Another cycling short question...

[PinkBike]

+1 eden.
excellent reply.

[tzvia]

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.

[abejita]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies!!

[OakLeaf]

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

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

[VeloVT]

I haven't seen THICKLY padded Castelli shorts . 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.

[roadie gal]

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.

[tzvia]

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.

[crazycanuck]

Have you tried Ground Effect nicks?? Great stuff.

[tctrek]

I haven't seen THICKLY padded Castelli shorts . 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.

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.

[eofelis]

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.

[momtohanna]

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.