[Closed] To Lycra or not?

Lycra FTW. Unless you're fat. Just to get in before someone else does:

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Baggies.

Baggies off road, lycra on.

I only wear baggies for popping down the shops 😀

Lycra keeps everything in the right place 😉

Lycra always... but with a very light, nicely designed baggy over the top to ensure I don't look like a gimp.

Lycra for the road, baggies for the MTB.

I wore baggies ont he touring bike last weekend and reminded myself why it's such a bad idea. They catch on anything and everything (mainly the shifters), and baloon up on the decents. LYCRA FTW, only bother with baggies on the AM bike as they don't fall apart in a crash so easily.

Lycra for Raod, MTB racing and training.

I hate baggies as they are clumsy and uncomfortable but I will sometimes wear them if it's a slow pace social ride with people I don't know as I'm quite shy! 😳

Oh yeh never thought of the lack of protection when wearing lycra, could be a sore one if you come off!

As my road rides are more touring and I dont care much for aero', I wear padded shorts under baggies on whatever bike I'm on.

I like the comfort of padding and being held in by lycra, but also like the protected feel of baggies over the top. I have various degrees of weight in my baggie collection for different conditions.

Lycra under baggies here too.

Why not have your cake and eat it...

Baggies* over lycra

*the type that have detachable inners

Lycra at all times here, it allows one to get off the back of the saddle, and more importantly, get back on it again!

One of the lads I ride with had a particularly nasty fall when his baggies caught on his shifter during a very slow climb.

And with legs like mine, why would I NOT wear Lycra??? 😉

I never ride in baggies on or off road. Don't care how it looks I just want to be comfortable when I ride and padded shorts give me that. I wear the cannondale ones, not cheap but durable and comfy.

Oh yeh never thought of the lack of protection when wearing lycra, could be a sore one if you come off!

It's not protection, you still get grazes through the material, I meant that my baggies are some kind of cordura type material, so it doesn't rip, so after a crash your privates are still private. Lyrca just disintegrates if you hit the ground faster than walking pace.

Lycra on road, baggies on mtb.

Lyrca just disintegrates if you hit the ground faster than walking pace.

On the road perhaps, not off road.

Lycra*

*As long as your body fat is lower than 10% 😉

Bibshorts under baggies for 'normal' rides. Lycra on its own for racing. Defo lycra for road riding.

I'd always go for bibshorts over non-bibshorts now. The increase in comfort in amazing.

I would never be seen dead in lycra

This. There really is never any excuse.

Baggies* over lycra

*the type that have detachable inners

My favourite too,plenty of choice on the market.

 

All lycra, all the time. 8)

There's some (Endura, noteably) thats thicker in the areas most likely to be landed on, so it lives up to a few crashes.

I hated the feel of wet, gritty and or muddy baggies flapping around my legs, slowly falling down, and catching on bits of the bike, just seemed so pointless.

That said, I've just bought a Pitch for some jumpy downhilly business, noteably a fortnight in B.C. I'll NOT be wearing lycra for that...

Can I just check something, do people actually wear baggies [u]without[/u] padded lycra shorts underneath???

That seriously makes no sense to me. Why would you do that to yourself?

lycra unless you want mums outside the school to give you suspicious glances as you ride past.

i use work shorts over lycra as they are much harder wearing and cheaper than specific bike shorts... also you usually have lots of pockets for stuff.

How baggie are these baggies you lot wear? MC Hammer pants or what? Flapping about? You're not meant to look like a professional boxer, you know.

Baggies over lycra, been loving the thermal bib-longs over winter, could anyone reccomend some nice, sensibly priced bib shorts to continue the comfort through summer?

This has been done a zillion times on here. Wear what you like and be happy

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Baggies over lycra. Endura 3/4 humvees (with the padded lycra liner that pops in and out) for me 🙂 Why anyone would ride around without padded shorts on is a mystery to me.

GlitterGary - Member

"I would never be seen dead in lycra"

This. There really is never any excuse.

U is jus jelus

Lycra road

Lyrca with baggy shorts over the top for MTB.

just got a cyclo cross bike as well and am confused as to what to wear 😕

U is jus jelus

Nope, just a cold as ice style icon.

Spring/summer/autumn - baggies over bibs (baggies may be waterproof jobbies if it's wet) on MTB, bibs on road.

Winter - waterproof baggies over unpadded bib-tights over bibs on MTB, unpadded bib-tights over bibs on road

Definitely always wear lycra all the time cos it works better, reduced chaffing and moves moisture away from skin quicker (if it's a decent quality fabric) and has a chamois pad for people with boney behinds like me.
If you don't like the lycra look then have baggies on top. I usually have baggies on top so I get more pockets.

[url=<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rA6AqP9zO7g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>]Or the Goodies and grease lightening in silk[/url]

"just got a cyclo cross bike as well and am confused as to what to wear"
lycra over baggies

Lycra for road and mtb unless going out on a big group ride then normally bib shorts with baggies

Lycra if you're going out to ride your bike.

