[Closed] Are baggy's better?

endura zyme with your choice of liner/bib/shorts

Extra ptotection in the event of a crash (some). More storage space for keys, phone, human souls etc. Water and mud run off them, not soak into your arse and crotch.....and seeing as lot of people on here are so desperately fashion conscious - they look a lot less "julian".

Zymes are great. But I cant get Kyle Straits under my 3/4s.

Baggies have pockets so you can go for a quick ride without a bag if you feel like it.

Dont worry about the exposed bit your supposed to get muddy.

And also you wont scare small children or animals wearing baggies.

if you want to look like a clown or one of those annoying runts skateboarding around shopping centres, then yeah, baggies are probably better...

AndyP - Member
if you want to look like a clown or one of those annoying runts skateboarding around shopping centres, then yeah, baggies are probably better...

Clown or pervert, the choice is yours.

I have two pairs of Sombrio shorts and a pair of 3/4's - none have a liner. I use a variety of shorts underneath depending on weather/whats in the wash.
I have used 'normal' shorts - some are fine, but many are very baggy around the seat / flappy - the Sombrios fit really nicely, snug where needed and yet still a baggy.

Endura Zyme 3/4s are rubbish. :FACT:
Their Hummvees are good though in std or 3/4 length.

Matalan khakis. over bib or lycra shorts
about 3 quid, and dont fall apart at the first sign of mud as 100% of my experience of bike specific shorts have (admitadly only 1 pair, but im bitter, i really liked them)

How about perverted clown, that sounds like a good look.

If you like shaving your legs and wering lycra...there are special clubs that cater for your needs. Otherwise short will do. Lets face it most of us havent got the legs we used to have......

baggies over longs or 3/4 Lycra in the winter for a bit of tackle insulation, just Lycra in the summer.

When you say 'normal shorts' I'm assuming you just mean shorts shorts rather than lycra shorts. Short answer is they'll do fine, but purpose-made baggies would probably be harder wearing cos they'll be reinforced with cordura.

Lots of padding is not necessarily a good thing - personally I prefer to be able to walk around without feeling like I'm wearing a nappy.

Still dont understand the concept of lyra on it's own, I think it looks disturbing. Lycra with padded arse under baggy shorts is surely better? I know racers wear the lycra on its own and probably argue it's faster that way but c'mom FFS !!!

Bill I have both Zyme 3/4 and humvee shorts and 3/4s and find all of them good but I like the Zymes for the tightening pulls on the sides.

Sombrero shorts are good I have some light ones and they even come clean at 30!

I_Ache -
Sombrero shorts are good I have some light ones and they even come clean at 30!

You mean Sombrio? Excellent shorts.

Still dont understand the concept of lyra on it's own

Baggies for the insecure.

..and people who like pockets.

..and people who like pockets.

aracer - Member

Because I don't actually care how other people think I look. Baggies for the insecure.

So do you wear lycra to work? Or down the pub?

No/Yes - I tend to get changed into non cycling clothes if going to either of those, though have been to the pub in lycra (I'm not insecure in a pub either). Do people really sit around at work all day in the bike clothes they rode in wearing?

aracer arent you concerned about scaring small children when you mount/dismount your bike in public? Thanks for pointing out I'm insecure, I had never realised until now, so will now clad my c*ck in lycra with pride !!

aracer - Member
- I tend to get changed into non cycling clothes if going to either of those, though have been to the pub in lycra (I'm not insecure in a pub either).

Why would you change? Lycra is so comfortable and warm, not to mention sleek stylish and sexy - if you're not insecure then why not just wear it all day every day?

Do people really sit around at work all day in the bike clothes they rode in wearing?

Some people are actually so skilled at riding bikes....they can do it wearing relatively normal clothes. I've never actually met one of these people but I hear they exist.

It's a lot harder to scare small children than you seem to think, enfht - most of them aren't as obsessed as you lot seem to be with the contents of a pair of lycra shorts.

Why would you change?

Some people are actually so skilled at riding bikes....they can do it wearing normal clothes.

aracer got any pics with you in your lycra hot pants?

aracer

I wear swimming trunks to go swimming, ski wear to go skiing. Both are comfortable for what they do, but I wouldn't wear either of them in the pub/office either any more than I'd wear jeans to go swimming or smartish clothes to go skiing.

