[Closed] Why do people wear baggy shorts?

Do the compulsive baggie wearers in all and every occasion also wear baggie shorts in the pool rather than a speedo or a jammer(think lycra bike shorts)?

If I was to get in a pool for a splash about (which I never do) I might wear baggies but for a proper swim training session I'd never consider it in a million years as it completely ruins your stroke. I suspect the binners of this world would choose the baggie swim route always despite this fact.

I wasn't racing so why would I need to don lycra?

Its more comfortable?

You do 100 miles per week off road? I seem to remember seeing you say you barely ride your mtb these days. No wonder you love lycra so much

Damn, I've been outed. Yes, Im a gay roadie who loves wearing lycra shorts.

The only reason I go out on my road bike is so I've got a decent excuse to put on my lycra, what I really enjoy is getting home and lounging around the house in it, or going to the Co op for a loaf of bread.

Wallet, keys, phone. The rest spread between jersey pocket and saddle bag.

Saddle bag, pfft have you no shame?

If I was to get in a pool for a splash about (which I never do)

No I bet you don't, because just splashing about would be for losers - every time you do anything you do it to the MAX!!! Serious business!!!

[img] [/img]

No it doesn't.

I wear baggies so I don't make you lycra guys feel jealous about my incredibly large appendage.

I do it for YOUR self esteem - you can thank me in beer tokens. 😀

I'll bet most of you really don't need to carry half the stuff you "seem to" on rides.

Guilty. I cite epic laziness in my defence -- CBA to go through (relatively compact) pack before a ride chucking out things I don't need or adding things I might, so it's pretty much in "big day out in the hills" mode all the time.

I often do quick local loops with nothing but keys, though. Only had to walk home once 😉

davidtaylforth - Member

Any less than 100 per week and I'd say your not a serious cyclist really, just someone that's basically bought into a lifestyle

I think the phrase that came up earlier in the week "Pony trekkers on wheels" applies 😆

he pockets are stretchy lycra, not some magical item grabbing suspension material, any weighty contents pull on the jersey (gravity?) and for MTB riding no matter what you carry in there it'll move around.
I still have lycra road and mtb jerseys from when I was considerably thinner even if I put one on that'd look like it was sprayed on the physics wouldn't change

Well I don't have any of the problems you mentioned, perhaps I'm just special.

So you're saying that anyone who does less than 100 miles a week is not a real cyclist now, as well as people who wear baggies? What next; those who use Camelbaks rather than water bottles can't class themselves as a true cyclist?

Not that it matters, but I do nowhere near 100 miles a week. I ride at the weekends only because (a) I work from home so have no need to commute (and even if I did go to the office, it's a 90 mile round trip) and (b) I work 10+ hours a day, meaning that I'm knackered when I finish. I only ever wear baggies because I can't see the point in lycra (what are the advantages then?) and yes, I have a Camelbak. I also never ride on the road unless it's required to get from one trail to the other. I also quite often ride in the Surrey Hills. Oh, and I am in mid-Management in IT, working for an Investment Bank.

By your standards then, I'm not a real cyclist, I'm just riding for the image. Is that right?

prezet - Member

I wear baggies so I don't make you lycra guys feel jealous about my incredibly large appendage.

I do it for YOUR self esteem - you can thank me in beer tokens

You are assuming we would look at your crotch? This would lead me to think that you (secretly) want us to look at it.

I'm a bit of a fat knacker and tend to just wear lycra these days.
It's much more pleasant in the wet, rubs less, dont have to pull them up every ten minutes and I really, really couldn't care less what anyone else thinks.

I wore baggies for years off road and I really have no idea why.
Fashion I suppose.

My partner reckons I scare small children, but, like Binners, she's much more self aware than I am.

I'm hung like a baby rabbit/sweetcorn anyway, so really have nothing to hide 😀

Remember:

[img] [/img]

That's my camelbak, that is. I have probably got a canoe in there somewhere.

I'm just ordering some winter tights....go me!

