bikecommuter13

I have been wearing pants for cycling ever since. I am not into shorts. So I think it will be more natural for me to transition to cycling tights, right? Do I just wear the tights without anything else? Or do I wear a pair of under pants, and then the tights?

Lanceoldstrong

Yup, good tights have a, lightly padded, and seamless chamois in them.

Go with a chamois and no underwear a time or two, and the comfort will win you over for life.

tjspiel

Cycling shorts and tights are intended to be used without underwear.

Tights aren't the only option even if you don't like shorts. You can also wear cycling specific underwear and whatever you want on top of that.

Plenty of people do fine without any cycling specific clothing at all. It depends on how far/how difficult the commute is, how hard you want to work, and personal preference. And to a certain extent anatomy. Some people are perfectly comfortable riding long distances at high levels of effort while wearing regular clothes. I am not one of those people.

Personally I wouldn't enjoy wearing tights in warm weather but it sounds like you want your legs covered whether it's with tights or something else.

bikecommuter13

I have never worn any cycling specific clothes in my life. Just thought I could explore a little bit to see what I am missing.


I have never been a fan of shorts, not even regular shorts. My legs get chill easily. When I sweat on my legs, maybe I'll give shorts a try.

caloso

I only wear tights once the temperature gets below 40F/4C. I just wear generic running tights over bibs. They're significantly cheaper than cycling specific tights and you can use them for running/skiing/whatever.

Walter S

Depends on how bold you're feeling

CrankyOne

For general riding I wear jeans or slacks or whatever my destination occasion calls for and this works fine for 20, 30, or 80 miles in a day.

For fitness rides I wear bib shorts if it's above about 65f, bib tights between 40f & 65f, and something warmer below 40f (like a house with a TACX trainer inside). Some people will wear no-chamois tights over shorts but I've never been comfortable with that. Much to my wallets chagrin I once tried Assos and have never looked back. When I was racing I got chewed out by my coach one day for wearing shorts when it was 55f. He drilled in to me the importance of muscle warmth and that anything below 65f was not shorts weather. I guess he's still having an impact on me :-)

no motor?

My tights are great to wear when it's cold enough out, but it hasn't been that cold here for months.

Giant Doofus

Do you have a particular place where you get your running tights or a brand you recommend?

GovernorSilver

These are on sale for 4th of July - I'll be picking up a pair or two for cold-weather use myself. The main things that appeal to me - note I don't mention speed as I'm just going to use them for commuting to work, not racing, and I don't have the right bike for that anyway:

- Keeps legs warm (duh)
- Vents excess heat
- Wicks away sweat
- Dries fast
- Reflective stripe
- On sale (relatively cheap)

Novara Tempest Bike Tights - Men's - REI.com

My coworker really likes his Gore pants but they cost a hell of a lot more. He claims he only has to wash it once every few weeks because of its wicking/quick-drying. Otherwise I'll follow his lead and use the bike tights to commute, change to other clothes for work, change back to the tights to commute home. The rest of my commute attire (shirt, jacket, socks, shoes) will be along similar lines (quick drying, wicks sweat, etc.).

caloso

Not really. Like I said, they are just generic tights. You can get them at any general sports store like Big 5, Dick's, Sports Authority, etc. or even Target, Kohl's, or whatever.

Giant Doofus

Thanks. I've been thinking about getting tights for cold weather but had noticed the cycling tights are pretty pricey. Being able to pull running tights over cycling shorts is a great idea.

TenSpeedV2

Jeans on an 80 mile ride? Not no, but hell no. That is not comfortable at all. I did the whole jeans on an 8.5 mile ride and it was really uncomfortable.

bikecommuter13

It's probably just me, Jeans are not comfortable even not biking. But I do see a lot of people biking in Jeans. A matter of preference.

CrankyOne

I wouldn't do it for an 80 mile training ride at 25 mph but for riding hear and there throughout the day on a Dutch bike it works quite well.

I-Like-To-Bike

Do you wash cycling shorts/tights frequently enough in order to change to clean clothes in contact with private areas every day?Do you have a drawer full of these clothes? Or (hate to think of it) do commando cyclists wear the same funky smelling shorts/tights for days on end?

Me? I change underwear everyday and wash it all when I have a basket full of laundry to throw in the washer. On hot days I change out of sweaty, smelly underwear after arriving at destination, and wear clean underwear for the ride home where I put on clean underwear again. Seems more hygienic, less funky then wearing the same sweat absorbing clothes next to my private areas for numerous rides in succession.

wolfchild

I don't even own jeans anymore. I find them uncomfortable for pretty much any activity, even if it's just walking around.

no motor?

I have an older pair of Novara bike tights, and they're my favorite. I've got long legs, and these are even a little long for me - great for keeping that lower leg that usually gets cold warm. That's a great price for them too, if your hesitating buying a second pair I'd say go for it.

tjspiel

I don't wear cycling shorts on every ride. I wear them when I expect to be working pretty hard. When I get to the office I shower and change into work clothes. I put the same shorts back on for the way home along with whatever shirt I was sweating in on the way in. Neither the shirt nor the shorts are "sweat absorbing". I will be sweating again before I'm halfway home.

When I get home I'll take a shower and change again. Sometimes I'll stop at the lake for a quick dip. When I was doing triathlons, I'd swim some laps in the morning before heading the rest of the way into work. I still wear tri-shorts more often than traditional bikes shorts. They have a minimal chamois and dry really fast.

GovernorSilver

For short rides like going for groceries (under 2 miles each way for me), I find jeans ok, even without padding.

For commuting purposes, the problem with jeans is that once they get wet, they stay wet for a long time, which would be a problem once temperatures here get back down to 32 or below. That's why i look for clothes and footwear that can dry fast.

GovernorSilver

Cool. I was bummed that the local REI didn't have any in stock for me to try, but I'll order a pair online for fall/mild winter use and a pair of the thermal version for winter use.

Dave Cutter

I never owned a pair of shorts until I was in my 50's. Even then I was no fan of bare legs and visible socks. So I rarely ever wore shorts. I even wore long pants (khakis) when I played golf.

But... when I decided I wanted to take up cycling.... I figured in for a penny in for a pound. I bought the padded short tights, the jersey, helmet (wife demanded the helmet), gloves, socks, shoes, glasses.... the whole "kit". I never looked back and have no regrets! I have bunches of cycling clothing now... and it is a lot of what I wear daily (I am retired).

no motor?

One thing I found with wearing tights is that they don't cause the same reactions as bike shorts do. My coworkers are mainly women, and they gave me a lot of grief about wearing bike shorts to work when I talked about riding to work. I never did that (I usually don't), but they never seemed to notice when I wear tights.

GovernorSilver

At my workplace, we are lucky to have a secured bike parking room, which is quite close to the shower/locker room area, so it's easy for us to escape the notice of our colleagues regarding what we wear while commuting. One of my coworkers said she'd never seen my other coworker in his "just-arrived" state (face dripping with sweat, wearing his commuting gear) until she started commuting by bike herself and ran into him in the bike room, despite working together for like 7 years or so.

Today was my first ride with the Pearl Izumi cycling socks that I also picked up at REI, and i have to say I'm quite impressed. 20 miles roundtrip in those socks, yet they're practically dry. I wore my Converse low-top sneakers with them, which also proved to be quick-drying.

jfowler85

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