• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Recommendations for Mountain Biking Shorts

BackCountryGirl

Angel Diva
Okay, all of you experienced mountain biking divas. I need a suggestion for brands and places on line to buy shorts for mountain biking. I have been using my road riding shorts and I keep catching them on the seat when I get out and move back. Also, some of them are sort of pricey and I don't want to ruin them when I fall (which I do, alot -- although I must say that the black and blue marks and bruises are sort of fierce looking). I am thinking that I'd like loose shorts that are fairly indestructible -- like hiking shorts with liners? Or, should I just get chamois liners to wear under real hiking shorts? I don't mind making a major investment. What fun is a new sport without the gear to go with?
 

PowDiva85

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Personally, I like Jett mountian bike shorts. They have the loose outer short with a mesh chamios short that comes attached but you snip the attatchments and wear it seperately underneath the outer shorts. I believe most people call this style "baggies". Jett and Zoic make some cool girls baggies (I really like them because they aren't black!! Which I hate because its boring and so hot!) so I might google those brands. The reason I like Jett is it has lots of vents like ski pants do so when you are super hot you can get some air flowing although, I will say their durability is so-so. Mine have a few stitches unraveling and the chamios liner for one set of shorts just ripped the other day but I also ride atleast once a week so it depends on how much you use them. Hope this helps!
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
If at all possible, I'd try before you buy. It's shocking how differently the various brands cut their shorts. My local REI had a fair selection of different shorts.

I'm not sure I'd worry too much about ruining the bike shorts - I've fallen on road shorts while mountain biking plenty, and I've even had completely unmarked shorts with serious road rash (except caused by rocks) underneath. The MTB shorts won't be any cheaper. I have been riding MTB with road shorts for years, and only last year when I started doing some DH did I buy a pair of baggies. I'll admit, though, now that I have them, I prefer to wear them.
 

BackCountryGirl

Angel Diva
Thanks for the tips. Sadly, there's a lack of stores here with women's shorts and the riding I do is so rocky and rooty that I've already ripped lycra shorts -- hence, my interest in something other than road shorts. I do ride 3 to 4 times a week, so durability is an issue. I don't mind buying without trying, provided that the online store has a decent return policy.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
It's really hard to know what to recommend without knowing your body type/shape - it's literally like saying "what jeans should I buy?".

I think Harlot fits really well for curves (durable too). And Sombrio makes some really cute stuff that's also quite durable, but the fit can be weird (for me personally). I think it's designed for less curves than I have. Oakley? I think that's designed for someone with a waist about the same size of your butt, as far as I can tell. Lately I've been enjoying wearing Sugoi capris with a detachable liner.

I definitely prefer the type that has a detachable chamois - makes it nice that you can just take off the chamois when you're done riding and put the outer short back on so you're not getting more clothes dirty/stinky when you're driving home or hanging out after a ride or whatever. And it gives you options to wear the same outer short a few times before washing too. You can always buy extra liners or just use road biking lycra under the outer short. (Liners are usually more meshy and therefore more breathable, but in cooler weather it doesn't matter).
 

BackCountryGirl

Angel Diva
I found some decent sales on Hucknroll -- bought a simple pair of descentes and a pair of zoics. We'll see how it goes. I agree about the detachable liners. Great idea to simply put my roadie lycra under shorts, too. That will work when the temps begin to cool down. Thanks for all the help.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The only baggies I've found that actually fit me are Pearl Izumi. A friend of mine swears by Shebeest.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
The only baggies I've found that actually fit me are Pearl Izumi. A friend of mine swears by Shebeest.

I had some Pearl Izumis - they fit, but the adjustable waist tabs curled funny, so the velcro stuck to all my riding jerseys and then would come undone so the shorts wanted to fall off. That could just be the model I owned.

I know they are trying to make things fit better with all the adjustable waist options with velcro and elastic, but it seems like the majority of adjustable waist anything either results in weird fabric puckering from the extra fabric or velcro that either sticks to nothing or everything that it's not supposed to... or buckle things that jab into your sides or edges of velcro that overlap the waistband and make my skin itch... That's becoming more and more of a feature that I prefer to avoid when I can. I know it limits the subset of people that a garment actually fits when it has a tailored waistband rather than some adjustable waist thing, but for me it makes things a lot nicer.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I had some Pearl Izumis - they fit, but the adjustable waist tabs curled funny, so the velcro stuck to all my riding jerseys and then would come undone so the shorts wanted to fall off. That could just be the model I owned.

I know they are trying to make things fit better with all the adjustable waist options with velcro and elastic, but it seems like the majority of adjustable waist anything either results in weird fabric puckering from the extra fabric or velcro that either sticks to nothing or everything that it's not supposed to... or buckle things that jab into your sides or edges of velcro that overlap the waistband and make my skin itch... That's becoming more and more of a feature that I prefer to avoid when I can. I know it limits the subset of people that a garment actually fits when it has a tailored waistband rather than some adjustable waist thing, but for me it makes things a lot nicer.

Were the adjustable tab things on the inside or outside of your liners? The model I have has them on the inside, and I basically set them when I first buy the shorts, then never touch them again, and they don't chafe or catch on my clothing.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Er, I mean, inside or outside of your shell?
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Er, I mean, inside or outside of your shell?

On the outside of the shell. Which is how it would get stuck on the jersey fabric all the time - or snagged on my pack or whatever. Those stupid tabs stuck on everything but what they were supposed to.
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I have a curvy enough rear end that I can't wear baggies at all.....I'm constantly catching them on the saddle because I move around soooo much.

I finally found a model of lycra short that really, really fits and doesn't cause saddle sores at the chamois seam. Yay!!! I'm now totally on the hunt for a couple more pairs of the Cannondale Velocity short in an XL. If anyone runs across them for less that $40, let me know ASAP, K?
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I know it's got to be a personal thing, because I've heard it from other people too, but I'm totally the opposite. I have a number of pairs of great lycra bibs that I use for road biking and absolutely love the fit, but if I try to wear them mountain biking, the second I get behind the saddle, the lycra snags on the saddle when I try to move back forward. Baggies? I've had one pair of shorts (out of probably 30) that I've ever had that issue with (and that was because they have a lycra insert on the inner thigh/crotch area.) Probably depends on the short. And the fact that most of my "baggies" aren't very baggy.
 

BackCountryGirl

Angel Diva
I want to close the loop and report back on the shorts that arrived the other day from Huck N Roll. I bought one pair of zoic posh shorts, in grey-ish, and one pair of descente ridge shorts in black. I am 5'3", 135 pounds, and not very hippy. I love the pocket design of the posh shorts and the fact that they are a bit shorter, but I adore the fabric of the ridge shorts. The liners on both are removable, so I am really looking forward to having them to wear under my road bike tights when the weather gets cooler. The ridge shorts have a way "plusher" chamois/gel, but both are super comfortable. And, neither get stuck when I move forward and back! (I suffered from the same problem Altagirl has when I wore my tight road shorts.) All in all, I am poorer, but happy. Isn't that what gear purchases are all about?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
26,233
Messages
497,569
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top