Shorts bobbling on inner thighs , shorts or bike fit problem ?

[ADarkDraconis]

78% Polyamide, 22% Elastane!!

Ta da! There we have it!

 

[jefmcg]

Are they a blend of materials? I work in the furniture industry and 100% of a material all the way through (100% polyester or cotton, etc.) will be less likely to pill, whereas a cotton-poly blend or a poly-acrylic blend, etc. (anything that is not 100%, even just a 95-5 ratio) will be more likely to ball up as the material fibers aren't always the same length/thickness/texture when they are woven together.

Cycling clothing is always a blend, with elastane/lycra making up between 5 and 20 percent. It mostly doesn't pill.

Okay I say "always", but there are exceptions ..

 

[ADarkDraconis]

Cycling clothing is always a blend, with elastane/lycra making up between 5 and 20 percent. It mostly doesn't pill.

Okay I say "always", but there are exceptions ..

View attachment 398991

A blended fabric will pill more with friction than a non-blended fabric. Not all of them will, but they are much more likely to. I don't wear cycle-specific clothing other than my balaclava and winter biking gloves, so I have no experience with what they are made of. This is just something that the textile industry in upholstery has learned over the years, and I have even seen it in my work slacks and such that are certain blends.

 

[cyberknight]

New bag

Old bag

 

[jefmcg]

A blended fabric will pill more with friction than a non-blended fabric. Not all of them will, but they are much more likely to. I don't wear cycle-specific clothing other than my balaclava and winter biking gloves, so I have no experience with what they are made of. This is just something that the textile industry in upholstery has learned over the years, and I have even seen it in my work slacks and such that are certain blends.

I don't mean to keep arguing, but most athletic clothing is a blend, and athletic clothing doesn't generally pill. There's got to be another factor.

Old bag

Yup, that would do it

 

[cyberknight]

Yup, that would do it

the old bag seemed ok, unless anyone can recommend a better bag?

 

[ADarkDraconis]

I don't mean to keep arguing, but most athletic clothing is a blend, and athletic clothing doesn't generally pill. There's got to be another factor.

You can argue all you'd like, I have a toddler and work with the public so I am well accustomed to it There may well be another factor in play, unless we can see the OP in action it is hard to tell.

All I was saying is that blends are proven (by textile companies usually using a double rub machine) to be *more likely* to pill, not that they are guaranteed do it (especially if they are on a thinner frame, so to speak, where things don't rub together, and doing activities that don't have a lot of friction pressure like jumping jacks or pull ups or, for some, bike riding.) I have had athletic clothing pill before, less common on shirts because depending on the exercise they don't always get as much friction as the legs but have had it on the underarm area and the inside back where it can rub against the bra strap- so now my workout shirts are 100% polyester and I don't seem to have that problem anymore. On pants I have large-ish thighs (no shame) and depending on the material will get pills in the upper thighs area after time, or sometimes the backs of knees if I have used them on certain gym benches or machines frequently over time where it rubs against the padded bars. A couple of people here have said that their shorts have pilled, and their shorts are athletic wear, so it does happen.

Likewise you can still have 100% of a material pill, wool for instance tends to ball easier than some other materials (I think because the fibers aren't always even?) But it is a general thought that seems to hold true in many applications. Just my tuppence.