[Closed] Why do people wear baggy shorts?

Nope, sorry, riding with your saddle down (as you implied I should try) is harder. It may be a bit more controlled on the descents, but it's harder to ride, considering one has to ride up the hills too. I'm not particularly interested in making it harder for myself! If you want to, that's fine, I'm clearly not as fit as you, and find the terrain sufficiently challenging without such adaptations.

Baggy Shorts or Lycra?

well I dont care either way as its really a matter of personal taste. Just remember that its not an either/or question... you all have an alternative....

[img] [/img]

A Gentleman in the mountains ... should be appropriately attired at all times

A Gentleman in the mountains ... should be appropriately attired at all times

Maybe this is the point, most of these lycra-freaks don't actually ride their bikes in the mountains. 😉

OMG! the world according to Njee must be a ****ing scary place, but i s'pose the blinkers will help a bit 😉

Maybe this is the point, most of these lycra-freaks [s]don't[/s] actually ride their bikes in the mountains instead of standing in the car park, propping up fence posts, rummaging in their oversized Camelbaks, discussing how rad they are and then retiring to the pub after 200 yards

Spot on!

C'mon then GW, explain your point? You said that you don't put your saddle up to ride 5 miles, and that I should try it as I may have more fun. I'm not sure how you're qualified to comment on the amount of fun I'm having. Please explain this further. Also I'd like to know how I'm blinkered? Email in profile if you prefer!

Lycra and Baggies pah! tailored tweed is what everyone should be wearing.

Jeez, this thread encapsulates everything I love and hate about this forum in one place. Good work.

The question is, does it really matter?

Go on then njee20, when was the last time you rode your bike on a mountain (not just round and round a muddy field 😉 )?

The question is, does it really matter?

Of course not! It's a forum about a minority sport! But it's been very active, and kept me entertained at work!

I wear ordinary sports shorts on the bike....the same ones i wear in the gym, playing squash etc....about medium length, quick drying synthetic material and come with the netting/lining on the inside thus negating the need for lycra and/or underwear....usually cost about a fiver from any sports shop.

The idea of spending £50+ on cycling specific baggies has to be one of the biggest cons going.....seriously Alpinestars, Fox etc must be laughing all the way to the bank.

The idea of spending £50+ on cycling specific baggies has to be one of the biggest cons going.....seriously Alpinestars, Fox etc must be laughing all the way to the bank.

Agreed, don't think I've ever paid more than £20 for a pair of shorts. I saw some that cost £85 the other day!

wow, what a delightful thread.

i wear baggies cos i fall off loads and ride in the woods.

i dont wear lycra cos, unlike some people, i think of the children.

Of course not! It's a forum about a minority sport!

Pfft, minority! here in Bristol because of the new trails every man and his dog has taken up Mtbing, it's a sea of baggies, 100 litre camel humps and peaked helmets.

😆

The idea of spending £50+ on cycling specific baggies has to be one of the biggest cons going.....seriously Alpinestars, Fox etc must be laughing all the way to the bank.

Sums it up. But if image is that important to you, I guess you have to cough up. I imagine most baggy short owners probably own several fox/alpinestars/sombrio casual items of clothing aswell.

Lycra's so this morning.

I wrap myself in a layer of cling film. I'm so fast I'm giving myself a hard on.

whatnobeer ^ for the win

Go on then njee20, when was the last time you rode your bike on a mountain (not just round and round a muddy field?

*deafening silence*

5 pages!!
Lycra, black only, on the roadie, lycra and baggies when offroad. Reason? simple, brambles, thorns, ferns, thick undergrowth that thrash me and my shorts, I just want a little extra protection see. I've not ridden an XC race in a long while, but if I did I guess lycra only.

Because lycra = wrong.

The guys who race the TDF could wear fairy suits if it made them go faster and no one would care as they are hard as nails. Same with elite level xc racers, and top swimmers and athletes.

You don't see sunday swimmers going to the pool in skin suits do you?

Unless you are racing (where every second counts), then there is no excuse. If you want to look like you have just got off one of the floats at gay pride, fare enough. (Nothing against homosexuals, I have been to pride and it is great fun 😀 )

Straight men who dress up in lycra and shave their legs for a sunday ride should be ashamed of themselves 😛

I won a pair of expensive Fox baggies at a race, I wear them as casual shorts, very nice they are too!

