Why do we have padded cycling shorts ?

[MontyVeda]

Gel saddles may feel comfortable in the shop but in real life they soon become an irritation. Your pelvic bones sink into the padding and the rest of the saddle chafes and makes you sweat.

maybe that should read:

Your My pelvic bones sink into the padding and the rest of the saddle chafes and makes you me sweat.

I've had a gel saddle on for about 6 years and i don't get any chaffing or sweating. it's all down to personal experience and preference.

 

[snorri]

I've never felt the need to wear padding, although one of my bikes has a gel seat which is only comfortable for short trips,<10 miles.

 

[NormanD]

Wearing bib shorts (thin padding) on a hot muggy day (like today) and sweating buckets, it keep the meat and two veg cooler longer when out of the saddle down a steep decline more than a gel saddle would, the opposite in winter it keeps them slightly warmer

 

[youngoldbloke]

maybe that should read:

Your My pelvic bones sink into the padding and the rest of the saddle chafes and makes you me sweat.

I've had a gel saddle on for about 6 years and i don't get any chaffing or sweating. it's all down to personal experience and preference.

The choice of a saddle is of course a very personal matter - but what sort of riding do you do, what sort of distances? What make and model is the saddle?

 

[MacB]

use what works best for you, the influences on this are many, from personal anatomy and fitness levels, through type of cycling to the way you setup your bike.

The only thing that ever irks me, and I've fallen victim to this, is selecting form over function for whatever reason, normally fashion though.

 

[pshore]

A good spread of replies !

I know a lot of people who wear cycling shorts but I am in doubt that most people need them. I think what most people really need is a more padded seat. In my experience, it's only when you spend four or more hours in the saddle do you really need to consider good padded shorts.

I have to wonder if the bike industry has pulled a fast one here. Trim down the saddle and make that component cheaper to either make more profit or undercut the competition and it also makes your bike lighter. It's kind of like the less spokes is better argument.

u cant wash padded saddles regularly?

That's what I thought initially, but thinking more, sweat comes through the shorts and into the seats covering anyway. (unless you ride with a plastic seat or plastic bag on your BSO).

A padded seat will never hug your bum like a pair of shorts. So it won't actually eliminate those pesky saddle sores.

Personally, I have not found this. I have found on a long tour that wearing the same design of padded shorts can cause discomfort in a particular spot which builds over a few days. Switching to a different brand changes the pressure points giving relief to the original area.

Padding in shorts will move with the rider, padding on the seat will move with the bike.

Definitely true but I don't get the advantage. I move around from nose to tail on all my bikes' saddles and I still rate the more padded seats more. I know I can move around the slimmest road bike saddle more that I can the others but don't find it totally necessary. I find it more useful to have a slim MTB saddle so you can drop off the back.

If the padding is on the saddle it can still produce chafing as your legs move against it. The padding in the shorts moves with the legs and is a barrier.

Good point, however, if I wear running shorts (think padded cycling shorts without the pad) I don't get this rubbing issue. I do tend to wear baggies over the top so perhaps this is helping prevent friction.

I used to use padded cycle shorts. Then I discovered the greatest of all bicycle accessories, the Brooks B17.

My touring bike saddle is starting to wear and I am very (not sorely) tempted !

I've never felt the need to wear padding, although one of my bikes has a gel seat which is only comfortable for short trips,<10 miles.

Yes, my MTB and touring bikes I can ride for four or five hours without padding. My road bike however, I am limited to about three with whatever cycling shorts I wear.

To be honest, I have discovered for me, I need a bit of padding in the seat and a V cut down the middle then I am sorted.

So after all of that, I still don't quite get it. That Dilbert cartoon is spot on !

 

[tongskie01]

A good spread of replies !

I know a lot of people who wear cycling shorts but I am in doubt that most people need them. I think what most people really need is a more padded seat. In my experience, it's only when you spend four or more hours in the saddle do you really need to consider good padded shorts.

I have to wonder if the bike industry has pulled a fast one here. Trim down the saddle and make that component cheaper to either make more profit or undercut the competition and it also makes your bike lighter. It's kind of like the less spokes is better argument.


That's what I thought initially, but thinking more, sweat comes through the shorts and into the seats covering anyway. (unless you ride with a plastic seat or plastic bag on your BSO).



Personally, I have not found this. I have found on a long tour that wearing the same design of padded shorts can cause discomfort in a particular spot which builds over a few days. Switching to a different brand changes the pressure points giving relief to the original area.



