pennpaul

I just need a pair of over tights to go over my regular cycling bib shorts. I have a pair of tights but there's already a chamois in there which is old and not comfortable anymore.

I'm assuming when they make these tights, they start with regular tights and sew in the chamois so I'd just be reversing the process. Can I take a seam ripper to the chamois and separate the chamois from the tights and not have some gaping hole, right?

BlazingPedals

Yes you can. As a recumbent rider, I've removed pads from shorts and tights before. Just be careful that you don't cut the lycra.

mjac

As I stated in another post, one company, AeroTech Desigs, has a racing chamois that they don't have in any of their shorts yet and they sell it as a replacement chamois where someone removes their old chamois and sews in their racing chamois. I don't understand it or see how that can be cost effective but that is what they do. I assume you have to be very careful around the seams.

pennpaul

Easier said than done. Performance Bike must have paid their chamois sewers by the stitch! After 2 hours I'm about 75% done. The real challenge has been finding the black threads to snip against a black field of Lycra. There are some small holes from slips of the seam ripper which I might have to patch, but I'm almost there.

BlazingPedals

??? It's usually just a zig-zag stitch. Use the seam-ripper on the pad side, then pull the flags once the pad is off. If you have to darn holes in the lycra, you may as well put the pad back in because those spots will wear holes in your skin.

caloso

I'm sure you could, with a seam ripper and a lot of patience. Or you could just go to Dick's/Big 5/Sports Authority and get a pair of generic running tights.

pennpaul

That's how I started but only a fraction of the pad is white. The rest is black and the threads are even harder to get at (and see) since the pad is fleecy and the thread is buried in the pad. I'm wearing these tights over my regular shorts. If the tights survive me pulling them on, I might not patch the holes which aren't large.

I'm that cheap. I figured the groundhog predicted an early spring and this summer we are moving to a much warmer climate for at least 2 years so I just need these to last a couple more months.

_ForceD_

My go-to longleg tights are actually an old pair of my wife's yoga pants. They got just a little too stretched out for her liking. I said "Hey, don't throw those out." I tried them on...and with the slight flannel-like lining...they're a perfect fit for winter riding. (I'm that cheap, too.)

Dan

mjac

Two hours? You got to be kidding.

sdmc530

I had a older pair of specialized bibs that the pas was bad, so I removed it. The bibs are now it very bad repair with holes in them where they were stitched in the pad area. I didn't take great care removing the sewing and ruined them.

I wear them indoors still but lots of small holes in them. I won't try it again

pennpaul

Finally done and I'm going to call the operation a success. The largest hole is smaller than the size of a dime and the other is smaller than an eraser head and both are not in a stretchy area so I'm not really concerned it's going to blow out on a ride. At worst they'll last another season but they've made it 20 years and I can see them lasting a lot longer.