Seems like it would help keep the shorts from getting stinky.
Edit: i have learned a lot about friction here. Thanks!
Chaffing and moisture management. Underwear is more often than not cotton. Putting a layer of cotton between you and the lycra would trap moisture. And yeah, the chaffing would be unreal.
My understanding is that unlike undies the bike shorts don’t have seams that will rub as you pedal so they’re meant to be used as the base layer.
I had never thought about seams, thanks!
Let me ask a parallel question:
Why don’t people wear underwear under their swimsuits?
That one is more clear to me: a soaking wet underwear is not comfortable.
Also, swimsuits do not seem to atract body odors. If anything they get chloriny
underwear under bike shorts would also be soaking wet though.
Hasn’t been for me but maybe I’m not riding long enough.
😏
They don’t?!?
No, some people use them as intended.
Go look at the shorts. Why is the manufacturer spending the time and money to put a nice, soft piece of fabric where your taint is touching? If the intent was you just wear your regular underwear they wouldn’t bother with that nice bit of fabric. But your bare skin is meant to be in contact with it, hence the nice soft material to limit chaffing and absorb sweat.
I remember seeing a little blip saying as much at REI.
I do.
Why would that be necessary, like Mamil, I wash those padded shorts after each use.
What is Mamil?
Middle aged men in Lycra.
Thanks!
you wash it after every ride anyway. on the plus side, you get no underwear rashes that you would definitely get if you wore underwear.
and my personal favourite reason: your underwear doesn’t “cut” int your belly.
You don’t. Any more layer of fabric will cause friction and might lead to blisters or worse.
The rule is never wear underwear under bike bibs. But I am a man, women sometimes do wear underwear, guess it’s more of an hygiene matter for them.
As for comfort, i confirm by first hand experience that it’s much better WITHOUT.
YMMV
How would the hygiene be different.
Why would be a problem for “general” hygiene? You wash your bibs every time you use them, it’s like your underwear, really. And while the TOP part of the bibs are made of Lycra or whatever other tissue, the underpart is the padded part, which has a different feeling on the skin anyway. And you wear them for a few hours at most, clearly not for entire days (well, now, those times you go for 180 or 220km… but that’s another story), so not a big deal, again. Blisters are a much serious issue, trust me.
Also, please, you are going to sweat and drench yourself, stink and be covered in dirt or sooth or smog or whatever. Maybe also catch a rainstorm, then sun. You going to need a shower and clean clothes as soon as you are over anyway. Trust me, underwear is something just not meaningful there.
Ask other athletes. Do 100m runners wear underwear? Do pole jumpers? No they don’t. And, do swimmers? No they dont, and swimming suits are the same fabric as bicycle bibs.
For women, you know, they need to wear lampoons, absorbers, or however they are called in English sometimes, and my understanding is that in those conditions, underwear is desirable. Again, i know girls who ride with and without.
It is subjective, but indeed more common NOT to wear them.
I guess i dont understand why in those conditions, underwear is more desirable.
Chaffing. On a long ride, I have to put a lubricant on the bike shorts (I use Chamois Butt’r) as well, which you don’t want to rub into your drawls. Most clothing just isn’t built to rub against your body for 10 hours continuously.
Someone gave me body glide, but I didn’t know where i was supposed to put it.
On the seams, where the chamois meets the short. Put a liberal amount anywhere the fabric isn’t perfectly smooth.
Do you not wash clothes?
I do. I still don’t like getting poop on clothes if i can avoid it, hence underwear.
Ignoring possible medical conditions; that seems like a fairly easy problem to solve.
Do you know something I don’t? I use a bidet, I wipe. I shower. But still my underwear smells like ass. I figured this is the point of underwear: to protect the clothes.
Nothing, and I repeat, nothing prevents stink if you’re not washing after every ride.
I do that and they’re still stinky.
Chaffing.
Clean yo ass. Wash the shorts regularly. You’ll be grand.
But seriously, clean yo ass. Like get right up there.
Dangerous click of the day
Friction. For extremely long rides (100+ miles), you want the least amount of friction for the least amount of chafing. I use chamois butter in my shorts too to cut it down even more.
Same reason you don’t you wear underwear under your underwear.
I have lots of underwear, only few bike shorts.
I wear underwear to protect clothes.
I don’t wear underwear under underwear because i don’t need to protect it.
So it must be a different reason from that.
Because it adds an extra layer of heat and friction.
Dunno about you but the boxers get soaked. They would be very little to prevent the shorts from also getting sweaty.
I guess that sorta happens on long rides.
