hello…i’m wondering about everyone’s opinion on what you think is the best cycling pants based on your experience for an ironman or century ride. i find it tough to ride 6 hrs with tri specific shorts. i realize that the more miles you put in on your bike will help significantly but…am wondering about a specific brand and short that maybe you’ve had good luck with. thanks in advance! dave
Dave
I SWEAR by these.
Worth every penny
Dave…since I am a girl -different anatomy I can’t help you. I can say this…those shorts with the Scorpions on them most of my serious long distance cycling guys wear (yes I am drawing a blank on the name, my mind is shot). I think they wear them so I have something fun to stare at, surely it isn’t because they are comfortable.
You might want to look into your saddle. I wear tri shorts and use SLR with a Thompson seat post. Once I discovered a harder seat with the cut in the middle (to protect your pudendal nerve, and trust me–you want that one protected!!!) I was able to tolerate wearing just my ZOOTS with either vasoline and/or diaper rash ointment -vasoline ALWAYS on my seat just where the anatomy of the inside leg strikes the seat. I found too padded of a short caused serious discomfort. Seat height makes a difference too. I found ‘gear grinding’ actually saved on my butt for the longer distances - which is against every single athlete’s core I cycle with - man do I catch flack for it, but I am never complaining of my butt like them.
I have no idea how men ride a bike with their anatomy. Kudos to you men.
You can save valuable minutes in transition by wearing the shorts under your wetsuit already slathered with vaseline, and then not having to change for the run. These are pricey, I guess, but I can do an IM in them, and I am no star athlete by a long shot:
http://www.trisports.com/ormeeltr1.html
They are tri-specific, so not much pad, but if you start wearing them now, it should not be a problem. Don’t wait till race day, of course.
In an Ironman, I would wear regular bike shorts under my wetsuit. I wear Pearl Izumi…that is just me…they are comfortable and i do my long rides in them so that is why i dont change to tri shorts. Even if you change in the tent into your bike shorts…does the 10 seconds really matter later in the day as your doing the death march in your marathon?
I second the pearl microsensor short–the price is well worth it.
I am a slow transitioner. I need all the help I can get. So far, no problem with the tri-specific shorts and my butt.
Scorpion = Castelli. Great shorts.
The Voler bib is awesome as well.
Regardless of the bike short, generous amounts of Assos (2nd goes to Chamois Butter) works wonders for ANY short.
I wear bike shorts (bibs actually) at IMs and will continue until I’m within a top 5 ranking at Kona. I don’t train in wet shorts, so why race in them? 1/2 or lower, I’ll wear tri shorts though.
Keep am eye on E-bay for the Microsensors. I got a used, but in excellent condition, pair for ~ $36. Might also want to add a tri-specifc saddle cover if you are going with tri shorts.
Barefoot
I have no problem with most brands. The sugoi’s we use are turning into crap (this is the thin non textured lycra, I have no problems with their textured stuff. The Lycra is disintegrating after only 1 year and that really pisses me off. For Iron distance events I would not look at bib shorts. One poopy run to the corn field at IM wisc convinced me of my wise decision. Bibs are cool, but they are warmer, heavier and make nature calls a pain.