Definitely true but I don't get the advantage. I move around from nose to tail on all my bikes' saddles and I still rate the more padded seats more. I know I can move around the slimmest road bike saddle more that I can the others but don't find it totally necessary. I find it more useful to have a slim MTB saddle so you can drop off the back.


Good point, however, if I wear running shorts (think padded cycling shorts without the pad) I don't get this rubbing issue. I do tend to wear baggies over the top so perhaps this is helping prevent friction.



My touring bike saddle is starting to wear and I am very (not sorely) tempted !



Yes, my MTB and touring bikes I can ride for four or five hours without padding. My road bike however, I am limited to about three with whatever cycling shorts I wear.

To be honest, I have discovered for me, I need a bit of padding in the seat and a V cut down the middle then I am sorted.

So after all of that, I still don't quite get it. That Dilbert cartoon is spot on !

its time for you to get a proper bike seat. not a saddle. if you want comfort get a recumbent bike. see hpv forum and youll see what i mean.

 

[pshore]

use what works best for you, the influences on this are many, from personal anatomy and fitness levels, through type of cycling to the way you setup your bike.

The only thing that ever irks me, and I've fallen victim to this, is selecting form over function for whatever reason, normally fashion though.

Wise words MacB.

Some people buy all the gear with the philosophy of buy the best, buy once but that has the risk of following the crowds decision. I am at the other end, buy what I think I need, and if I find the limits, I'll make an informed buying decision second time round.

And it is true that all these TdF guys have razor saddles and padded shorts, and I am sure they know what they want doing two weeks of hard racing. It doesn't seem to translate to my butt and my riding.

Maybe I am getting old, I can hear that Yellow Pages ad in my head.

 

[pshore]

its time for you to get a proper bike seat. not a saddle. if you want comfort get a recumbent bike. see hpv forum and youll see what i mean.

I am definitely recumbent curious, but don't want to make a leap of faith especially as sitting in the car gives me back ache and I never got on with 'bents at the gym.

Damn you ! You have planted a seed in my mind but I can't buy another N+1 ! I've got to keep my habit to one a year.

 

[MontyVeda]

The choice of a saddle is of course a very personal matter - but what sort of riding do you do, what sort of distances? What make and model is the saddle?

My daily commute is about half a mile . Weekend rides, 25-40 miles. The saddle is a San Marco (i think, can barely read the stamp now), no idea what model but it's nowt special, picked it up in a LBS closing down sale for about £8 years ago. And it has one of them holes in it. Ps. I have little to no natural padding on my arse

my philosophy with such things is... if it doesn't work, I'll know it doesn't, if I don't have any complaints, then it works.

 

[youngoldbloke]

There are Gel saddles and then there are gel saddles.... San Marco is a good brand. Many of the narrow saddles today have 'gel' in their description - for example you can get the classic Selle Italia SLR in a gel version. IMO the ones to avoid are the fat squishy ones. Personally I find saddles with very little padding comfortable, and they must be narrow for me. I use a Velo Pro - a poor man's SLR - I have very little natural padding too! It's a very personal thing.

 

[gaz]

Personally, I have not found this. I have found on a long tour that wearing the same design of padded shorts can cause discomfort in a particular spot which builds over a few days. Switching to a different brand changes the pressure points giving relief to the original area.

So you are saying that a padded seat is better than padded shorts because?

 

[pshore]

So you are saying that a padded seat is better than padded shorts because?

Cycling shorts are expensive relative to running shorts. Seat prices don't go up when you add padding to them. For me, and maybe a lot of other people, if their bike came with a padded seat they would never need to buy cycling shorts.

 

[gaz]

Cycling shorts are expensive relative to running shorts. Seat prices don't go up when you add padding to them. For me, and maybe a lot of other people, if their bike came with a padded seat they would never need to buy cycling shorts.

How ever that relates to my original comment, i do not know.

 

[pshore]

All I was trying to say Gaz, was that I don't think cycling shorts are a magic solution to reducing saddle sores. But they are an easier solution.

If you can get the right seat for you, there is no need for cycling shorts.
If you can get an ok seat for you, cycling shorts help increase the distance you can use that seat for.
If you have a bad seat, no cycling shorts are going to help.

The problem is, cost prohibits us from trying enough saddles to get the right one for us. I have not yet found my perfect saddle, so I am still using cycling shorts.

Maybe, I am chasing an impossible ideal here, as said earlier, the pros are still using padded shorts and not B17's.