Sorry Grum, I didn't see your post. There is no true defintion of a mountain, so it's a hard one to answer really! Been a while I guess though, but I've not spent time not cycling on mountains either 🙂

I wrap myself in a layer of cling film. I'm so fast I'm giving myself a hard on.

Cling film is rubbish if you fall off, I prefer a good wrap of duck tape.

*deafening silence*

😀

You don't see sunday swimmers going to the pool in skin suits do you?

This is the thing, what some (not all, but most of the ones in this thread) lycra wearers are really saying is 'look at me, look at me, I'm a SERIOUS cyclist, not like those other guys'.

njee20 - Member

I won a pair of expensive Fox baggies at a race, I wear them as casual shorts, very nice they are too!

'Extreme casual' use only I hope?

Not read the 3 pages inbetween 1 and 5 but the reason I (thats me, not anyone else) wears baggies instead of lycra is because of my answer on page 1. I don't want to look like some kind of oddball deviant whilst sitting having my coffee and cake after/during a ride. That and I find the pockets useful. And the utter rubbish some people spout about people wearing baggies only because everyone else does... no. I suppose you walk around starkers purely because everyone else wears clothes?

Any serious mountain bikers will wear lycra whilst posting on STW.

I'm wearing Skins compression tights with POC knee and shin guards right now. This is because I'm better than you. FACT.

This is the thing, what some (not all, but most of the ones in this thread) lycra wearers are really saying is 'look at me, look at me, I'm a SERIOUS cyclist, not like those other guys'

To be fair there are quite a few MAMILs out there who think wearing the latest team strip will give them a couple of extra MPH but they annoy even us lycra wearing types.

They always seem annoyed when a rotund bloke in ill fitting lycra on an old touring bike passes them on an uphill section of road...

Sorry Grum, I didn't see your post. There is no true defintion of a mountain, so it's a hard one to answer really! Been a while I guess though

Thought as much.

Maybe if you were a 'real mountain biker' you'd understand the need for normal shorts (and a Camelbak). It can get pretty cold up on an actual mountain so you need some spare clothes, you can be in remote places so you might need spares/tools/first aid kit, and you might be riding difficult, steep, rocky trails where you might want pads/baggies (especially if you like to ride rather than just walking down tech sections).

Of course when you are just [s]running with your bike[/s] riding round and round a field in Sussex it's a bit different.

🙂

mountain: a really big hill, steep, with rocky bits.

Look! not a piece of lycra in sight. And I bet he's a damn sight faster than all of you...

BRB - off to get hob-nobs.

Is it just my silly memory or haven't skinsuits been banned in DH despite the top riders wanting to wear them?

Maybe if you were a 'real mountain biker' you'd understand the need for normal shorts (and a Camelbak). It can get pretty cold up on an actual mountain so you need some spare clothes, you can be in remote places so you might need spares/tools/first aid kit, and you might be riding difficult, steep, rocky trails where you might want pads/baggies (especially if you like to ride rather than just walking down tech sections).

Spare clothes and bits yep, can understand that, makes sense. Pads and baggies? Nah, you're alright!

Let's be honest though, most people aren't talking about mountains, and most people don't ride on mountains, most people are, at best, riding trail centre-esque trails, be them actually at a trail centre, or in the 'wilderness', and people make a judgment based on their feelings about armour.

Were I wearing armour, I'd probably go for baggies too, but that's well out of my comfort zone!

Not too sure where the stuff about my walking down tech sections comes from, just because I engage in the (numerous recent) debates about XC racing. I'm not one for walking down (or up) things unnecessarily at all, what's the point? Where's the fun!? I can't remember the last thing I did walk down whilst riding. Doesn't mean I deem armour necessary for my riding though. Plenty of people do, which is fine. Maybe I just don't plan to crash, it's not like armour helps until you do 🙂

I don't want to look like some kind of oddball deviant whilst sitting having my coffee and cake after/during a ride

Take note lycra wearers, think of the children!!

Is it just my silly memory or haven't skinsuits been banned in DH despite the top riders wanting to wear them?

lycra's a billion times cheaper, comfier and more practical than baggies.. especially when riding down rocks..

However.. for the sake of propriety I have recently invested in baggy shorts 'cos if I'm honest, my budgie smugglers made even me feel a bit queasy..

