Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > General Cycling Discussion
Reload this Page >

Bike shorts and hygiene

Notices
General Cycling Discussion Have a cycling related question or comment that doesn't fit in one of the other specialty forums? Drop on in and post in here! When possible, please select the forum above that most fits your post!

Bike shorts and hygiene

Old 07-24-21, 08:50 AM
  #1  
cyclopath256
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Germany
Posts: 10
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Bike shorts and hygiene

Hi!

I am planning a 5 day bike tour, starting from my doorstep and wild camping on the way. I am using cycling shorts with padding, but only have one pair. Since they are quite expensive where I live (90 Euros in Germany), I hesitate buying another pair. I know that wearing underwear under the shorts is a big no-no in the cycling community, but I have even considered that to increase the level of hygiene on the trip.

Do you take multiple cycling shorts on multi-day bike tours? How do you care for hygiene down there?

Thanks!
cyclopath256 is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 09:13 AM
  #2  
Tomm Willians
Senior Member
 
Tomm Willians's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Nevada County, California
Posts: 780

Bikes: Subject to change at any given moment but currently is...... Colnago Mapei, Colnago C40, Wilier Triestina Carbon, Wilier Triestina Ramato, Follis 472, Peugeot PX60, Razesa, Orbea Terra, Soma Pescadero and 1/2 owner of a Santana tandem.

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 322 Post(s)
Liked 774 Times in 260 Posts
I was not aware that wearing underwear was an issue?? I’ve never cycled without them and cannot think why it would a problem??
much cheaper than extra cycling shorts……
Tomm Willians is offline  
Likes For Tomm Willians:
Old 07-24-21, 09:15 AM
  #3  
Iride01 
I'm good to go!
 
Iride01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 14,800

Bikes: Tarmac Disc Comp Di2 - 2020

Mentioned: 50 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6099 Post(s)
Liked 4,730 Times in 3,260 Posts
I'd buy several pair. Maybe start a go fund me page if you have to. Otherwise just rinse them in fresh clean water at the end of every day. If you have a little oxyclean, or other sanitizer, then add it, but rinse twice with the last being just water. Let dry in the best breeze you can, but if they aren't completely dry the next start time, why care, they'll be sweaty soon anyway.

Underwear will just increase your chance of getting sores from wrinkles and abrasion. Underwear won't make anything any better. It's the microbes, fungus and stuff that will grow in the moist fabric that will bother your skin. They need to be removed daily so their population is kept to a minimum.
Iride01 is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 09:23 AM
  #4  
cxwrench
Senior Member
 
cxwrench's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Nor-Cal
Posts: 3,767

Bikes: lots

Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1958 Post(s)
Liked 2,932 Times in 1,489 Posts
Originally Posted by Tomm Willians
I was not aware that wearing underwear was an issue?? I’ve never cycled without them and cannot think why it would a problem??
much cheaper than extra cycling shorts……
It's been universally accepted...forever...that you don't wear anything under cycling shorts with a chamois. Never.
cxwrench is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 09:26 AM
  #5  
Rolla
Guest
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 2,888
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1346 Post(s)
Liked 3,269 Times in 1,439 Posts
Not sure what your accommodations on the tour will be, but, if you turn your shorts inside out and leave them out in the sun, the UV rays will kill off bacteria. You can also bring a small bottle of Woolite and rinse them out in a sink between uses. Personally, I'd take two pairs; one to ride in while the other is sunbathing or drying out.
Rolla is offline  
Likes For Rolla:
Old 07-24-21, 09:36 AM
  #6  
Nessism
Senior Member
 
Nessism's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Torrance, CA
Posts: 3,059

Bikes: Homebuilt steel

Mentioned: 18 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2180 Post(s)
Liked 419 Times in 332 Posts
Buy more riding shorts. If you can't afford them you shouldn't be touring the countryside. Easy for me to say I suppose. At least carry some soap and wash the shorts everyday. Even if they don't fully dry at least the bacteria will be neutralized.
Nessism is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 09:40 AM
  #7  
Chuckles1
Full Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Foothills of West Central Maine
Posts: 410

Bikes: 2007 Motobecane Fantom Cross Expert, 2020 Motobecane Omni Strada Pro Disc (700c gravel bike), 2021 Motobecane Elite Adventure with Bafang 500W rear hub drive

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 173 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 143 Times in 94 Posts
Wear underwear and only wear cycling shorts when cycling. Make a point to keep them clean as you can.
Chuckles1 is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 09:55 AM
  #8  
cyclopath256
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Germany
Posts: 10
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Thanks to all your answers. Okay, I'll bite the bullet and buy another pair of cycling shorts. That way one pair can be washed in the evening and the second pair worn during the day while the first pair dries.