Baggies if you're going out to sit in the trail centre cafe and chat about boring bike bike components whilst eating cake.

Lycra on & off road, if you've got it flaunt it :0

Oh, so the baggies go OVER the lycra? 😳

Lycra on the road.
Baggies over lycra off-road.
CX is road riding off the road so is lycra as well.

just got a cyclo cross bike as well and am confused as to what to wear

You have to wear a longsleeve skinsuit, it's the law!

Baggies only as I don't road ride and off-road rides are generally less than 2-3hrs so no real need for padding as my saddle is pretty comfy. Have a padded liner to go under the baggies for all-day outings if required.

Baggies for me. I don't actually own any lycra that hasn't worn out to the point of being see-thru though! (and neither do lots of other people i've noticed).

Baggies over lycra here aswell, although only just started wearing the lycra, still tryna find the best placement of 'it', Had to stop today and do abit of rearanging

Just been out for a run in my nice Gore flash tights, soo comfy. Might give them a go with a padded short for MTB. Though the bib short mankini thing does look to be the comfy option. Would it be cool to go with the bib short relaxed look with the shoulder straps hanging down? 😳

Can I just check something, do people actually wear baggies without padded lycra shorts underneath??? That seriously makes no sense to me. Why would you do that to yourself?

Why anyone would ride around without padded shorts on is a mystery to me.

Baggies over sport briefs in summer, tights over sport briefs when cold. No pads whatsoever.

Why?

[u]1) I don't want some kind of bulging nappy between me and the saddle[/u]
Ever noticed these godsend saddles with that pressure relieve groove along the middle?
Why would you want to fill that groove with foam from your shorts?
Same applies to those "comfortable" saddles with soft padding by the way. Terribly uncomfortable they are!
Luckily I don't have any chaffing issues, well padded natural leather skin I suppose.

[u]2) these pads provide no control of your private parts at all[/u]
They don't! It's either in the way on the left or on the right. Or both. While good anatomic briefs [i]merge[/i] everything in one central somewhat elevated position. If you know what I mean.

Anatomy seems to be a very individual thing! 😕 😉

What I still don't get: why would you want to wear 2 shorts over each other (lycra shorts plus baggies). But I sense it's the need for the padding... Why not try padded liners or padded boxers..?

Since the advent of the Charge Spoon, I'll occasionally ride without padded shorts. Anything more than a local bimble requires lycra shorts with pads.

The main reason most riders wear baggies over lycra is to minimise the 'Oh my God - look at that' effect.

despite riding my roadbike much more than my mtb bikes, even if I lost the flab I have and became micro-slim... you know the score, I still will never wear lycra. It's for people that take fun and enjoyment and time off too seriously. It's for people that may love riding bikes that want to really look like cyclists. naah, it's too serious for me. I'll keep sweating. (this opinion my change at any time)

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road = lycra (always)

mtb = baggies is casual ride, lycra if racing or in enduro.

your ride style (lots of down and not much up) may lean you towards baggies, if you are pedaling a lot of up and generally ride a bit more of an xc flavour you may be more inclined to wear lycra - a bit of generalisation i know

I wear lycra OVER baggies.

Not really. The lycra never comes out unless it's really cold and then it's tights with baggies over the top but the rest of the time it's just baggies and no lycra. If I wore just lycra I'd:
Destroy it by crashing
Look gay
And it would destroy me inside for knowinmg I would have looked like 'that'.

Lycra mainly. Baggies sometimes, but never on skinny tyres.

Also known to mix lycra kneewarmers with baggy shorts.

Kind of baggy-curious

Oh, and always skinny jeans in London.

lycra if racing on any type of bike. Baggies over lycra for social mtb and lycra for the road.

Was thinking of getting a skin suit for cross 😆

[img] http://buymarijuanaseeds.com/community/attachments/holy-thread-resurrection-jpg.360154/ [/img]

What an odd post.

#awkward

How bizzare, must be a troll login surely?

Oh, so the baggies go OVER the lycra?

Reminds me of a friend who always wore boardshorts under a wetsuit. Speedo's in a hired wetsuit if you're squeemish, but boardies?

Any bloke who leaves the house clad only in lycra has no doubt had an extensive internal dialogue, wresting with whether they look like a sex offender or not, and concluded that they don't. Sorry to inform you chaps. You were wrong

Random. The post has now been deleted.

Even more odd!

With out a doubt the most comfortable things to wear on a bike are bib shorts. If you have only ever worn baggies or lycra shorts you really should try bibs, its a revalation.

Given a choice of lycra shorts or baggies with undershorts I would most likely go for the baggies.

But given the choice of wearing lycra bib shorts its a no brainer, bib shorts or bib 3/4 are simply the most comfortable thing on a bike.putting baggies over the top just makes them less comfortable and a bit too warm.