Cycling Short Recommendation Wanted

On Thursday, February 27, 2014 6:49:47 PM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, February 27, 2014 1:06:38 PM UTC-8, Duane wrote:

On 2/27/2014 1:03 PM, Art Harris wrote:



I'm looking for a good cycling short without the excess padding that seems to be the current fashion. Any recommendations?







Thanks,



Art











Excess padding is pretty subjective. I use Assos.



Gawd, I hope pricing in Canada is better than the US. I couldn't afford the packaging let alone the shorts.



Pearl Izumi makes a nice pair of shorts without too much padding. http://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...cool-bib-short



Expensive, but not ungodly and often on sale. Frankly, the Performance Elite and Ultra bibs are a good bang for the buck and not too bulky in the chamois. However, the chamois changes somewhat from year to year, so I can't comment on the latest iteration of either short.



Apart from that fat chamois, full diaper feel of some shorts, leg length and bib length/coverage are issues. You really have to try on a few pairs to figure out what works. Being tall, some European brands -- Assos for example -- are problematic for me because the bib upper is never long enough, or to get the bib long enough, you have to buy a size that fits like a Glad trash bag.



-- Jay Beattie.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


https://www.adventureclub.info/galle...g?m=1340991483

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:49:36 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/02/14 08:06, Duane wrote:
On 2/27/2014 1:03 PM, Art Harris wrote:
I'm looking for a good cycling short without the excess padding that
seems to be the current fashion. Any recommendations?


Excess padding is pretty subjective. I use Assos.

Once upon a time the chamois was really just that. A piece of goat skin
about 1mm thick.

These days the "chamois" is a thick piece of synthetic "stuff" with foam
padding and what not.

I find the thick synthetic padding doesn't mould so well to my shape,
and often pinches. It's also hotter.

On the other hand the "goat skin" took considerable effort to take
care of - special cleaning agents, softening lotions, etc.

Then they went to the "synthetic chamois" that you could just chuck in
the washer and then I went away and sailed boats for a while and when
I returned to bike riding pants had an ugly great pad of sponge in
them.

But I did read that the 6-day bike racers used to cut a slice of beef
steak and stick that in their shorts.... maybe the sponge is better??
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 14:43:06 -0800 (PST), Art Harris
wrote:

James wrote:
On 28/02/14 08:06, Duane wrote:

On 2/27/2014 1:03 PM, Art Harris wrote:

I'm looking for a good cycling short without the excess padding that

seems to be the current fashion. Any recommendations?





Excess padding is pretty subjective. I use Assos.



Once upon a time the chamois was really just that. A piece of goat skin

about 1mm thick.


Yep, I used the "real" Chamois shorts in the day. They were prone to cracking.

Since '90s I've used shorts with imitation chamois that looked a lot like the originals (without the cracking). The critters liked it too!

More recently, short padding has become thicker and usually with a 3D pattern that I really don't like.




These days the "chamois" is a thick piece of synthetic "stuff" with foam

padding and what not.



I find the thick synthetic padding doesn't mold so well to my shape,

and often pinches. It's also hotter.


Me too! So are the Assos shorts better in that regard?

Why can't we get the 90's type of imitation chamois?

Art

I'd guess that the reason is because the imitation chamois doesn't
sell very well. After all, standing in the shop fingering the crotch
of a new pair of shorts, the big rubber pad certainly feels softer :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:31:52 -0800 (PST), Dan O
wrote:

On Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:03:20 AM UTC-8, Art Harris wrote:
I'm looking for a good cycling short without the excess padding that seems to be the current fashion. Any recommendations?


Define "excess".

When you have to extend the seat post :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 07:48:58 +0700, John B.
wrote:

On the other hand the "goat skin" took considerable effort to take
care of - special cleaning agents, softening lotions, etc.

?? I washed mine with the rest of my clothes, and used cream only
when I needed to glue the chamois to my skin. One does have to rinse
it twice, but I don't leave soap in *anything* I wash.

Chamois should be air dried -- but I air dry everything except my
spouse's socks, so I didn't notice that either. (If I recall
correctly, I didn't even *own* a tumble dryer at the time. Had
clotheslines in the basement for bad weather.)

The original purpose of chamois was to provide a smooth,
non-irritating surface next to the skin. It did seem a bit non-smooth
and irritating when first taken down from the line. Theoretically,
one was supposed to rub it together to soften it, but I found that
putting the shorts on and sitting down ironed the chamois nicely.

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://joybeeson.home.comcast.net/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

On 28/02/14 11:48, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:49:36 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/02/14 08:06, Duane wrote:
On 2/27/2014 1:03 PM, Art Harris wrote:
I'm looking for a good cycling short without the excess padding that
seems to be the current fashion. Any recommendations?


Excess padding is pretty subjective. I use Assos.

Once upon a time the chamois was really just that. A piece of goat skin
about 1mm thick.

These days the "chamois" is a thick piece of synthetic "stuff" with foam
padding and what not.

I find the thick synthetic padding doesn't mould so well to my shape,
and often pinches. It's also hotter.

On the other hand the "goat skin" took considerable effort to take
care of - special cleaning agents, softening lotions, etc.

Then they went to the "synthetic chamois" that you could just chuck in
the washer and then I went away and sailed boats for a while and when
I returned to bike riding pants had an ugly great pad of sponge in
them.

But I did read that the 6-day bike racers used to cut a slice of beef
steak and stick that in their shorts.... maybe the sponge is better??



