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So what’s the consensus for mountain biking?
Do people get some tights and wear shorts and pads over them or specific trousers?
Or does it just not matter? 😉
red pants over blue tights works for me.
Regards,
Superman.
Leather chaps and baby oil.
Tights and no shorts.
If you’re wearing tights then it’s cold and/or wet so you want the warmest option available whilst also minimising any flapping fabric.
So a good pair of thermal, ideally bib tights (they help keep your lower back warm too) is the best option.
Bib tights when it is very cold otherwise its shorts all the way. Nettle rash is a Badge of Honour!
Baggies over tights is a very old look IMHO.
Tights and no shorts.
When you say pads, are you talking about knee pads? Knee pads over tights with shorts wouldn’t be a great look or idea. The pads would struggle to stay put in a crash
Trousers for sure.
In the wet and muddy times its a single muddy layer that you can easily remove either in the carpark or at home, without flinging mud everywhere like you do when you pull something wet and skin tight off.
Extra benefit, most of the wetness in your shoes is water from the front wheel spreaying onto your legs and running down into the big hole at the top. Slightly loose trousers (big boot cut/flares are no good obviously, they'll catch in the chain) massively reduce this.
Even moreso than shorts will you benefit form buying proper cycling ones, not generic outdoorey ones. Being properly cut around the arse for the cycling position stops the shirt-waistline gap appearing, and tapered ankles/cuffs don't catch on things or flap around.
I'm old school with shorts over tights mainly because I am old and sick of the wife complaining about mud on the bed sheets 😅
Serious answer, as a lifelong shorts wearer who would never go out in public dressed like a gymnast, I bought some of those lightweight stretchy Fox trousers and they're my favourite bit of kit.
Having your pads, socks, shins and everything stay clean is a novelty and they're completely weightless and fast drying.
It feels like riding in a silky tracksuit but with nice tight cuffs.
It’s the middle of summer and as warm as it ever gets here - why is this even a question?
It’s the middle of summer and as warm as it ever gets here – why is this even a question?
Nows the time to buy winter kit.
Or he could be trying to protect his legs from nettles, gorse and so on.
In the middle of winter, I always wear bib longs with baggy shorts over the top of them. But I'm a really chubby lad, and nobody wants to see me in tight lycra.
In summer? Shorts, no knee pads. Scars are a badge of honour!
A good pair of 'troo's for the winter/wet for me. As said above less water goes in the shoes, kneepads/socks stay cleaner. Got a pair of fox over last winter and love them
Tights? In the woods? with the boys? 😮
Pads... sanitary or incontinence?
Serious answer, as a lifelong shorts wearer who would never go out in public dressed like a gymnast
Serious answer. As someone who rides a bike I want the best kit for the job and fit plays a part in that. Lycra works best for cycling, that’s why those who race wear it (yes, even those who do Enduro, BMX and DH, have seen how tight their “baggy” clothing is?).
I don’t look like a gymnast, I look like a fella on a bike. Which is exactly what I am.
As someone who rides a bike I want the best kit for the job
LOL what you doing wearing lycra then? Horrible stuff.
Knee length socks and bib knickers for the gorse and nettles.
Shorts all year round here. Endure humvee or similar with knee pads. Only leaves a bit of lower leg/shin exposed. I just get way too warm in trousers and my tiny bit of exposed leg doesn't get that cold tbh
Sunny - baggies over bib shorts, middling weather - baggies over bib 3/4, winter - baggies over bib tights. I want a bit of padding, I want baggies that will shed a bit water and the longer legs give a bit of warmth.
The bike specific trousers all seem a bit pricey at the moment; I may try them n due course If prices get more sensible.
Tights? In the woods? with the boys? 😮
Why yes!
shorts over tights mainly because I am sick of the wife complaining about mud on the bed sheets
The mind boggles.
