Originally Posted by
jrickards
My Sugoi shorts tend to chafe (strange, considering how much I paid for them) but my new Louis Garneau (worn once each short) seem to be much better. Do you find that some brands/models of shorts fit one person fine and another not so well?
Yes, definitely.
I went through a whole process of trying to find decent cycling shorts for long distance riding several years ago. I tried on all kinds of shorts, mens and womens, brands from very expensive to not expensive at all.
I have a slight allergy to nylon/lycra so the blend has to be just right for me or I feel like ripping them off about 2 minutes after I had them on ... so I weeded out a whole bunch that way. Then, the padding needed to cover my sitbones. I did not want to sit on the seams or not sit on any portion of the padding at all. And some had very narrow padding or padding in all the wrong places. I also don't like it when the padding is formed into lumps and bumps all over the place. I like relatively thin padding that is all one smooth piece. So that weeded out a lot more. And finally I ended up with the $35 shorts from MEC.
They were wonderful ... so comfortable. Unfortunately I wore them out (as you do after a couple years of long distance cycling), and I ordered more to be picked up when I went to Canada in 2011. And sadly, they have changed their shorts. The padding is lumpy and bumpy now. The shorts are OK, but I'm not sure I could wear them for much more than a 200K.
You've got to find something that works for you (and I'm back on the hunt again for really good long distance cycling shorts).