I'm 28 and so have been riding for around 26 ish years Lycra has never stood out as something I want to ride in so I ride in standard plain baggy shorts, not because I am or ever have been fat but because I've never felt the need for Lycra, I'm not out riding to look like a cyclist of mtb'er, I'm not after a certain image to fit in, im not a weekend warrior ( whatever one of those is, we all ride weekends right!?)and I don't think if my shorts snag my seat I'm going to lose valuable seconds in a race, I'm not a pro athlete, I just enjoy riding my bike as often and as fast as possible, and when I stop of for a pint of milk on the way home in my normal shorts and a t shirt I don't look like I've wandered off from some olympic village. Why would you want a replica jersey anyway these companies aren't paying you to wear their shitty shirt made to look like a baked beans can.

hilton83 +1
nail on head

Lycra is more practical when going fast 18mph+, nothing flapping around etc.

baggies just look better and for a lot of people are more comfortable and mean you can put stuff in your pockets.

Road + Mtb Racing = Lyrca
Casual + fashion concious = Baggies

I don't want to look like some kind of oddball deviant whilst sitting having my coffee and cake after/during a ride

i do so i wear old worn out lycra that you can see through if the sun is out 😈

Nobody deserves to see their fellow man in skin tight lycra. Jesus.

double post

Wear baggies if you want.

I'll wear lycra and I'll go up real mountains wearing it. What I look like isn't really a consideration when I'm picking my riding kit out of the cupboard.

i do so i wear old worn out lycra that you can see through if the sun is out

Quality!

While we're at it

What's with the 'pop socks' things I've seen some people wearing?

don't want to look like some kind of oddball deviant whilst sitting having my coffee and cake after/during a ride

Us lycra wearers don't stop for coffee and cake, we're out training, taking things seriously, it's a serious business.

I've ridden a lot in Italy and Spain dontchaknow, and roadies there take a great deal of pride in what they wear, even to the point of white lycra kit. Well when you've been sitting behind a group on a long days ride in blazing sun and 40C, the last thing you want to see is the arse of some dark haired italians pubes all sweaty and almost see through...

Baggy shorts look better end of! Not too keen on just wearing Lycra and having a bit of tight tissue paper under my arse crack and around my legs. Though Lycra is good for cutting through the wind. The type of riding I do though makes no difference if I get there 10 mins earlier due to less drag. I would rather get there and not look like a total mincer with a scrunched up nob sack poking out of some shiny things that make you look like the extra member of the village people!

Not to mention Lycra is about as good as rice paper when you fall off or stick your leg in a thorny bush. Chuck them in the bin after! Lycra to me only as a place on the track or the TDF, or club races etc.

I would rather get there and not look like a total mincer with a scrunched up knob sack poking out of some shiny things that make you look like the extra member of the village people!

If thats how lycra makes you look, then I cant imagine baggy's do you many more favours.

Thankfully I look like an athlete when I wear lycra.

I ripped the arse out of my baggies in a crash once and had to complete the ride in biblongs. It was horrible, I felt naked, never again.

Also a decent pair of baggies give you another layer of something before your skin which is useful when you inevitably fall off as above saved me a fair bit of lost arse cheek on that occassion.

Can we wind this up. It's stopped raining, I want to go out and I still don't know what I can wear.

Road ride on knobbly treaded mtb if that's any help.

you'll need mudguards then...

Thankfully I look like an athlete when I wear lycra.

[img] [/img]

? 😉

😀

To be honest I had to start wearing them. The bloody women were throwing themselves at me in my lycra one piece. I couldnt stop at traffic lights for being thrown from my bike and pinned to the floor by at least a dozen at a time..............

sorry, wrong forum!! 😉

i love this we all look like ****ts to the public anyway arguement, but at the end of the day when the helmet comes off and your standing at the bar you're just bloke in shorts, tshirt and trainers. Now the merits of this look is debatable but at least you don't look like you're queueing for the Powerrangers booth comicon 2005.

I think lycra is better for long distance and muddy conditions as its more comfortable. However 99% of the time I wear baggies as I dont think people need to see just how huge my package is 🙂

Looking back through this thread it also seems to be a common trait for baggy short wearers to consider themselves to be endowed with horse sized wangs.

