Friday, August 07, 2009

Why I Hate Bike Shorts


First of all, you can't fold them. Those stupid big padded parts just make it impossible. They're like those sheets with elastic on the corners. Sure, Martha Stewart can fold them, but for the rest of us mortals they are just one big pain on the closet shelf. Mine are always sliding off the shelf - combination of slick material and unwieldy padded assymetrically-folded piece of clothing.

Secondly of course is that you can't walk around in them. Ever try going into a mini-mart on a long ride wearing some extremely padded shorts? 'Nuff said.

Thirdly, they seem to only come in black. Sometimes this is for a very good reason. But couldn't they just make colored pairs out of thicker material? I do have one well-worn pair of Pearl Izumis in bright purple that have been so beloved they're now threadbare and relegated to the "indoor trainer only" stack. They're like the Velveteen Rabbit of my cycling short collection, at 14 years old and still not totally worn out.

So these days I've fallen in love with tri shorts. You know, the things that have almost no padding at all and seem like they'd be way less comfortable than the ones with the big ol' pad. As it turns out, they're way more comfortable, even on long rides, at least as far as I'm concerned. I bought one pair of Tyrs which never fit right, and one pair of Orcas that I adore and are my current short of choice.

The best thing about bike shorts? They might be the one piece of clothing that looks signifigantly worse on fashion models than it does on us muscular types:



I mean, once you're used to seeing them on cyclists and triathletes' legs, this just looks appalling, no?!

4 comments:

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I agree with the tri shorts and they are also good for jumping into a creek or pond on long , hot ride, I would never do that in bike shorts, no saggy diaper for me.

Love the new theme to the blog.

Stella said...

Dude, that model in the middle looks like her legs might just break if she tried riding a bike.

Christie O. said...

HAHAA! I too, so prefer tri-shorts over cycling shorts. Of course, I'm new to both cycling and triathlon so I thought I was just a newbie who thought so (as my cycling shorts sit in my drawer *unfolded* collecting dust). But it's good to see that the vets think so too! :)

New to your blog, just wanted to stop by and say how inspiring you are!

Matthew said...

Bike Compression shorts are by far the most desired and prescribed type of shorts to wear while cycling or riding leisurely. These padded cycle shorts brings so much value to anyone who wears them.

Female Cycling Jersey