The horror, the horror... thin lycra

[Rassendyll]

On a club ride this morning, with the sun on our backs as we barrelled along in a paceline quite happily.

Until I noticed that I can now see through the lycra shorts of my friend who is riding in front of me. In quite a bit of detail.

Now I love him dearly but not in that way, and even he would admit it isn't his best feature.

But once you've noticed something like that it is incredibly hard to erase it from your mind, especially if you are sitting behind him for another half an hour, when you're not at the front.

I was equally disturbed by the fact they were Assos shorts, so he's paid an outrageous amount of money to show his hairy ass-crack to all and sundry.

 

[MajorMantra]

I had a similar experience on Wednesday, also Assos shorts oddly enough. What I initially took to be a dirty seat on this guys shorts was in fact a translucent section that offered a peek within.

I couldn't think of a polite way to alert him to this.

Just how early is your club run by the way?

Matthew

 

[Rassendyll]

Yes there's nothing one can say really, though perhaps stabbing one's eyes with a multi-tool might open the conversation.

Quite early BTW but I'm also several timezones ahead of the UK.

 

[ColinJ]

I had to tell a mate of mine that he was suffering from the same problem. He is now riding around with a colour-cordinated J-cloth down the back of his shorts!

It is actually quite effective, in that I have to get pretty close to be able to spot it.

 

[Jonathan M]

TDF skin suits have apparently got so thin for aero purposes that this is all too common.

Were they coloures shorts by any chance, or conventional black?

 

[Rassendyll]

Not coloured, they were black - which only helped highlight the white fleshy bits underneath with what I had thought at first glance to be the seam of the shorts in the centre. Wrongly as it turned out.

Like the J-cloth idea but if I'd dropped the best part of 100 quid on some Assos shorts I'd be rather miffed at having to stick a piece of household haberdashery down them to preserve my modesty.

 

[jimboalee]

I have witnessed 'thin lycra'.

A young lady was wearing pink panties under her black shorts.

 

[I am Spartacus]

How can you check for thin lycra?

 

[gavintc]

Yes, the club decided on one Sat in the cafe to inform one of our female riders that her shorts were now see through. We had all followed her wheel at some point and it was patently obvious. The problem was who should address the problem. When she popped off to powder her nose, we agreed it was only fair she should be informed.

 

[I am Spartacus]

You need a lycrometer.

Damn .. more expense... can Wiggle supply?

 

[yello]

A guy in our club suffers the same problem. He's also rather *achem* rotund. I loathe being behind him and seeing his fat backside! Fortunately, he only appears in good weather on flat rides... so pretty rarely! Even more bizarrely, he 'dresses' to the left (or is it right, I don't pay that much attention!)... suffice to say, he tucks it down his leg rather than up front... it CAN'T be comfortable!

 

[ColinJ]

How can you check for thin lycra?

Just hold the shorts up to the light (when you are not wearing them, obviously! ) - the thin spots are very obvious.

 

[I am Spartacus]

And if you have one of the 'offending' articles..? a J cloth stuffed down there... surely there has to be a better way...?

 

[ColinJ]

And if you have one of the 'offending' articles..? a J cloth stuffed down there... surely there has to be a better way...?

The 'better way', from one point of view, would be to just buy a new pair of shorts! What annoyed my mate was that it was only one part of the shorts that was worn through. He's hard up and the £65 shorts are otherwise undamaged so he is determined to get his money's worth out of them!

What we can't work out is why it is the a*se-cr*ck zone that has worn. That area isn't in contact with the saddle so you'd think it would last longer than the underside and the insides of the legs.

 

[Jonathan M]

Polaris used to do a thin pretty unpadded pair of liner shorts. Very thin fleece "pad" instead of chamois. That may be an option, and would avoid the bulk of two lots of padded chamois.