Everything You Need to Know When Buying Bike Shorts

Now get on your bikes and ride—just like FBG Kristen! Credit: Jared Seymour

Everything You Need to Know When Buying Bike Shorts: Extra Tips

1. Don’t wear underwear with your bike shorts. Your chamois is designed to wick away sweat and prevent chafing, so putting underwear between your skin and the chamois can impede the chamois’ ability to do its job.

2. Chamois creams are lotions that lubricate the skin and further prevent chafing. Some swear by the fancy ones at your local bike shop, others use petroleum jelly from the drugstore, and some use nothing at all. Play around and find what works for you.

3. Always, always, always wash your shorts after every ride, even if you didn’t get that sweaty. Sweat and bacteria thrive in the chamois, which can cause yeast infections, rashes and other general forms of grossness.

4. Wash smart to make them last. To extend the length of your cycling shorts, turn them inside out before washing, spray the chamois with vinegar, use gentle soaps and the “delicate” cycle of your washer, and air-dry instead of using your dryer.

Do you have a favorite type of biking shorts? What are they and why? I might just have to go check them out… —Susan