[b]Its more comfortable?[/b]
No it isn't!
see, we're not all the same! I pretty much hate padded shorts (other than ones with the absolute minimum amount of padding) too, but some knobber will no doubt tell me these are an absolutely essential requirement to do a certain number of miles. 🙄

prezet - Member
I wear baggies so I don't make you lycra guys feel jealous about my incredibly large appendage.

I do it for YOUR self esteem - you can thank me in beer tokens

You are assuming we would look at your crotch? This would lead me to think that you (secretly) want us to look at it.

You'd look at it. It'd be hard to miss it. And you'd love it. 😀

I think the phrase that came up earlier in the week "Pony trekkers on wheels" applies

I'm not sure why people think mileage is some indicator of being a 'real' mountain biker (whatever that means). Mincing in your lycra for 100s of miles a week round roads or boring flat bridleways proves nothing other than that you like wearing lycra. 🙂

No I bet you don't, because just splashing about would be for losers - every time you do anything you do it to the MAX!!! Serious business!!!

Going for a splash about would be for those with kids to entertain or "entertaining" a group of swedish 20 somethings in a private pool with champagne bar. Sadly no kids and my frolicking with the ladeez days are long gone. That leaves club training sessions or lane swimming in a public pool. Harding max rad action but actually involves proper swimming and proper swimming in baggies is crap.

i wear baggies because lycra looks naff

its as simple as that really

unless you spend your time locked in a basement waiting for ving rhames and bruce willis to tumble down your stairs, there is no reason to dress like a gimp

however if you are so inclined just head over to www.spandexguys.com (nsfw) and have some fun

convert earlier;

[img] [/img]

stopadoodledoo - I think the correct term for people like yourself is "weekend Warrior", think I read it on the internet somewhere so it must be true 😉

By your standards then, I'm not a real cyclist, I'm just riding for the image. Is that right?

Thats what it sounds like judging by your last post. 10+ hour days? What are you playing at? You should be racking up the miles in your quest to become a true cyclist.

Saddle bag, pfft have you no shame?

And here's me thinking you were championing lycra's practicality.

GO JAMIE!!!! YAY!!!

[img] [/img]

wwaswas - your promised when you took that, that it was just for you for special times and you would not share. I feel violated!

did 185 miles last week in Baggies and "silly trainer types" but then again i would want to be considered "proper".

I only ever wear baggies because I can't see the point in lycra (what are the advantages then?)

Lycra, lighter, more aerodynamic, doesn't flap around etc. So if your racing it is a no brainer. Have you ever seen a speed-skier or a top end swimmer wearing flappy clothing, and even at 15mph aerodynamics do start to figure, why waste energy, ride further, ride faster, ride more.

For non racing, it is more comfortable, no extra seams to rub, in hot weather less clothing layers is usually a good idea, for riding move back off the saddle nothing to get caught up on the nose of the saddle. Closer fitting clothing doesn't tend to attract thorns as much,

Then there is less to wash when you get home, less layers mean less trashing of the washing machine, etc.

[i]I feel violated! [/i]

[i]You[/i] feel violated?

I'm the one who had to go into google images and search for mankini!

My eyeballs are still suffering.

Its more comfortable?
No it isn't!
see, we're not all the same! I pretty much hate padded shorts (other than ones with the absolute minimum amount of padding) too, but some knobber will no doubt tell me these are an absolutely essential requirement to do a certain number of miles

To be fair everyone's the same, and you're different. I truly can't think of anything worse than a hundred mile + road ride in casual clothing. I find it miserable for 2 miles. As previously stated you must have a crotch made of cow hide to not have your scrotum dripping blood after 5+ hours of all those seams...

Jerseys aren't lycra anyway, I don't really get that, with the possible exception of a skinsuit, which is totally different anyway. A good fitting jersey keeps things in your pockets in place, so they don't knock around. I've never had my neck chafed by a jersey, often carry a full bottle in my jersey pocket too.