Which brings another question: given how slow the padding dries, how do you dry it? Ideally I would like to hang it up somewhere on the bike where the wind would act like a dryer, providing it doesn't rain of course. Do you have any experience with that?
cyclopath256 is offline  
Likes For cyclopath256:
Old 07-24-21, 10:11 AM
  #9  
debade
Full Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: WA
Posts: 476

Bikes: Trek Domane, Trek 2120, Trek 520, Schwinn Voyager step through

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 168 Post(s)
Liked 105 Times in 77 Posts
Get a shock cord and attach the pants to the rack. I put them on my back rack. Time and sun dries them, typically before the end of the day. In fact, I dry most of my clothes that way while on tour.

BTW. if it is less expensive, just purchase a chamois and wear it with shorts you may already own. Or buy a less expensive short, such as nylon athletic shorts. I am not aware of any advantages of wearing skin tight shorts on a tour where the goal is site seeing and not speed.
debade is offline  
Likes For debade:
Old 07-24-21, 10:22 AM
  #10  
iReadBlitz
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 11

Bikes: '21 Specialized Allez Elite

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 13 Times in 6 Posts
Originally Posted by Iride01
I'd buy several pair. Maybe start a go fund me page if you have to. Otherwise just rinse them in fresh clean water at the end of every day. If you have a little oxyclean, or other sanitizer, then add it, but rinse twice with the last being just water. Let dry in the best breeze you can, but if they aren't completely dry the next start time, why care, they'll be sweaty soon anyway.
A gofundme for an extra pair of cycling shorts? hahaha now I’ve really heard it all.
iReadBlitz is offline  
Likes For iReadBlitz:
Old 07-24-21, 10:23 AM
  #11  
PeteHski
Senior Member
 
PeteHski's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 8,164
Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4271 Post(s)
Liked 4,707 Times in 2,907 Posts
If you buy more shorts, get a pair with a removable liner/chamois. So then you can use the same outer shell with several pairs of liners. A lot of shorts now come as a shell without a liner, which you then buy separately. So you could buy one shell and 2 or 3 liners to rotate.
PeteHski is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 10:30 AM
  #12  
cyclopath256
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Germany
Posts: 10
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Thank you all! That was some excellent advice!
cyclopath256 is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 11:42 AM
  #13  
indyfabz
Senior Member
 
indyfabz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,050
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18318 Post(s)
Liked 15,265 Times in 7,222 Posts
Originally Posted by cyclopath256
Thanks to all your answers. Okay, I'll bite the bullet and buy another pair of cycling shorts. That way one pair can be washed in the evening and the second pair worn during the day while the first pair dries.

Which brings another question: given how slow the padding dries, how do you dry it? Ideally I would like to hang it up somewhere on the bike where the wind would act like a dryer, providing it doesn't rain of course. Do you have any experience with that?
Hang them inside out, preferably in the sun, with them stretched out some. I tour with two pair. Sometimes I hang the from the bike bars.

If they don’t dry over night you can strap them to your rear rack if you have them. Wind and sun will dry them pretty quickly.

And wearing unwashed shorts won’t mean the end of the world for you.

Last edited by indyfabz; 07-24-21 at 11:46 AM.
indyfabz is online now  
Old 07-24-21, 11:51 AM
  #14  
Chuck M 
Happy With My Bikes
 
Chuck M's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 2,185

Bikes: Hi-Ten bike boomers, a Trek Domane and some projects

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 867 Post(s)
Liked 2,277 Times in 1,099 Posts
Underwear under padded cycling shorts is not a big no no. I wear seamless, form fitting and breathable underwear under my cycling shorts all the time. Underwear isn't going to do anything to help the OP's sweat, bacteria and taint odors but other advice has been offered for that. I'm only chiming in because the Internet has propagated a slew of rules not just for cycling that people hold as a universal truth.
__________________
"It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels." -- Heinz Stücke

Chuck M is offline  
Likes For Chuck M:
Old 07-24-21, 12:02 PM
  #15  
PeteHski
Senior Member
 
PeteHski's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 8,164
Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4271 Post(s)
Liked 4,707 Times in 2,907 Posts
Originally Posted by Chuck M
Underwear under padded cycling shorts is not a big no no. I wear seamless, form fitting and breathable underwear under my cycling shorts all the time. Underwear isn't going to do anything to help the OP's sweat, bacteria and taint odors but other advice has been offered for that. I'm only chiming in because the Internet has propagated a slew of rules not just for cycling that people hold as a universal truth.
I would say the advice pre-dates the internet by decades. Nothing to stop you being different though if it works for you.
PeteHski is offline  
Likes For PeteHski:
Old 07-24-21, 12:07 PM
  #16  
GhostRider62
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Posts: 4,083
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2332 Post(s)
Liked 2,094 Times in 1,311 Posts
I've ridden in a pair of bibs for 5 straight days. Probably not the best idea but I was ok with it. The jersey smelt much worse.

