How much would you spend on shorts?

[MajorMantra]

I'm trying to psych myself up to spending £70 on some new bib shorts. Until now I've never spent more than about £12 on any kind of shorts.

Where does your comfort zone for shorts end?

Matthew

 

[Noodley]

I have spent over 70 quid on a pair of shorts more than once.

 

[ianrauk]

£50

 

[HLaB]

I've only got one pair of shorts that were £70, I didn't pay that they were bought half price in a sale and all my other post £50 kit were bought for me as a gift. The Pad and the material on my Santini Bib longs (£88 I think) is great so I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[MajorMantra]

I've only got one pair of shorts that were £70, I didn't pay that they were bought half price in a sale and all my other post £50 kit were bought for me as a gift. The Pad and the material on my Santini Bib longs (£88 I think) is great so I guess you get what you pay for.

It's actually Santinis I'm after. I've heard the Twistgel bibs are really good (comparable to Assos supposedly) and they're £70.

Matthew

 

[Panter]

I'd probably spend £150.00, if I had it (says the man who only owns Aldi and Lidl shorts )

 

[yello]

I've got the Santini King GXT shorts. They cost me £60 and - bang for buck - I'd rate them higher than the Assos FI Mille S5s I have that retail at around £125 (they only cost me £75 though). The Assos bibs are a more comfortable, better fitting short... but not THAT much better.

Like most things at the top end though, you start paying a fair bit more for refinements noticed perhaps only by those that are really in to these things. For most of us mere mortals, the difference is negligible. The Santinis will do me fine!

 

[HJ]

And I thought paying £55 for CycleChat (Endura FS260) Pro Bibshorts was pushing the boat out...

 

[MajorMantra]

I've got the Santini King GXT shorts. They cost me £60 and - bang for buck - I'd rate them higher than the Assos FI Mille S5s I have that retail at around £125 (they only cost me £75 though). The Assos bibs are a more comfortable, better fitting short... but not THAT much better.

Like most things at the top end though, you start paying a fair bit more for refinements noticed perhaps only by those that are really in to these things. For most of us mere mortals, the difference is negligible. The Santinis will do me fine!

How'd you manage that then?

Matthew

 

[Chuffy]

You'll notice the difference over a £12 pair! I use Endura FS260 Pros and they cost £60ish. I don't think I could justify going much over that, I can't see a £120 pair being twice as good.

 

[MajorMantra]

You'll notice the difference over a £12 pair!

I certainly hope so. The shorts I have at the moment are bog standard De Marchis which are ok but not especially comfy (and non bib also) and some Altura bibs that are too big for me and give me a wedgie.

I've settled on Santini because they actually cater to smaller sizes and also because Prendas are very easy to deal with.

Matthew

 

[bonj2]

in my experience some cycling shorts have a more 'technical' pad than others. They tend to be more expensive than those with a more basic pad.
The more technical the pad, the more expensive they will be.
They do/claim to do (delete as appropriate according to how cynical you are) on how to get the pad to stay in place when cycling, they claim that a more technical pad will perform better than a one piece pad when both legs are moving independently of one another. Again, to what extent you believe those claims is another matter.

What i will say though is in my experience those with a more technical pad seem to be better on a narrow race saddle, while those with a more basic pad seem to be 'better' (read: just as good, therefore better value 'cos they're cheaper) on a wider saddle like a brooks.

Examples of shorts with a technical pad: Assos, de-marchi
Examples of more 'basic' shorts: endura, trek.
Personal recommendations: Ive got some trek ones which were £26 and they are absolutely brilliant on the brooks, not too bad on the race saddle either. To such an extent i will usually reach for them first on an audax.

De marchi - they were quite expensive, fairly technical pad that seems to work quite well as they are always comfy after a long ride on a race saddle. Can't seem to find anyhwere that stocks them though now?

Giordana: fairly 'small' sized, but don't order one size larger to compensate. Small is good. Seems to be a bit of a stretch to get them on, but they stay in place better than any others, which makes them very comfy.

DHB: don't like them personally. Got some which are actually not bad when they're in position, but they 'ruck up' easily and aren't that comfy off the bike as they aren't the right shape. Some newer/more high end ones may be ok though, i know wiggle do improve them and bring out new ones fairly often.

Assos: brilliant but if anything slightly large sized, if in doubt get one size smaller. I have some in large and they just aren't tight enough to stay in place enough for road riding.

 

[MajorMantra]

De marchi - they were quite expensive, fairly technical pad that seems to work quite well as they are always comfy after a long ride on a race saddle. Can't seem to find anyhwere that stocks them though now?

They don't seem to have a UK distributor any more, or do they? I'd have quite liked to get some higher-end De Marchis since I know they fit from wearing their cheaper shorts. I even found this rather excellent looking deal on older stock but unfortunately red shorts just aren't very practical.

In general I'm limited to Euro brands as the UK oriented ones like Endura just don't cater to my size.

Matthew

 

[bonj2]

unfortunately red shorts just aren't very practical.

no they're not! (I know - one slight touch on the chainring or chain and it's not coming out. )

 

[yello]

How'd you manage that then?

Matthew

They were a replacement pair for the old style Milles that I had. After 3 years, sweat had eaten away at the fabric so I complained to Assos. They said that's what can happen to our lycra if you don't wash according to our instructions. But the offered me a new pair (the S5s) for half price.

So, I guess you could argue that they cost me the £75 replacement free PLUS the original purchase price of £96!

For what it's worth, I doubt I'd buy Assos again. It's top of the range gear and, as such, needs to be looked after pretty studiously. That's not my game. I don't appreciate the difference that much (nor have enough dosh!) to warrant the expense.

As I said, the Santinis at £60 are a damned good short at a price I'm happy to pay.