ThermionicScott 

Why the insistence on pants? Especially in NC? I wear gym shorts for commuting and shorter rides, and nothing is wearing out prematurely.

TallRider

while cotton may wear out anyway, it'll presumably do it less quickly with a smoother saddle surface.

I bike everywhere, every day, but don't want to design my wardrobe around cycling, because most of my commutes are not significant distance.
I don't insist on pants; I'll wear pants or shorts depending on the weather. One of the beauties of being an academic is this flexibility.

raworkshop

Riding with dignity is highly underrated on these boards.

On the subject, I say buy pants worth repairing and do so. I'm biased because I have more than a few sewing machines. Buy less, buy better, exactly as you would for a bicycle component.

For laughs, here's the crotch of a pair of jeans I made 5 years ago and has seen legions of abuse on every form of transit since. 3 patches have been added since this photo was taken.


IMG_0424.JPG by PaleoDenim, on Flickr

scottbaker828

Same boat as you TallRider; communting always by bike, and I find it unreasonable to put on bike-specific clothing for every single short ride.
Did you reach any conclusions after all these years?
Its very hard to find info on this topic.

PaulH

Brooks B67 has worked well for the past 20 years.

rhm

Leather saddles like Brooks are pretty great.

But if your saddle is subjected to wet weather, leather is not ideal. I think OP said that, so I'm just pointing out the obvious.

That's why I've been riding a Cinelli Unicanitor CMX on many of my long rides lately.



It was a little too hard when I got it, so I removed a lot of plastic off the top, basically thinned it until it felt just like a leather saddle, and then I sanded it smooth and polished it to a nice hard slippery surface.

phughes

Welcome back Zombie Thread. The conclusion is a leather saddle.

79pmooney

The plastic and plastic covered racing saddles of years ago were quite slippery. I'd look for one of those. There's the Unicanitor which is simply a plastic shell. They're still around on the net. Or just go to a coop and look through their boxes. The fancy plastics that don't slide are relatively recent innovations.

Edit: rhm beat me to the punch.

rhm

Doh! i didn't notice.

phughes

Well at least the person who resurrected the thread actually asked a question, rather than offering up advice in response to an eight year old inquiry.

hsuBM

welcome to bf. Don’t wear cotton- as mentioned in an earlier post, it wears itself out. Don’t wear denim unless you’re Jay Leno. Golf pants are less undignified than Lycra but last nearly as long and they breathe.

scottbaker828

Thanks all for the feedback. Seems like slippery plastic or leather will be worth a shot.
If it turns out that my cotton jeans and dress pants are simply wearing out from internal friction, then it may just be my fate to have to replace them every two years; I see that as a better fate than changing my pants an extra 3 times per day (1000 times per year).

rhm

It really depends on what works for you. I commute in my work clothes, either jeans or chinos, which I prefer (for cycling purposes) to any kind of cycling pants. But a lot of the guys on this forum prefer cycling shorts or the like, even for commuting. I'm not knocking that. When my pants wear out in the saddle region, I replace them. But by that time they usually have other stains, not just the obligatory chain lube smear on the right cuff, but often inexplicable stains elsewhere (evidently I'm a slob).

mountaindave 

In the 8 years since I originally replied, I've worn out a lot of short and pants commuting to work. It's less than 1000 miles a year, but it's enough to make me take notice of what works and what doesn't. I ride almost exclusively leather saddles (I have an RHM as well )

As mentioned, cotton wears out fast. I have found that a cotton-poly blend works quite well - but breathability can be an issue. I had a pair of army surplus BDU's (the generic green army pants) that wore the zipper out before the seat of the pants and I wore it for years. But that pair wasn't very breathable.

I love Riggs by Wrangler cargo work pants, but the cotton doesn't last much more than a year in the seat. They're hot in the summer too.

I'm now testing two different styles of Red Kap cargo pants (standard and double knee). They fit me better than Dickies shop pants, which are another option. Both are cotton-poly blends and aren't too heavyweight.

Another pair I'm trying is the Carhartt Force relaxed fit ripstop cargo pants. Very lightweight, a little stretch, but the pockets are not deep enough on my 2 year old pair.

I typically buy pants and then convert them into shorts. I have used the leftover material to reinforce the seat. Also, I'm only 6'2", but I have the legs of someone who is 6'6" which makes most off-the-shelf shorts look like I'm wearing shorty-shorts. And this 45 year old can't pull that look off... OK, I never could.

I'll check back in 8 years to let you know how it goes.

noglider 

@TallRider, you started this thread eight years ago. Have you settled on a saddle you like?