Sorry, I still don't understand. Obviously skiing or swimming require specific attire as they are in wet/cold environments....but around the office, or the home surely lycra is just as comfortable as a pair of jeans? In my opinion a lycra bib is much more comfortable than a business suit, so surely, fashion aside, it really is the the ultimate all round practical fabric for the modern man? Wouldnt you agree?

I have a medium sized, non-deformed cock, a fairly pert middle-aged arse, a flat stomach and good legs. Women with figures a lot less good than mine stuff themselves into clingy clothing and wander around in public without frightening the horses. 😉

In answer to the original post: Last summer I tried on humvees to see what all the fuss is about. Yes they felt good, but.....
the end of the short was exactly below my knee cap, so rode up every time if i tried to flex my leg. The inner plus outer baggy combination felt massive! I felt really encoumbered. I also worried about excess 'baggy' bits catching in the saddle. They simply made me feel cluttered.
I then tried on some endura MT500 lycra shorts and bought them. I'm really happy with them and find them really comfortable, no bits to snag on seats. I wear them under bib tights or normal tights for cold or wet stuff, or on their own when (if!) we have summer.
My Buffalo Big Face shirt has a crotch strap so it tends to obsure the nappy syndrome associated with lycra.

I ride straight from home, do a local trip, then back and change into normal clothes. I'm no fashion wannabe, nor have the body to be either. I simply want something that works for me. I don't care how I look as the wildlife has never commented on my fashion statements!! Perhaps if I did a regular pub stop I'd reconsider. I might treat myself to a pair of baggies - maybe - simply to have another pair of shorts to wear off bike if we have a summer, and it might persuade me to actually try them on a bike.
Being someone who feels the cold and has dodgy knees too, I only ever go out only in shorts in high summer!
Yep. Wimp!
cheers
Q

[i]"Women with figures a lot less good than mine stuff themselves into clingy clothing and wander around in public without frightening the horses[/i]."

I saw a horse wearing lycra once, or was that me in the lycra looking in the mirror? 😯

Surely Baggies are the off road version of shaving your legs, no real advantage but we do it cos everyone else does ?

1) Baggies have pockets
2) You can wear them at the pub/shop or even work if you're bold, without getting stares. I have had stares and lewd sexist comments when wearing lycra (and I'm a bloke).
3) Baggies are a bit warmer than normal shorts, due to having two layers. The outer on my Humvees is quite windproof
4) I also have a pair of raceface baggies that have a mesh liner and are very loose in the outer - very nice in hot weather. If I remember correctly - it's been a while!

However for long rides or races I wear lycra, but only because I have Assos shorts which are the last word in long term comfort.

1) Camelbak ? or shirt pockets
2) Agreed, but why ? if you are doing a ride that is short enough/slow enough to not sweat so no need to change then ride in normal clothes, you also wont have have the large damp pad feeling between your thighs. As for lewd comments, harden up !
3) Hardly, if it is cold wear tights, knee warmers or DHB stuff
4) Lyrca will still be less warm ( I hesitate to use the word "cooler" when referring to lycra)

So fashion and peer group it is. I have some endura baggies that are fantastic but I am realistic why I wear them

aracer got any pics with you in your lycra hot pants?

I'm on the right in the foreground if that helps 😀
[img] [/img]

In my opinion a lycra bib is much more comfortable than a business suit, so surely, fashion aside, it really is the the ultimate all round practical fabric for the modern man? Wouldnt you agree?

I think lycra wearing cyclists give [u]normal[/u] riders a bad name, there, I've said it. Lycra on men looks stooopid, fact. I dont expect alot of people on STW to really understand this opinion but I dont care cos it aint me looking like a ****!! (replies on a postcard or sealed self-addressed envelope) 🙄

if you dont believe me, take a random member of public, drop into conversation that you cycle, and see how many ask, with a wry smile on their face, if you wear lycra. You'll find that the general concensus is men wearing lycra is gay (any homosecual men please confirm that it looks well gay)

BUT, good on you for sticking to your convictions, you big gaylord !!! 😆

So you are worried about what members of the GP think you look like? Insecure, QED.

take a random member of public, drop into conversation that you cycle, and see how many ask, with a wry smile on their face, if you wear lycra

All that proves is that the general public are smirking adolescents, I'm afraid 🙂

and see how many ask, with a wry smile on their face, if you wear lycra

Na, they can generally see as I am wearing it already - It is generally the only time I get my bum felt by the girls in the office as well.
It is only harassment if you aren't enjoying it !

Only wrestlers look shyte in lycra.

