to be annoying, you may find full tights to be too warm for you. You may want to consider knickers, such as these. Shorter than full length tights, usually with a chamois, and generally not as warm as tights. Personally, I find them great for the 50-degree range, but different folks have different tolerances.

[Veronica]

I guess it depends on how cold it where you're riding. I have a cheap pair of tights from REI that I wear to run in. But I'd never wear them on the bike because they don't have enough wind resistance. I HATE to be cold.

While we don't have the freezing temps that some chicks are riding in, I have been out in the low 30s and I want to be warm.

Veronica

[Aggie_Ama]

Deb- For mid temps we have in Texas I am partial to knickers. I don't like to spend a lot so I have some Pearl Izumi Sugar Knickers. DH found them at Bicycle Sport Shop for Christmas last year. My Specialized leg warmers don't budge, are yours possibly too big?

I wear unpadded tights over shorts myself. My favorites are some you can find at Performance because they have zippers and stay in place pretty good. My back up pair I like quite a bit are Cannondale tights we got back when 360 Cycleworks was open. Actually overall I am partial to Cannondale shorts as well. REI carries Cannondale, Nelo's might since they are a Cannondale shop. But personally we don't get colod nearly enough to spend too much on cold weather clothes, unless of course you got it to burn. I would go to REI (hint Clearance starts 1/9) or Performance.

V- She lives in my area. While we do see blustery 30's, upper 40's and low 50's are most common for winter highs. Just shocks the heck out of us Texans when it dips below 60!

[jobob]

I wear Smartwool wool tights over my knickers, they work great. Unfortunately the microlight ones aren't very durable so I have lots of holes in them. But since I wear them over knickers anyhow the holes are not all that obvious.

Now the problem I'm running into is that I cannot find the Smartwool tights in black in either microweight or lightweight. My usual sources (TE, REI, Backcountry) appear to be out of them and they are on backorder from Smartwool. Bah!

[DebTX]

I wear my tights that don't have a chamois over my bike shorts.

Veronica

Thanks for letting me know.

Since they're over your bike shorts (which is where the chamois and fit are so important), do you have to buy an expensive brand of tights or can I save a bit here?

I once scrimped on a pair of shorts, and yikes, I discovered this is NOT the place to save money. So now I ask.

Also, do you size up the tights? Or just buy your normal size.

Thanks!