This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Cycling shorts is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) |
Cycling shorts (also known as bike shorts or bicycling shorts) are short, skin-tight legwear designed to improve comfort and efficiency while cycling.1 They:
- Reduce wind resistance.
- Protect the skin against the repetitive friction of the legs against the bicycle seat or frame.
- Draw sweat away from the skin to prevent chafing and rashes, and to cool the rider down through the process of evaporation
- Compress the legs, which can help combat muscular fatigue.
Historically, cycling shorts were made of knit black wool, which hides oil and grease stains, with a chamois leather patch inside the shorts in the crotch area, which reduces chafing from the bicycle saddle. Most modern cycling shorts are often made of spandex (Lycra) with a synthetic chamois lining and are produced in a variety of shapes and styles to suit the needs of different riders. For example, the patterns used for the chamois on women's cycling shorts tend to be quite different from those used for men's.[1] The hem of each leg is usually lined with a ring of material that clings to the skin, keeping it in a fixed position.
Cycling shorts are designed to be worn alone with no undergarments or as an undergarment. Shorts made from more panels (or cuts of fabric) fit better, but cost more.
Short-legged elastic tights commonly worn as street wear, under school uniform skirts or for gymnastics and ballet practice are sometimes also referred to as bike shorts, but they are typically simpler and lighter garments than those worn by cyclists and generally lack the chamois or faux-chamois lining.
Bib shorts
Bib shorts are cycling shorts that are held up by a bib (integral suspenders/braces) instead of an elastic waistband. Pro and serious riders tend to prefer bibbed shorts over non-bibbed shorts, due to the discomfort that often occurs with an elastic waistband, such as tightness (digging into skin) and chafing. The bib part of the short is made of spandex and polyester with large sections of netting to help cool down the rider.
The idea of modern bib shorts was a development from the braces (UK) or suspenders (US) that cyclists used to use to hold up old-fashioned wool shorts, which had a tendency to become loose and heavy from riders' sweat (the use of braces/suspenders meant the shorts could be held up without an uncomfortably tight waistband). Bib shorts are more suited to tall riders or riders with protruding stomachs, because regular shorts can tend to fall down in the back while riding.
Baggy shorts
Baggy shorts are cycling shorts that look like regular shorts on the outside but are designed for cycling. Many have a lining on the inside with a chamois. This lining ranges from polyester fabric to full eight-panel cycling shorts. Others are designed to be warn with a separate liner short underneath, but they provide more "social acceptance" when riding around town and off the dedicated bike paths, and are popular with many mountain bikers.
References
- ^ Dede Demet Barry, Michael Barry, Shannon Sovndal (2006). Fitness Cycling, Human Kinetics. ISBN 0736063641.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 24 November 2008, at 17:53.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Cycling shorts".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.