Real chamois is easy to look after. All you need do after washing and
rinsing in pure soap, is rub a little pure soap on and hang to dry. The
soap keeps the leather supple. No expensive creams ever used.

--
JS

On Thursday, February 27, 2014 11:25:31 PM UTC-5, James wrote:
On 28/02/14 11:48, John B. wrote:

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:49:36 +1100, James

wrote:



On 28/02/14 08:06, Duane wrote:

On 2/27/2014 1:03 PM, Art Harris wrote:

I'm looking for a good cycling short without the excess padding that

seems to be the current fashion. Any recommendations?





Excess padding is pretty subjective. I use Assos.



Once upon a time the chamois was really just that. A piece of goat skin

about 1mm thick.



These days the "chamois" is a thick piece of synthetic "stuff" with foam

padding and what not.



I find the thick synthetic padding doesn't mould so well to my shape,

and often pinches. It's also hotter.



On the other hand the "goat skin" took considerable effort to take

care of - special cleaning agents, softening lotions, etc.



Then they went to the "synthetic chamois" that you could just chuck in

the washer and then I went away and sailed boats for a while and when

I returned to bike riding pants had an ugly great pad of sponge in

them.



But I did read that the 6-day bike racers used to cut a slice of beef

steak and stick that in their shorts.... maybe the sponge is better??







Real chamois is easy to look after. All you need do after washing and

rinsing in pure soap, is rub a little pure soap on and hang to dry. The

soap keeps the leather supple. No expensive creams ever used.



--

JS

http://www.livestrong.com/article/78...glycerin-skin/

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 15:25:31 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/02/14 11:48, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:49:36 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/02/14 08:06, Duane wrote:
On 2/27/2014 1:03 PM, Art Harris wrote:
I'm looking for a good cycling short without the excess padding that
seems to be the current fashion. Any recommendations?


Excess padding is pretty subjective. I use Assos.

Once upon a time the chamois was really just that. A piece of goat skin
about 1mm thick.

These days the "chamois" is a thick piece of synthetic "stuff" with foam
padding and what not.

I find the thick synthetic padding doesn't mould so well to my shape,
and often pinches. It's also hotter.

On the other hand the "goat skin" took considerable effort to take
care of - special cleaning agents, softening lotions, etc.

Then they went to the "synthetic chamois" that you could just chuck in
the washer and then I went away and sailed boats for a while and when
I returned to bike riding pants had an ugly great pad of sponge in
them.

But I did read that the 6-day bike racers used to cut a slice of beef
steak and stick that in their shorts.... maybe the sponge is better??



Real chamois is easy to look after. All you need do after washing and
rinsing in pure soap, is rub a little pure soap on and hang to dry. The
soap keeps the leather supple. No expensive creams ever used.

Do they have "pure soap" in Australia? We don't seem to have it here
any more. We used to have several of the traditional "soaps for fine
raiment" but now it is all "SUPER stuff, gets it CLEAN!"
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 00:06:25 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 07:48:58 +0700, John B.
wrote:

On the other hand the "goat skin" took considerable effort to take
care of - special cleaning agents, softening lotions, etc.

?? I washed mine with the rest of my clothes, and used cream only
when I needed to glue the chamois to my skin. One does have to rinse
it twice, but I don't leave soap in *anything* I wash.

Chamois should be air dried -- but I air dry everything except my
spouse's socks, so I didn't notice that either. (If I recall
correctly, I didn't even *own* a tumble dryer at the time. Had
clotheslines in the basement for bad weather.)

Err... what is the difference between hanging a garment out in the sun
and the wind and chucking it in the dryer where it is subject to hot
air being blown at it?

O.K., the sun provides a bit of bleaching and anti-bacteria action but
I'm not sure that penetrated into your basement :-)

The original purpose of chamois was to provide a smooth,
non-irritating surface next to the skin. It did seem a bit non-smooth
and irritating when first taken down from the line. Theoretically,
one was supposed to rub it together to soften it, but I found that
putting the shorts on and sitting down ironed the chamois nicely.
--
Cheers,

John B.

jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, February 27, 2014 1:06:38 PM UTC-8, Duane wrote:
On 2/27/2014 1:03 PM, Art Harris wrote:

I'm looking for a good cycling short without the excess padding that
seems to be the current fashion. Any recommendations?



Thanks,

Art





Excess padding is pretty subjective. I use Assos.

Gawd, I hope pricing in Canada is better than the US. I couldn't afford
the packaging let alone the shorts.


If you catch them online and don't get hit with the duty charges. They
work for me on long rides and seem to last though.

Pearl Izumi makes a nice pair of shorts without too much padding.
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...cool-bib-short


Have a couple of their shorts for spinning. Seem ok. Not sure about 100k
rides though.

Expensive, but not ungodly and often on sale. Frankly, the Performance
Elite and Ultra bibs are a good bang for the buck and not too bulky in
the chamois. However, the chamois changes somewhat from year to year, so
I can't comment on the latest iteration of either short.

Apart from that fat chamois, full diaper feel of some shorts, leg length
and bib length/coverage are issues. You really have to try on a few pairs
to figure out what works. Being tall, some European brands -- Assos for
example -- are problematic for me because the bib upper is never long
enough, or to get the bib long enough, you have to buy a size that fits
like a Glad trash bag.


I'm ok height wise with the bibs. At least once I get rid of the
hibernation gut.

-- Jay Beattie.



--
duane