[i]Still dont understand the concept of lyra on it's own[/i]

You've not been riding very long, have you. On mid-term holiday by any chance enfht?

Trouble with baggies is they make you look like a 12 year old skater. What is really needed is something that isn't the victim of fashion. they don't need to be so baggy to work well. Length is not needed either as long as they clear the saddle. Pockets are a mixed blessing and you can't go for protection and pockets in the same sentence. I mean baggies supposedly protect you but then fill the pockets with hard things. HMMM What would work best is something close fitting but tougher than lycra. Old fashion stretch climbing breeches would work and I am sure some one still does such a thing. Rapha? What puzzles me more than anything is that come the winter vaste amounts of mountain bikers realise that some nice warm tights do the job well. then in the summer we wear two pairs of shorts! liners then outers. NO baggies do have some pluses but lycra offers more and the appearance is fashion and therefore the preserve of f wits

What is wrong with looking like a 12 year old skater ?

anyway can I go back to my original assumption that

Baggies are the off road version of shaving your legs

mattsccm you're thinking of rapha touring shorts, very nice, very comfortable shorts.

Something like this then, matt? Definitely won't make you look like a 12 year old skater.

[img] [/img]

[i]anyway can I go back to my original assumption that

Baggies are the off road version of shaving your legs [/i]

surely shaving your legs is the off road version of shaving your legs?

Will your dad be happy with you posting his pic on the internet aracer?

Fascinating, this "being gay" thing.

Say I'm wearing some revealing clothes. Another man, who regards himself as a heterosexual, feels odd looking at me wearing my clothes, and concludes that [i]I[/i] am gay.

😆

surely shaving your legs is the off road version of shaving your legs?

Thanks BigDummy I'd never realised, must be why I like quiche

how the rest of world sees anyone wearing lycra;

[img] [/img]

What a great debate! I'm going to wade in with the following statement.....I think lycra looks ****. There, i said it. The fact is i don't want to look like a nob when out on my bike. Fine if you like it, i don't.

I see no advantage to wearing lycra on its own. I care what i look like walking down the street and the same goes for when i'm cycling.

How the rest of the world sees anyone wearing baggies:
[img] [/img]

Another man, who regards himself as a heterosexual, feels odd looking at me wearing my clothes, and concludes that I am gay.

I think you're confusing repressed desire and morbid curiosity. If looking at someone and feeling a bit sick means you fancy them, what does it say about you and octo-porn? 🙂

😀 Thats exactly how i dress!

has no-one who wears just lycra ever fallen off? Clearly not because you'd only have to do it once and ride home with your bollocks hanging out of the huge hole that's been created in your lycra to learn that one.

I speak from experience.

[i]what does it say about you and octo-porn[/i]

That I am a sick fetishist with a bizarrely unhinged and deviant sexuality who should probably be castrated for his own safety. I reckon. 😉

I think all the Lycra Massive should take heed from Samuri's tale of woe. 😕

Although I think lycra looks a bit unsightly on people with a middle aged spread (like the one I've had since I was 4) I think the "gay" thing is an unfair slur, probably arising from the singer from Right Said Fred donning a pair of cycling shorts for their appearance on Top of the Pops. Thousands of homophobes across Britain reacted with horror, much as they had done to Boy George and Liberace (although bizarrely not Cliff Richard), and lycra shorts and gayness became inextricably entangled in the popular mind, even though it was only a tiny minority of a minority who ever wore them.

I still think it looks rubbish though.

Baggies:
Pocket.
can be worn out of the bike when it's hot.
Comfy.
Lycra
no pocket (and some off us have a rugsack so no access to the rear pocket that actually does not exit with off road clothes)
Very un-comfy I tried to wear one last week and I just couldn't stand being in such restraining piece of clothing.

Plus as samuri said lycra are "crash-disposable"

No one in saying they are not good to ride in but their main function is to make you look like all other mountain bikes, ie so you fit in. A bit like EMO's wearing black

no pocket (and some off us have a rugsack so no access to the rear pocket that actually does not exit with off road clothes)

Very un-comfy I tried to wear one last week and I just couldn't stand being in such restraining piece of clothing.

You will be telling me next you don't like the feeling of minty a**e lard on your undercarriage next !

Very un-comfy

hat will be a Camelbak (other types of hydration packs are available )that you are talking about that has "pockets" in it

Well it does have pocket but they are not accessible on the fly as mostly closed with a zip.
I find a map and some chocolate bar to be very armless if I come off.