I don't really need padding and sometimes nowadays, I use black "crew" rowing shorts. They are tight and black but no pad. I think I paid $10 for two pair online.
GhostRider62 is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 12:12 PM
  #17  
KJ43
Dead but dreaming
 
KJ43's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Bay Area, CA (East Bay - Contra Costa County)
Posts: 407

Bikes: 2020 Santa Cruz Stigmata, 2022 Cannondale Synapse

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 157 Post(s)
Liked 318 Times in 178 Posts
I got the advice well before the Internet was around not to wear anything under my cycling shorts. I can't imagine needing (or wanting) to have anything, regardless of how form fitting it is, underneath my cycling shorts.

I'm not going to make fun of anyone else for doing so (well, maybe privately).
KJ43 is offline  
Likes For KJ43:
Old 07-24-21, 01:33 PM
  #18  
Camilo
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 6,760
Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1106 Post(s)
Liked 1,197 Times in 758 Posts
I believe cycling shorts are actually designed to be worn without any material (i.e. undies) between the skin and the pad. The material that makes the pad is better for sweaty skin contact than underwear, plus the absence of wrinkles or chafing from underwear material. That's been my experience anyway having started with special "cycling" underwear at first and then no underwear for the last 20 years or so.

Anyway, another reason not to wear underwear is if you use chamois cream. I've recently started using it more than in the past and it help with potential sores.

I have baggies with a removable "liner" too. But that liner is pretty much a scant bicycle short, not much different than my old non-bib shorts. I can't see how that would reduce the issue in the OP- still requires the same maintenance / cleaning as any bike shorts. Just buy another pair of bike shorts and wear them under baggies - and that's any baggy shorts, not "bike" shorts - if you like wearing baggies.
Camilo is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 01:37 PM
  #19  
downhillmaster
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 1,682
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 980 Post(s)
Liked 776 Times in 402 Posts
Wear the clean pair on day one.
On day two wash them and strap them to your rack to air dry while you ride commando style.
Repeat
downhillmaster is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 01:59 PM
  #20  
fredlord
Full Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Posts: 226
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 144 Post(s)
Liked 119 Times in 70 Posts
Apart from everything else that's wrong with underpants on a bike, after washing them they take longer to dry than bike shorts. On short tours I take two pairs of bike shorts and a pair of undies for off the bike.
fredlord is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 02:30 PM
  #21  
Iride01 
I'm good to go!
 
Iride01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 14,800

Bikes: Tarmac Disc Comp Di2 - 2020

Mentioned: 50 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6099 Post(s)
Liked 4,730 Times in 3,260 Posts
If you want to wear a underwear then use the sports type underwear that is made from synthetic material. They look pretty much like cycling shorts anyhow. So you'll be fine just wearing them and nothing else.

But if you need cycling shorts for the chamois, then don't use anything else between the cycling shorts and your skin.
Iride01 is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 02:38 PM
  #22  
shelbyfv
Expired Member
 
shelbyfv's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: TN
Posts: 11,453
Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3634 Post(s)
Liked 5,311 Times in 2,699 Posts
I don't know why someone would wear undies with cycling shorts unless they had some medical or digestive issue. On tours I prefer to go commando after the ride, let the parts air out. Bring a pair of boxers for sleep wear. Also, in the past I've used the heated hand dryers/blowers in restrooms to dry stuff. I read recently that they can harbor germs so that may not be a good idea.

Last edited by shelbyfv; 07-24-21 at 02:43 PM. Reason: Also....
shelbyfv is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 03:05 PM
  #23  
gringomojado
Full Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 475
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 200 Post(s)
Liked 136 Times in 86 Posts
Originally Posted by cxwrench
It's been universally accepted...forever...that you don't wear anything under cycling shorts with a chamois. Never.
When not riding a grand tour event, I wear underwear. I also have a kickstand on my bikes (most)
gm
gringomojado is offline  
Old 07-24-21, 03:33 PM
  #24  
kahn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: northWET washington
Posts: 1,197
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 383 Post(s)
Liked 690 Times in 396 Posts
If not the bacteria or fungus, the dryed/caked salt quotient would do me in and abrade terribly.
kahn is offline  
Likes For kahn:
Old 07-24-21, 04:08 PM
  #25  
indyfabz
Senior Member
 
indyfabz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,050
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18318 Post(s)
Liked 15,265 Times in 7,222 Posts
Originally Posted by GhostRider62
The jersey smelt much worse.
So true.

Many years ago I rode 6 days without a shower and only rinsed my riding kits a couple of times and then only in cold spigot water. Three of those days were pretty warm and humid. Checked into a motel after the sixth day. The woman working the desk looked at me like I was a Sasquatch. When I emerged from my room after cleaning up, the young girl sweeping up the parking lot said “You look like a totally different person.”
indyfabz is online now  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.