I wear lycra coz baggies get in the way and I get too hot mostly. I also wear knee and shin pads - I look ridiculous 😕 but not as stupid as I'm going to look this weekend 😯

but not as stupid as I'm going to look this weekend

wow, this one has gone on a bit! CBA to read all 6 pages so im sorry if this has already been suggested but is it something along the lines of

cyclists= happy to wear lycra

mountain bikers= prefer to wear baggies

im sure the guy who said you arent a proper cyclist if you do less than a 100 miles a week, you are just buying in to a lifestyle was trolling but there probably are plenty of folk who think more distance= more serious cyclist, like being serious is something to aspire to. ive been mtbing for 20+ years and have never been serious about it in so far as trainig or competing but i try to ride 2-4 times a week and fit my work and life around this. ill ride rain or shine, get up ridiculously early to fit a ride in, lose sleep over getting excited about an upcoming ride etc. fwiw i ride a bit of everything from jumps and dh to a couple of hours blast to an all day epic. but i wear baggies so im only buying into a lifestyle...

Looking back through this thread it also seems to be a common trait for baggy short wearers to consider themselves to be endowed with horse sized wangs.

When I'm cold, wet and knackered, my gentlemen's vegetables practically disappear, so wearing baggies hides the lack of bulge....

Looking back through this thread it also seems to be a common trait for baggy short wearers to consider themselves to be endowed with horse sized wangs.

No 'considering' to be done. It's fact. 😉

Let's all stop the silly bickering and go and read this inspiring thread instead (it even features nipples).

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/with-pics-the-best-adventure-best-ride-ever-gr5-transalp

If it's hot and I'm not going near a shop just endura Meryl 3/4 lycra. Good knee stinger protection. When its a bit cooler baggies. When its warm no one wears a t shirt then puts an expensive non breathable nylon coat over the top, even though it would offer more protection ,cover beer bellies and scrawny arms.
When swimming I got fed up with baggy shorts bunching up and falling down.So I got some cycle short swimmers and immediately went from the slow lane to medium.

Its fashion people - Simple as.

Any you know what, people who claim not to be bothered about at least not appearing unfashionable are proper weird.

MTBer wear baggies because its fashionable. So flipping what.

I switched from lycra to baggies last year. More practical for my riding - tougher when you fall off or hit foliage, more weatherproof keeping the wind/rain off but cooler in summer, on long rides or if it's very cold and wet I'll wear lycra underneath for the best of both worlds, most of the time I just wear normal unpadded underwear. Those who think you have to wear shorts with those chamois things probably don't realise you don't have to sit down all the time!

most of the time I just wear normal unpadded underwear.

😯

How is this possible????!!

it's just a fashion led by the fact that mountain bike riding is now for fat old men who feel gay in lycra.
oh and so they can get all padded up to ride the same stuff people always rode in lycra on hardtails.
bless em.

still though if it keeps you happy.

I am quite particular about the specific undergarments - they have to be synthetic stretchy boxers - loose cotton would be just awful. I ride a hardtail with a dropper post and therefore spend a lot of time out of the saddle one way or another.

The comments made by guys about almost any woman in lycra shorts is reason enough for me to wear baggies.

Only one person is allowed such a view of my arse!

I know exactly how I look, but I'll continue to wear the most appropriate kit for what I'm doing!

Cycling isn't a 'cool' sport - there's even an article on the BBC today about it.

As I said before though, I'm not fat. Perhaps if I was I'd feel more embarassed and wear baggies.

it's just a fashion led by the fact that mountain bike riding is now for fat old men who feel gay in lycra.
oh and so they can get all padded up to ride the same stuff people always rode in lycra on hardtails.
bless em.

C'mon then GW, explain your point? You said that you don't put your saddle up to ride 5 miles, and that I should try it as I may have more fun. I'm not sure how you're qualified to comment on the amount of fun I'm having. Please explain this further.

Also I'd like to know how I'm blinkered?

Email in profile if you prefer!

We walked/climbed/mountaineered in the mountains and took up cycling in the mountains aswell.

This.

It's all down to personal preference, my personal preference is not to look like a right **** in lycra, that's why I wear baggies.
Unless you ride for htc or sky etc there is no need for lycra.

I ride in my pants.

[i]Why do people wear baggy shorts?[/i]

Yeah, [b]Why[/b] ?.

🙄

Never wear lycra or undershorts, hate 'em. I like to dangle free with standard boxxers and baggies.

Loads of big all day rides, even 10@KT. No probs.

it's just a fashion led by the fact that mountain bike riding is now for fat old men who feel gay in lycra.
oh and so they can get all padded up to ride the same stuff people always rode in lycra on hardtails.

I've been riding since 1990 and never worn lycra only as it always seemed a bit ****, unless you're racing. Meh, takes all sorts I suppose.