For warm wet season (used to be called ‘summer and winter’):
- Long bib shorts, nae else but vaseline*, mtb shoes and gaiters
For hot dry season (used to be called ‘spring’)
- Short bib shorts, nae else but sunscreen and SPD sandals
*Southerners may resort to Vaseline garments if there is a hint of frost
I don’t look like a gymnast, I look like a fella on a bike
That, or you're on your way to comicon dressed as an obscure DC crime fighter
yes, even those who do Enduro, BMX and DH, have seen how tight their “baggy” clothing is?
Still what I would call 'baggy' - i.e. not skin tight (apart from the BMXers jeans).
Shorts that MC hammer would be proud of and a jersey big enough for motorcross armour (that you wear armourless) have been rightly left back a decade ago.
Shorts over tights in nettle season or winter!
I used to wear mountain bike shorts over bib longs for most of my off-road riding (too much undergrowth for shorts along to be an option) however I now tend to just go with the bib longs without the shorts over the top. Yes it makes me look like a roadie, but then that's possibly a good thing because I currently have no technical skills so in fact behave like a roadie who'd never been on a mountain bike before.
Still what I would call ‘baggy’ – i.e. not skin tight (apart from the BMXers jeans).
Hmmm?
I bought some of those lightweight stretchy Fox trousers and they’re my favourite bit of kit.
Which ones are they?
shorts over tights mainly because I am sick of the wife complaining about mud on the bed sheets
The mind boggles.
They ain't crumbs of mud in the bed....
For me the Lycra gives me the comfort, and the baggies some extra protection in a crash and reduced wear n tear. If pads are involved then swap to a baggier trouser over the Lycra. Don't give a toss what other think about what I'm wearing, it works for me.
It’s the middle of summer and as warm as it ever gets here – why is this even a question?
Not all the time...here's Scout Moor on Monday afternoon:
I wore shorts over bib tights.
Used to be baggies over bib tights.. But then I got a pair of the Endura MT500 softshell trousers a couple of winters ago and they have been a revelation, would recommend to anyone. Shed water much better than tights, water into the shoes isn't a problem anymore and they are remarkably warm. In the absolute depths of winter when it was -5 I capitulated and switched from regular bib shorts under them to a pair of thermal shorts under and was toasty.
Get back to the house, drop the trousers in front of the washing machine on the way to the shower and prevent any spreading of the mess. Getting muddy bib tights off can be a bit of a trial.!
Which ones are they?
I can't remember the name and I can't find them online so I wonder if they've been dropped or renamed. I know they were the cheapest ones as I fully expected to hate them and go back to shorts.
Now when I want some more I'll find a Fox dealer with good stock and try a bunch of them on.
Hmmm?
Posted 3 hours ago
Sam Hill
Downhill in lycra
Downhill in very baggies (2011)
And in clothes that actually fit him
And in clothes that actually fit him
^ Evidence that the matter really is all about fashion-trends, because of course the lycra fits him. Unless he bought the (very) wrong-size and he’s actually getting a megawedgy in that first pic!
Endura MT500 Burner pants are absolutely ace. Picked up some on offer last year for £50, and they're perfect.
Nice fit, stretchy material, zip pockets, lazer cut vents mean they dont get too hot. Best item of biking clothes I own, and I got them on a whim. Get back to the car after a gopping ride, and my legs are clean. Often find myself packing them when its even a tiny bit wet or cold out.
Also own a pair of the MT500 spray trousers. Fit is no where near as nice, they run too hot and they dont seem any more weatherproof than the burners. Hardly wear them. Cost more too.
Endura sizing is all over the place though!
BITD I had some motocross style trousers but didn't enjoy them so rarely wore them and moto shorts became the norm for riding down and pushing up.
When I built an XC bike I used to full lycra it and that carried on for a year or two of Wharncliffe riding when I moved north but the reality is that I feel less vulnerable and ride better in baggy shorts over bibtights in the winter and over bibshorts in the summer.