Dopefish905

I wear castelli's bibshorts ($120 a pair) for the past few years, and have been getting about 12k Kms or a season and a bit outta them before I find the chamois is to broken down or they start to wear through on the backend. I do wash them with my other clothes on normal cycle but don't put them in the dryer and don't baby them to much..This got my thinking if this was adverage, good or bad for lifespan. How long do yours usually last!?

DrIsotope

I buy the cheapest Pearl Izumi bibs I can get, the Quest Bib Shorts. I had only two pair for about 18 months, and both are quite worn on the fronts of the thighs (sun damage?) but the chamois and the rest of the shorts are in great shape. I'd say ~14,000 miles split between the two.

I have 4 pairs now, and because I'm cheap to the core, If I'm going out for like 20-25 miles, I'll still wear the old ones. They ain't dead until they're dead.

DXchulo

Castelli's bibs aren't known for their durability.

I ride 12,000 miles per year and do bike laundry once a week. I get about 3 years out of my shorts. They start out as my preferred shorts, then about a year in I'll mainly use them on short rides. By the 3rd year they're probably relegated to winter use because of the buttcrack window.

I've never actually had a chamois go bad on me. It's always the rear wearing through.

popeye

I can't image trying to get by on one pair.

cthenn

I think mine break down more from washing than wearing. I should probably switch to hand wash, but that's a huge PITA, so I machine wash gentle and hang dry everything. Hard to say how long they last, I've had some last for several years (some may be 10 years old or more, but those are on trainer duty only now). It's more about number of washings IMO, but again, super hard to say because I have so many pairs I may go a month or more before wearing the same pair again.

Basically I didn't answer your question...

wallrat

I use Performance Ultra bibs and they last 2-3 years, more or less. I wash with my normal laundry. I have 3 bib shorts and 3 mountain bike shorts since I ride both (and cx). I usually buy one pair of each, each year and cycle out the worst one.

Carbonfiberboy 

I buy 1 pair/year and toss the crummiest pair. I have about 8 pair in my drawer. They're all different because manufacturers change or bring out models at least once/year. It's nice to change the nip on one's butt and try different ones. Over the years, one develops a sense of what's going to work well and which manufacturer's products are more durable. PI Elite and above and high-end Voler have been more durable.

rpenmanparker 

Marginally early failure of even expensive shorts is a small price to pay for the convenience of machine washing and drying your cycling shorts. And that is assuming you do see early failure. I don't even think twice about it.

noodle soup

It depends.

rpenmanparker 

Wait, you wear Depends when you ride? Ya know, that might not be an bad idea.

kbarch

I've only been riding a few years, but I've found my oldest shorts have relaxed a bit and stretch/give more easily than I'd like. Lycra does that if you wash it a lot. Not directly a matter of miles or time.

Wittyname

I've got a couple pairs of Performance Ultra bibs that I use for commuting, the chamois have definitely seen better days. I'd say 75-100 trips through the washer.

All my dhb stuff is holding together nicely, although it's mostly about a year old, so 40ish washings on the oldest two pairs, 20-30 on the rest

Spoonrobot 

For most I got between 65-85 wearings from a pair of shorts before they started coming apart. I usually bought low-end or mid-range from Wiggle's house brand dhb. My kits were usually between $80-$125, shorts price usually $40-$80. Average wearing would be 2 hours/30 miles. But sometimes as short as 30 minutes or as long as 9 hours.

My only really nice pair of shorts from Voler lasted about 150 wearings. I really liked them but I've since abandoned wearing cycling kit and just ride in wool shorts and a t-shirt. Saving money and lookin' fredly

mvnsnd

I have a couple of pairs of Castelli bibs and they're on season 3 right now. I think they have held up well considering being worn once a week. Machine wash with other sport clothes, hang to dry. Chamois still looking and feeling good and now real wear on the fabrics.

SpeshulEd 

I have around 30 or so kits that I've accumulated over the years, as most get older I just turn them into trainer-only kits. That said, I think the worst bibs that I've acquired would have to be the nashbar ones I bought when I first started riding, they were only $20, so I wasn't expecting much. My other least favorite pair would be from Champion Systems, which were even their higher quality variety.

