Awhhh, the newbie bike shorts question. My best recommendation would be to search the various sub forums because this one comes up a lot.
It's a matter of personal preference, really, but here's what I would say. Make your first pair a nice "investment" pair if you can only buy one now. I spent about $125 on my first pair of Craft shorts 6 years ago and despite literally showering in them and wearing them the next day, they're still alive with one small hole in the inseam. Fortunately, that's between me and the saddle.
There are a lot of good sub $100 shorts out there and I don't discount them. I own a few as well. The problem is they're very purpose oriented. Short rides, commutes, etc. I've wanted capris since forever, but they usually have a flimsy chamois and I have a very minimal saddle so it doesn't work.
Those look like the Sugoi RS shorts which don't fit me because I have an arse, but my roommate bought them and loved them. They look like nice shorts, I like a lot of the features, but lo German sprinter booty was not designed to fit in them.
Try a ton of stuff on, bend over in the cycling position when you do too, see how it feels. Grab a jersey to try it on with. When you bend over are you exposing any spring break tattoos or c-section scars? That stuff drives me nuts! I can't feel comfortable worried about whether my tummy is flapping in the breeze or the world knows I have a cave painting horse tattoo!
But yeah, search, search, search, there are toooons of threads on this with great info!
Last edited by smurfalicious; 12-07-2010 at 11:04 PM.
"True, but if you throw your panties into the middle of the peloton, someone's likely to get hurt."