Women’s Cycling Shorts ~ Tips for a Good Fit

I finally got back on my bike after a week off sick. I finally got to try my new Capani women’s cycling shorts. I was so excited about this ride, thinking my discomfort (which is relatively minimal) would be gone, and like another forum member was saying I’d feel like I was floating on a cloud.

That didn’t happen.

Unfortunately my cycling shorts felt AWFUL. They felt like I was wearing a big fat diaper before I got on the bike, and only a short way into the ride they began to rub and just feel plain awful.

I was wondering if this was going to happen, as I have been reading up lately on cycling shorts, and winter cycling shorts,  since winter is quickly approaching here in Kansas, and I found out a few things I didn’t know before I made my cycling shorts purchase.

Here’s a few hints I will be following for my next cycling shorts purchase (which will be soon). Hopefully they will help you pick a pair of women’s cycling shorts that fit you and feel great the first time around.

1. The pad really isn’t meant to be thick. You’re not cushioning your bum really, you’re giving it a smooth surface to slide over.

The pad in the middle is meant to not have any seams so you don’t have any additional pressure points in your sitting area. It is not meant to pad your sitbones.

2. More padding can actually be more uncomfortable than less.

This is a similar situation with saddles as well. Your sit bones are meant to bear your body weight. When you put a bunch of additional padding under there, you make it unlevel so your sitbones are not really taking the pressure of your weight, but the soft tissue in other areas, which can cause a lot of pain.

3. You want to try to look for a thin layer of chamois that is wide in the back, at least wide enough to cover your sit bones.

4. There are brands that have the gel inserts, but the reviews have been poor on those. Although, my husband has a pair and he really likes them.

Here are some recommended brands  for  small padding and being very comfortable.

• Specialized

• Castelli ~ although you will have to look for the specific shorts with less padding, as some of the Castelli cycling shorts are heavily padded as well.

• LG

• Shebeest

• Zoots

• Sugoi

You can often times find many of these shorts on sale at places like Rei-outlet.com. You can also find good deals on these shorts at http://www.teamestrogen.com/

If you are having trouble finding comfortable women’s cycling shorts you may also want to take a look at triathalon shorts as well. These are made with much less padding and you may find them much more comfortable than regular cycling shorts.

Many women have stated the Pearl Izumi shorts are highly padded, and very uncomfortable. These are available at a lot of retailers, and are a pretty well known brand so you might want to check the padding level out before you spend the money.  If you do purchase them, check the stores return policy so you can take them back if you find they just aren’t comfortable.

Quick tip:

Stop by your local bike shop and try on a few pairs of shorts, if you find one you really like but they are too high priced grab the brand name and the specific shorts and go online. You can probably find them much cheaper ~ you will have tried them on and know what size you need so you can feel comfortable knowing you will get the right fit even though you are ordering them online.  When you go online to look for your shorts don’t forget to check ebaybecause you can often times find new shorts (with tags on) for an incredible discount.