My comment re things in baggy shorts 'weighing you down' was a genuine query, although perhaps I phrased it wrong, I meant more that it's bouncing up and down with every pedal stroke. I know when I've worn overshorts and put things in the pockets they absolutely do my head in.

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image? At the end of the day, we are a bunch of adults riding around the woods on bicycles and be that wearing skin tight gay glothes or baggy dude clothes, we look like utter belms to each and every person out there who doesn't ride a bicycle for fun. Remember, if you think you are cool, you most definitely are not.

Stopadoodledoo - Member
So you're saying that anyone who does less than 100 miles a week is not a real cyclist now, as well as people who wear baggies? What next; those who use Camelbaks rather than water bottles can't class themselves as a true cyclist?

Not that it matters, but I do nowhere near 100 miles a week. I ride at the weekends only because (a) I work from home so have no need to commute (and even if I did go to the office, it's a 90 mile round trip) and (b) I work 10+ hours a day, meaning that I'm knackered when I finish. I only ever wear baggies because I can't see the point in lycra (what are the advantages then?) and yes, I have a Camelbak. I also never ride on the road unless it's required to get from one trail to the other. I also quite often ride in the Surrey Hills. Oh, and I am in mid-Management in IT, working for an Investment Bank.

By your standards then, I'm not a real cyclist, I'm just riding for the image. Is that right?

You've been well and truly sprung there Jason 😉

To be fair everyone's the same, and you're different. I truly can't think of ..... Blah blah

but just to humour you, it depends what's in your pocket, where the pocket is and how it's constructed (and the rider for that matter)

Trying to "pretend" now you had to search for it and didn't take it yourself this very morning is fine - but I know different. The Mankini "hammock" still smells of you!

You'll be making your own dinner tonight!

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image? At the end of the day, we are a bunch of adults riding around the woods on bicycles and be that wearing skin tight gay glothes or baggy dude clothes, we look like utter belms to each and every person out there who doesn't ride a bicycle for fun. Remember, if you think you are cool, you most definitely are not.

EXACTLY! so why are people so wrapped up in what they look like, we are cyclists, the average member of the public regards us as a bunch of freaks, lycra or baggy neither is a good look. Hence i wear lycra because it does the job better.

Spot on Stopadoodledoo. Riding bikes is about as 'cool' as bumming dogs.

And if you think any different - and clearly some people on here do - then.....erm... then.... you probably bum dogs. Or summink. So there! 😛

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image?

Haze - Member

Saddle bag, pfft have you no shame?

And here's me thinking you were championing lycra's practicality.

I am, but saddle bags? Well I suppose so if you must.

mrmo ive done a few races and i can guarantee that my wearing baggies has not affected my finishing position

my baggies are perfectly comfortable, they dont rub or overheat, they dont get caught on the saddle or any other of the perceived disadvantages you have concocted

best of all i dont look like a gimp!

Baggies+padded boxers NOT lycra for MTB. Too sweaty to have lycra undershorts and the baggies, padded boxers are [i]just[/i] right. I like that my baggies are more durable, I wouldn't fancy a tumble in lycra and then have to get home with my cheeks out.

Lycra for the road. At least the riding position conceals the ermm... unborns and boomstick.

Maybe pure XC suits lycra alone but for more burly riding it doesn't.

I find it miserable for 2 miles.

Really? I ride 5-6 miles to work and back all the time in regular clothing and it's absolutely fine.

I don't regularly ride for 5+ hours but I have done in the past in my regular clothing and it was also fine.

I think the thing people aren't admitting here is that they like dressing up in the lycra because it makes them feel like a 'proper' cyclist (and therefore superior to non-'proper' cyclists).

[i]My comment re things in baggy shorts 'weighing you down' was a genuine query, although perhaps I phrased it wrong, I meant more that it's bouncing up and down with every pedal stroke. I know when I've worn overshorts and put things in the pockets they absolutely do my head in. [/i]

have big bag of jelly babies in the front pocket of my fox sergeants, tis fine, never notice them. And the map pocket on endura shorts actually works well for maps.

