Shorts

[jethro10]

So I'm after a pair of baggy shorts, lycra works great, perfect for the job, but looks a bit naff on a mountain bike.

Shorts are so much more complex than I thought.
Taking Endura Humvee. They are waterproof-ish, Zip pockets that are not pockets but ventilation slits. Different material in the seat, And what about this inner liner thingy?

I'm sorta lost here. It looks just like very thin lycra shorts!
I assumed shorts would just be that!
So we have:-
1.Plain shorts.
2.Folk wearing shorts with lycra underneath, but seperate products? Can you get seperate liners for shorts irregardless of brand, can you mix n match?
3.built in lycra ones that clip in.

I'm not even sure I've asked a question , just kinda lost on this lycra bit and also if anyone has any other experience on anything that might help

Ta
Jeff

 

[Globalti]

Never worn baggies, can't imagine anyhting worse than cold wet material flapping around my thighs.

Endura seems to be the favourite, or why not go over and ask on Singletrack?

 

[Debian]

On the mountain bikes I only ever wear ordinary "long" shorts with padded undershorts.

I've never bothered with cycle specific mountain bike clobber apart from the padded pants, my shorts are usually from Matalan or Tesco for a fiver and my shirts are usually Peter Storm hiking t-shirts. Get the right material, lightweight poly-cotton rather than denim types and they'll be fine. I've never found I've needed extra ventilation or whatever. Neither have I found the need to spend £20 - £50 on a pair of shorts.

 

[Kirstie]

Humvees are baggies which come with a pair of lycra shorts that press -stud to the inside of them - that's the inner liner part. The zips in the legs are for ventiliation - you'll need it with two pairs of shorts on. They are OK - mine didn't last that long, and I prefer the shorts to the 3/4 version.

 

[Cubist]

Lined shorts vary from the Altura Mayhem style, which are a bit like a lycra boxer with a pad, to the Humvees which have an inner short which you could actually wear without the overshorts.

Some come without liner shorts, and you can mix and match your favourite cycling shorts or bibshorts.

What they tend to have in common is that they have extra panelling to aid mobility on the seat etc etc, and tend to shed water in a teflon-style effect. .

I have a pair of Mayhem, which are lightweight, very quick drying. The liner short is not comfy for me, so I tend to wear bibshorts under them.

I also have a pair of Humvees. They are heavier, but the liner is much better quality with a decent coolmax pad.

They al have a silly number of pockets for phones, ipods etc.

Proper XC heroes don't bother with baggies.

 

[Steve Austin]

A lot of the folks i ride with use endura zyme shorts

 

[gordimhor]

got a pair of polaris baggies from halfords twenty quid from halfords. Plenty pockets,quick drying and don't catch on the saddle. Nothing wrong with buying cheap shorts from wherever and wearing lycra underneath

 

[AndyM78]

Best bet is to spend your money on some decent padded lycra shorts and wear them under a pair of board shorts like your man here says, that way if you rip the ass out of them you can go back to primark and buy another pair for a fiver!!

 

[hotmetal]

+1
I've been mountainbiking for 20 years and shorts are the one thing I've never bothered with. Hideous mental picture! No, I mean "bike-specific" shorts.

Helmet, YES!
Clipless pedals & shoes, tick
Cheap cycling jersey from Lidl, tick
Gloves, tick
Expensive lighting system for night rides, tick
Tesco 'Camelbak' for £7, tick

Shorts: skanky pair of cutoffs!

I never really even found the need to wear padded undies underneath, as I'm usually out of the saddle enough to give the old bum a rest. However, since getting my road bike I've spent loads on lycra bib shorts and poncy looking stuff. Now I do wear Endura padded undershorts when on the MTB if I remember.