Cycling Shorts - Comfort

[Skins]

I'm looking for the most comfortable cycling shorts with the best Chamois with a budget of up to £80.
Advice appreciated please.

[Nicholas]

I think you might struggle to get a definitive answer there. The comfort level and perceived quality of chamois will surely be different for everyone?

[pjclinch]

"Best" is pretty much always down to context. In this case the shape and makeup of your undercarriage and things nearby, your riding position, the saddle you're using.

Everyone wants "the best", but if there were a genuine all-contexts "best" at any given price then it wouldn't be too long before everyone else was out of the market.

So, advice is to try on as many as you can and select by what your body tells you. Part of the problem here is you can only try on as you would ride in them if you're going to commit to keeping them, because of the hygiene implications of returning stuff you've worn with no underwear. Which is a damn nuisance, but is also understandable and reasonable.

Also note that a lot of folk find bibs more comfortable than plain shorts, particularly on longer rides.

Pete.

[yostumpy]

I find it’s not so much the pad, but the stitching . I discovered that the shorts with the course zig zag stitching around the edge are not for me, because when one gets a tad moist, they rub like sandpaper.

[gxaustin]

I like my Lusso ProGel bibs.
i also have other, more expensive bibs but they aren't all that much better.

[rareposter]

Reading some of the magazine guides might give you a decent starting point....
For example:

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-tes ... ide-137253

The problem is that as mentioned above, you're unlikely to find "the best" because what is best for someone else may not be best for you.

Should also point out that even the "best shorts on a budget" in that Cycling Weekly article retail at over £100 (although they're on sale at the moment for less) so £80 may not get you a lot unless you look at the Decathlon/Halfords end of the market.

There's nothing wrong with that by the way, I'm just pointing out that for a lot of brands, £80 isn't even the budget end any more...

This "best..." guide includes some of the cheaper options.

https://road.cc/buyers-guide/best-cycling-bib-shorts

[Audax67]

If you're skinny then at some point you might try one of Assos's budget offerings, but their budget isn't yours by a long chalk. OTOH when you limp home at the end of a long ride with blisters and blood in your shorts you might wish you'd stumped up the difference.

[hamster]

Castelli, Lusso, Altura and Endura all work well for me.

No shorts will make up for a saddle that's the wrong shape though!

[Cyckelgalen]

Below that price level, I've read very good reviews of Decathlon's latest high-end pad, called Endurance 2.5 HD.

[PT1029]

I find Altura ones good, about £50 or so (blue coloured pad).
They do a cheaper model too, inferior black (more fleecy) liner with slightly more floppier lycra. (Well, I've had mine for some years, I assume they do something similar still).
The £50 ones were labelled as 4 hrs +, the cheaper ones I think they say 2 hrs. Also Alturs stuff is easy for a local bike shop to stock, so thee is a realistic chance of finding somewhere to try them on (while keeping your underwear on of course).

Ultimatey, what ever you choose has to work for your shape/proportions. I have tried some others that just were not a comfortable fit, they never got as far as being sat on on a bike saddle.

[mjr]

OTOH when you limp home at the end of a long ride with blisters and blood in your shorts you might wish you'd stumped up the difference.

Was your saddle made of razor blades or otherwise drastically wrong for you? No pad will compensate for that.

[pjclinch]

OTOH when you limp home at the end of a long ride with blisters and blood in your shorts you might wish you'd stumped up the difference.

Was your saddle made of razor blades or otherwise drastically wrong for you? No pad will compensate for that.

I kind of assume that Audax67 does Audaxes, which by most folks' standards start quite long and end very long. I've never done more than a century in a day, but folk packing in the serious miles are where I'd expect a good pad to make a potentially big difference, even after finding a good saddle for themselves.

Those are, however, exceptional cases.

Pete.

[mjr]

I've never done more than a century in a day, but folk packing in the serious miles are where I'd expect a good pad to make a potentially big difference, even after finding a good saddle for themselves.

I've done more than a century in a day. If the saddle fits and the clothes are seamless over it, the legs should give up long before the bum is anywhere near blistered or bloody.

[Audax67]

OTOH when you limp home at the end of a long ride with blisters and blood in your shorts you might wish you'd stumped up the difference.

Was your saddle made of razor blades or otherwise drastically wrong for you? No pad will compensate for that.

Nope, plastic. Then I stopped using FFCT shorts and discovered Assos and leather saddles.

[Audax67]

I kind of assume that Audax67 does Audaxes

Pete.

Did when I joined the forum. Too decrepit now - that 67 refers to the département I live in, not to the year I was born. Still do the odd 200, but with a motor.