I often wear a proper rucksack, not just a camelbak when riding (see pic above), and don't find a problem with reaching the rear pockets - I'm guessing your problem with this comes from ignorance due to not actually owning such a top.

they are not accessible on the fly

or stop occasionally and take in the scenery- I find a very good time to do that is just before you throw up on a climb ....

I agree about the bib issue, I would buy them like a shot - or maybe a mix and match range that you can change around

"I find a map and some chocolate bar to be very armless if I come off. "

I take it you're not carrying an A-Z.

Do surfers have the same problems? 'Well, I've started wearing my boardshorts over my wettie, cos people may see my bulge, and I don't want people to think I've got gay tendencies from wearing tight clothes.....'

On a similar note, why do riders at trail centres wear baggies over tights at this time of year? Do the tights go under the built in liner shorts? Do they think that all of those rufty, tufty real MTBers will laugh at them for showing their butts if they wear lycra shorts under the tights? Wearing tights under baggies is deeply uncool, from any point of view.

As is the guy who wheeled the Santa Cruz away from the Dropoff Cafe wearing his baggies over his Ronhills a few weeks ago.

<Shakes head, wanders off to take up carp fishing or some activity with less clothing issues than getting muddy in the woods like a 10 yr old.>

Up until back end of last summer I was a committed wearer of lycra shorts (have worn baggy tops for years) but then I’m quite body confident & comfortable with my sexuality so no issues there – and according to a female friend who was admiring me from behind (at least until she recognised me) as quite complementary

Then tried on a mated pair of endure mt500 baggies – they felt very comfy and practical to ride in – I’m now a total convert baggie defiantly for off road – although still lycra for the darkside

I'm guessing your problem with this comes from ignorance due to not actually owning such a top.

D'oof i miss this one... I shall rather said the problem come from your ignorance about how to
Carry a rugsac
Choose a size of clothes that fit...

I was a committed wearer of lycra shorts (have worn baggy tops for years)

Oh dear me.. baggy top and lycra shorts - makes you look like a weekend cyclist circa 1990. you'll be wearing karrimor boots, a rucksack and a hard hat too then?

I wore lycra out in the hills yesterday. Mainly because my baggies were all dirty. I also wore a tight top to match tho. I must say that a good pair of lycra shorts is very much more functional for riding than baggies. But I usually MTB in baggies cos I like the look.

I prefer lycra for the feeling (no, not the thigh rubbing sort of feeling) - i.e. it gets in the way less, minds its own business etc but it really doesnt suit my 16st frame and I feel a bit odd walking into a cafe wearing it. But maybe this is linked to the fact that I've always liked baggy clothes, "fitted" stuff has never fitted me properly (seems no-one makes clothes for a tall person with broad shoulders - you have to be either tall and skinny or short and fat). So baggy clothes are just more comfy and nice - just as at home on the bike as off. But then I wear baggies on the beach too, even over a wetsuit,
[img] [/img]
- they get abuse there too strangely, apparently there's wetsuit fetishists there as well "no no you must wear just the rubber, baggies are gay...."...hmmmm

Molegrips – trust me as a weekend cyclist from the 1990 – I look so much better – aim for the casual athlete in the hills look

Changed my mind. Lycra all the way:
[img] [/img]

seems no-one makes clothes for a tall person with broad shoulders - you have to be either tall and skinny or short and fat

Yup I do agree, I have to buy women or children stuff 🙁

Ummmm, I wear tights under baggies, and I think it makes great sense.

I've always used lycra on mountain bikes, being from a generation of people who saw it as a sport rather than a car-park fashion show.......

Wearing lycra on a mountain bike is the best way to destroy it, and if you buy spendy lycra to use on the road, why trash it off road for the sake of looking a certain way?

To my mind, the funniest thing is seeing the stormtroopers with bright red legs freezing half to death because they haven't the imagination to think up a winter outfit.

most of the folks i ride with have been riding for years,most wear lycra 3/4 or whatever.. the view seems to be that there are mountainbikers who actually ride and then there is the trail centre fashion show which is not the same thing.
probably all a bit wide and sweeping but there y go.

most of the folks i ride with have been riding for years,most wear lycra 3/4 or whatever

Most of the folks i ride with have been riding for years,most wear baggies, baggies 3/4 or whatever.

Each to their own I guess.

I'm wondering how much some people crash, as the only damage I've inflicted on lycra recently was to the knee of my tights (which wearing baggies wouldn't really have helped with!)