For those of you who do multi-day rides, what do you do about padded shorts? One fresh pair per day? Wash and wear? Or just wear the same pair over and over again? To date, the longest trip I’ve done included four day cycling, and I don’t mind wearing the same pair of bibshorts for a couple of days so taking one spare pair was fine. My mate just washed his in the shower then let them dry overnight, but Mrs NBT took four pairs so she could have a fresh pair each day.

As one of the planned trips will include eight days of riding, this latter approach is not really going to be feasible – though thankfully it’s four days, day off then four more days, so we could get some laundry done on the rest day.

If I go for a single pair of shorts, I am concerned that the gel pads in my bin shorts might not dry out properly overnight if I wash them in the shower.

Suggestions?

Take two pairs and rotate them washing / drying the dirty pair on the alternate day. Carry a small tub of clothes washing liquid and hand wash the shorts at the end of each day. This has worked for me.

take three pairs of shorts and ride then wash in rotation, Pair 1 will be dry by the time you get round to them again

Take a couple of pairs. That said, if I’m going on a longer trip for road biking, I take enough bibs and jerseys so I don’t have to wash at all as it’s usually the very last thing on my mind after a big day on the road bike.

Think the last multi-day ride I did under own steam I washed and re-wore. Weight was a top concern. Seemed to be OK.

If transport is laid on, definitely take multiple pairs – allows choice if weather changes as well.

no transport, this is panniers only so room is limited. Being a bit soft we’re using B&Bs though so we’re not ultra-tight on room for gear, we will be taking non-biking gear as well though rather than wandering around town in lycra 🙂

Last tour I did was years ago, but I took 2 pairs and handwashed that day’s shorts every night using some kind of combined washing up liquid/clothes wash/ shower gel stuff. Then dried them overnight and/or the next day on the bike whilst wearing the other pair.

All worked fine.

My wife and managed 3 months with just two pairs each washing each night and strapping the damp pair in a net to the panniers the next day. Only became a problem with persistent rain and we did re-wear for a couple of days but tried to avoid it as much as possible to reduce the risk of saddle sores.

If you are staying in bbs you’ll have loads of room then so could take more. We last toured on a tandem and camped and used only front and rear panniers and a bar bag for the lot for 2. So 2 pairs of shorts each, one jersey each, wet gear, thermals and one rest day change of clothes, and the usual sleeping bags, tent, cut-down sleeping mat, stove etc. All fitted fine.

In that case, could definitely get away with two pairs; wear, wash, rotate. I might even have had a second, emergency (water-thin) pair, but can only recall having a pair of MT500s.

This was off-road multi-day – though with accommodation en route – so not even panniers, medium Camelbak and a single dry-bag bungee’d to a seatpost rack..

Top B&B tip on drying kit.

Wash shorts in shower with you, dry yourself lightly with towel then wrap shorts in towel and twist both ends repeatedly as tight as you can. I’ve done 9 days with one set of kit staying in B&Bs using this method