Favorites would be from Rapha, Black Sheep, and Casp.

And the best budget friendly, yet comfortable and durable, would be from Heavy Pedal. I have kits from them that still look great after 2-3 years of wear, and they cost me less than $150 for the entire kit.

thehammerdog

well, I have no idea as I wear several and they last for ever but for me it is when my rider buddy at some time in the ride goes Hey Dude you need to buy new shorts as I can see your arse in that Big Hole ....

MRT2

Amen to that. If you do any activity multiple times a week, get a backup pair, or two.

I am with others in buying one or two pair of shorts or bibs per year, and working them into the rotation. Older pairs are relegated to winter cycling under tights or spinning classes.

kbarch

Although the relaxing aspect is most noticeable to me as a sign of age, I just remembered a couple of pair where the seat quickly showed signs of wear. They have a sort of micro pattern that was sort rubbed out after a couple of long rides on a saddle that has a slight texture.

caloso

Same. I get two pair of bibs each year and try to save those for races and team rides. Last season or two get worn for training/commuting; really old ones are relegated to trainer and under tights.

CrankyNeck

I have a pair of Performance bibs that I've had for years, probably 7 or 8. They're about ready to be tossed now though. I've found that by rinsing them after riding and line drying them inside out in the sun until they are just dry and only machine washing them after about every 5 rides really prolongs the life. Salt in your sweat really eats away at them so rinsing right away gets rid of that and the line-drying in the sun provides disinfection.

DiabloScott

I have a pair of bibs that are


... THIRTY YEARS OLD ...

Hind is the brand, first pair I ever bought. Legs are kind of short compared to today's.

The chamois is worthless, but I only wear them under my winter tights anyway... that also avoids any embarassing thin spots.

Stitching is holding on by a thread.

rfmarotti

Dryer too? I don't think twice about machine washing, but I always hang dry.

kbarch

Same here. Hand wash vs machine wash gentle cycle usually not much difference, but hang vs tumble dry, a significant difference. And a waste of energy.

evets11

Alright, somewhat old thread and I'm committing SACRILEGE here by admitting this: but my COTTON .... YES COTTON cycling shorts last about 1 yr/3000 miles. I wear THE ONLY COTTON CYCLING SHORTS WITH A CHAMOIS PAD MADE!!! (That I'm aware of and my online research confirms). They're "Canari Core shorts" 90% cotton/10% spandex. No they aren't "Bib shorts". They fade to brown, the stiching around the chamois at the back of the shorts rips and the synthetic chamois flattens to 1/2 thickness to the point of being shot after about 1 yr/3000 miles. But they cost only $20 !!! Contrary to popular belief cotton is 'just fine' as a cycling clothing material. So what if it absorbs sweat!? As long as you're not riding in EXTREME HEAT/HUMIDITY you won't sweat enough to flood the shorts, and they don't 'retain body odor' (That's B.S.), maybe just the underarms of Tshirts, but that's if you wear them for days w/o washing them. MAN these shorts are COMFORTABLE and have enough spandex to hold their shape snugly enough but not TOO snug. I wear regular thin cotton Tshirts on under 30 mile rides where I don't need to carry food items in jersey pockets. I know I'm gonna get sneers from the 'Bike snobs' for admitting this but I don't care. I just LOVE the feel of cotton against my skin. Lycra/spandex just feels like I'm wearing plastic clothes. I never liked the feel. I PREFER Merino wool but its WAY TOO EXPENSIVE and I'm a tightwad$ so I wear cotton. So does Lon Haldeman, the famous RAAM winner. He PREFERS wearing regular cotton Tshirts riding his bike and I GUARANTEE he's a MUCH BETTER cyclist than you or I.

SylvainG

My cheap Chinese bib from Amazon that I bought in April 2017 still shows no sign of wear (with over 7,000 km of use) and is as comfortable as the black bib I bought last month.