|
OK, so I have a gut! Beer belly, pot, or middle aged slump, whatever it is, it hangs over my belt line and it provides a comfortable place for my Golden Retriever to lay her head. It also causes all manner of spandex or lycra shorts to triple fold over at the waist line, making this flit, floop, flup sound and creating a nice "rubber band" of constriction across my middle. I have ridden this way for years, but I have also longed for and thought about Bib Shorts!
OK all those studdly dudes in the bike mags wear their Bibs like a badge of honor, sort of an inverse bustier plunging an exotic line from shoulders to six pack abs. Well I would wear mine inside my Jersey! All I want is for it to keep that annoying flit, floop, flub from happening.
So when Fathers' day came along, Lee asked me to go shopping and The Cannondale Velocity won the coin toss. So I dutifully clicked through from Pedal Pushers Online to make my purchase, and I ordered the shorts. First I checked Performance, and they wanted $119. Then I checked Nashbar and they only wanted $89. Guess who won that toss?
A few days later, the shorts arrived and I tore open the box eagerly. I found to my surprise that they were quite bulky! The shoulder straps were a net like material, and the body of the short was a smooth lycra, but the "chamois" area and butt pads were quite substantial. Oh well, just gotta try em on!
I did and they were, quite substantial! I loved the bib aspect, and they were a comfortable short, snug in all the right places, but I found the crotch and butt areas way overdone in terms of additional material. OK judgement is out until I try 'em on the road.
The Day came for the Babylon run, a perfect opportunity to try out these shorts on a hammer down 30 plus mile excursion. I will tell you that these shorts were comfortable over all! There was no tugging, no adjusting, no bothering with them at all. So I am totally sold on the bib short idea, flit, floop, flup-wise .
About the padding and the rest. The chamois material absorbed just fine and was totally comfortable in terms of perspiration. Overall the padding was very comfortable and I was more well padded on my seat which was a plus, but I did get a minor chafe-like irritation on my right cheek. When I got off the bike back at home, I reached around and felt a folded over part of the padded seat of the shorts right where it hurt. This tells me there may be too much material in the seat of these shorts, just as I suspected. However, these shorts were worn directly out of the box. They were not washed or dried or broken in in any way whatsoever, so I will report back to you on them after a few washings and wearings for an update.
But as it stands right now.. 6.5
Style 9
Bib aspect 9.5
Fit of short 9
Padding suitability 4
Cost 4
|