There is nothing more satisfying then overtaking a "look how speedy I am" lycra-wearing chopper while wearing baggies.
This is a true fact.
Lycra doesn't mean you're quick, it just means you think you're quick. It also means you're dressed like a complete 'tard.
Another true fact.

I meant more that it's bouncing up and down with every pedal stroke

I can understand that on a road ride but find it much less of an issue on the mtb.

But then my mountain biking only really gets as far as a 15-20 mile blast around the woods and in the pub for an hour or two.

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image? At the end of the day, we are a bunch of adults riding around the woods on bicycles and be that wearing skin tight gay glothes or baggy dude clothes, we look like utter belms to each and every person out there who doesn't ride a bicycle for fun. Remember, if you think you are cool, you most definitely are not.

Exactly. Image is nothing, we arent cool, we all look like bellends etc.

So why do you worry about what people are going to think if you wear lycra shorts?

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image?

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread!

There is nothing more satisfying then overtaking a "look how speedy I am" lycra-wearing chopper while wearing baggies.

But the thing is, the baggy wearers have to try sooo hard to do it.

my mrs looks cool in her "Ripley" tops 😀

njee20 - Member

End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image?

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread!

And Hora.

I ride 100 miles + per week, most on the road (commuting), and wear baggies on both my MTB and my road bike 😯

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread!

Are you including yourself in that?

I bet all the lycra-lovers also shave their legs - 'for practical reasons' of course.

mind you i wonder if we can match those who are wrapped up in the image with those who write have a dump on every thread about saving weight?

Really? I ride 5-6 miles to work and back all the time in regular clothing and it's absolutely fine.

Yeah definitely, I find it horribly uncomfortable, like I say it just chafes and what not, and I sweat like a pig in a normal shirt, which then get saturated, and less comfortable.

I recently had about half a dozen blokes on full sussers, all armoured up, let me (a vision of lycra jeyness, complete with roadie cap and helmet) go first on the way into Energy at Afan. When I said I might get in their way, one responded, 'no mate, you look fast!'

So if you wear lycra people think you are fast, even downhill (which, for the record, in not particularly) 😉

Wear what you like folks. I live near Afan and ride round there all the time in lycra. Nearly everyone else wears baggies but none of them throw rocks at me or owt.

njee20 - Member

[b]End of the day, does anyone actually ride for the image?[/b]

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread! [b]TBH I'm one of the worst for it[/b]

😉

People ride a bike for 'The Image'?
Jesus H Corbett.

Sadder than my mum's funeral.

best of all i dont look like a gimp!

I imagine you feel like one though!

Are you including yourself in that?

No, I know that to the general public I look absolutely ridiculous. I cycle because I love it, not because of what other people will think of me. I'm happy with how I look whilst doing it, and I wear the most appropriate kit for the job.

Hora is a law unto himself. He combines the worst of the lycra image with the worst of the baggy image, with a bit of day-glo thrown in for good measure. He looks like Fiddles the Erotic Clown, cycling to his next children's party.

Yes, vast swathes of people on this thread!

So all the roadies I see wearing full team replica kit that matches the colour of their bike, helmet and gloves - they're not riding for the image, but people who wear ordinary shorts on a bike are? 😕

So all the roadies I see wearing full team replica kit that matches the colour of their bike, helmet and gloves

To be fair, they're the worst of the lot.

I do loads of 2-5mile journeys and TBH I wouldn't even bother raising my saddle to be able to sit down for that sort of distance, let alone get changed out of my everyday clothes

So all the roadies I see wearing full team replica kit that matches the colour of their bike, helmet and gloves

Don't forget having your bike stickered up with your name and an England flag 😉

So all the roadies I see wearing full team replica kit that matches the colour of their bike,

These people are wrong too, there is even a level of wrongness amongst lycra wearers you know.

