Originally Posted by
Wooderson
I
I disagree that bike clothes aren't worn out by washing. I personally think washing causes more wear than wearing them. When I washed and dryed my kits with regular clothes, they only lasted a season. Since using Hand Wash and laying flat to try, they last several years.
How? Think about what you put those shorts through on a regular basis. The shorts are rubbing against the saddle 60 to 90 times per minute. Over an hour, the shorts have been rubbed against the saddle 3600 to 5400 times. I have shorts that are 20 years old. I don't wear them every time I go for a ride but I'd say 10 percent of the time. Over that 20 years, I've ridden 63,000 miles so I've ridden each pair of shorts about 6300 miles. At a 12 mph average (which I do measure and is disappointingly consistent), that 525 hours on each pair of shorts or 31,500 minutes. That means the shorts have come in contact with the saddle between 1.8 million and 2.8 million times. A washer doesn't even approach that kind of abrasion. And even after all that contact, my shorts don't appear to be wearing out nor do I expect them to asplode on my next ride.
Bicycle shorts aren't "delicate".