I've been wearing bibs exclusively for 10 years now, I'd never go back to regular shorts.

Advantages of bibs:

• Comfort - no waistband
• Appearance - for those of us who have led a little too much of the good life, bibs hold the belly in a bit.
• No need to worry about showing embarrassing "cleavage" to your riding partners.

The only disadvantage: price.

As far as being able to take a leak, they stretch enough that you shouldn't have a problem.

I started wearing the Santini Twist-Gel bibs and I am not going back (at least for long strictly road bike training rides). These are the most comfortable shorts I've ever worn. Peeing is a small problem especially when you're all winterized with jackets and stuff, but the comfort factor far outweighs any "trouble" on the roadside. Go here for the best deal around (they're good and helpful people there too)

http://bicyclinghub.com/sancxprofevo.html

Also with bibs you don't have to worry about a breeze flowing down your short either.

Bibs are the only way to go!

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Reverend Dr. Jay
Lake of the Pines Triathlon fastest bike course record holder - Golden State Super Sprint fastest tri course record holder - Wildflower Long Course slowest run course record holder (4:46:32)

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"If you have a body, you are an athlete." -Bill Bowerman

Performance has these marked down from $70 to $44.99. Mine came in this week and with only 30 minutes in them so far I can say that I will never buy anouther pair of regular shorts:

http://www.performancebike.com/...rofile.cfm?SKU=16795

-kbarber

How are bibs in the heat? It'd seem that they'd be excessively hot in the summer with a bib layer then a jersey layer over them. Granted, they're made of the latest and greatest tech fabric, but it just seems that they'd ride on the hot side of the comfort level.

Don't know yet. I also bought a ribbed mock sleeveless t to wear under the bibs. Add the jersey over that. I noticed a lot of riders (Jan Ulrich, in particular) with this setup during the TDF.

-kb

No problem in the summer, and it gets pretty brutal here (90 degrees and over 90 percent humidity). What you want to watch for is the bib strap material, some are the same as the shorts fabric and others use a stretchy mesh material. Its the latter that works best when it gets really warm. Nike's have the mesh strap, as do Cannondale shorts. I just bought a pair of Hincapie shorts, which have solid straps but a mesh section on the lower back. We'll see how they work out once the mercury starts to rise.