TBH I wouldn't even bother raising my saddle to be able to sit down for that sort of distance

**swoons**

🙄

As a Gentleman mountaineer, I took up MTB as another way to enjoy the mountains and procurer some magnificent clean air. A Gentleman in the mountains, no matter what his means of access, should be appropriately attired at all times, specifically in a manner which befits his modesty, public decency and upholds the good name of the British Alpine Club.

I'd go so far as to suggest, that persons who display lycra in the mountains are not actually mountain bikers and have no 'mountain' background, but road cyclists, out of their depth, inappropriately dressed for such an activity and deliberately displaying their sausages.

No, I know that to the general public I look absolutely ridiculous. I cycle because I love it, not because of what other people will think of me.

That's TJ you've described, only the first bit is true for you. 😉

**swoons**

To be fair to Hora he goes through phases. I particularly enjoyed his 'Nam veteran phase. He even developed the 1000 yard stare. I reckon he did this by recalling childhood abuse at the hands of his tennis coach. Who used to wear tight shorts. Hence he can't wear lycra. Its too painful. Literally

but people who wear ordinary shorts on a bike are?

But there not "ordinary" shorts are they, they are bike specific baggy shorts. For balance i have done 80miles in jeans in the past, a deeply unpleasant experience, hence i went out and bought some lycra shorts and they were a revelation, this was £15 Caratti specials, so nothing special in the least. No seams, no restrictions, much cooler. etc.

The only time i wear baggy shorts is waterproof overshorts and to be fair i hate them, but they do what i bought them to do. hot, flappy, and restrictive.

[i]I mean how many miles do you do per week? If your doing 150+ then you'll be wearing lycra, you wouldnt want to do it in baggy shorts. Any less than 100 per week and I'd say your not a serious cyclist really, just someone that's basically bought into a lifestyle. [/i]

😉 I ride about 150 miles a week, usually a lot more in summer. Always in baggies whether I'm on the road bike, cross bike or mountain bike. Never, ever had a problem with wearing baggies, I can spend all day in the saddle and kick out a 200 miler in baggies.

HTH.

I wear them because I've found coming off in lycra leaves you naked and I really do feel quite exposed with my genitals on show.

Road or MTB racing - padded lycra only as otherwise I get too hot and none of the reasons below come into the equation.

For more serious/technical riding I like padded lycra with baggies/overshorts as they:

1. Offer more protection if you come off and stop your lycra getting holed.

2. Offer more protection from mud and water (esp if waterproof) so I don't get as wet and uncomfortable on longer rides and also stops the pad being destroyed by grit, etc. They also stop brambles, nettles, etc from destroying my legs as much. Help keep me warmer in the cold too.

3. Hold a map and compass where they are readily to hand without getting in the way.

4. Reduce the rubbing that can occur on rougher rides. Smooth terrain is fine in lycra but baggies give an extra layer of movement that I find reduces chafing over choppier ground.

Please note that these are MY opinions of why I wear them in response to the OP. You don't have to agree but neither do you need to persecute or disparage me or others for our choices that, at the end of the day, do not affect you in any way, shape of form. Both sides need to get over themselves.

you should try it some time, you might actually find yourself having some fun on your bike for a change.

I can't even put my seat down in the first place! I have plenty of fun on my bike though, if I didn't I'd not ride it... I'm not too sure how I'd have more fun by making it harder though.

If you're not riding naked you're not doing it right..

shall we broker the subject of peaks on helmets? Or is that for another thread?

But there not "ordinary" shorts are they, they are bike specific baggy shorts.

I sometimes wear ordinary shorts on the bike :gasp:

Like these:

[img] http://scotts.scene7.com/is/image/JDSports/14367sca?wid=325&$pos=0,15&resmode=sharp&op_usm=1.1,0.5,0,0&defaultImage=JDSports/scottsImageMissing [/img]

Is that OK?

[img] [/img]

Obviously it's not OK. Call yourself a cyclist? Pah. You're just a thinner version of Ray Mears.

I'm not too sure how I'd have more fun by [s]making it harder though.[/s] [b]actually trying something different/new[/b]

But there not "ordinary" shorts are they, they are bike specific baggy shorts