Alternative to tights?

Hi,

Cold weather is upon us. Time to pack away our shorts. But I
don't feel comfortable wearing tights to bike to work. I'm still
a little chubby and very tall. What pants are good for biking
other than tights? Right now I'm wearing these lined nylon
warm-up pants, but they're so baggy that it's like a parachute.
Plus I'm afraid the baggy cuffs will get caught in the chain
mechanisms.

Any suggestions?

~Rob

~R wrote:
Hi,

Cold weather is upon us. Time to pack away our shorts. But I
don't feel comfortable wearing tights to bike to work. I'm still
a little chubby and very tall. What pants are good for biking
other than tights? Right now I'm wearing these lined nylon
warm-up pants, but they're so baggy that it's like a parachute.
Plus I'm afraid the baggy cuffs will get caught in the chain
mechanisms.

Any suggestions?

~Rob



I've had warm-up pants made by these people:

http://youngoriginals.com/zippants.htm

In addition to the material described, they'll also make them from
Polartec "Powerstretch", a smooth on the outside, fuzzy on the inside,
lightweight synthetic 4-way stretch fleece. This is my favorite cold
weather bottom when I don't wear tights. They look pretty much like
pants and go on & off over any layer with full-length zippers.

They did a great job, to my custom measurements and directions, fast
turnaround and prices better than bikes stores.

There are other places that do similar things, like col'd lizard
http://www.coldlizard.com ( I have used -- good people) and foxwear
http://www.foxwear.net (I haven't used).

You may find similar things for less $$ in a local mega-store, but I
think getting the right fabric and fit is worth a little extra.

~R wrote:
Hi,

Cold weather is upon us. Time to pack away our shorts. But I
don't feel comfortable wearing tights to bike to work. I'm still
a little chubby and very tall. What pants are good for biking
other than tights? Right now I'm wearing these lined nylon
warm-up pants, but they're so baggy that it's like a parachute.
Plus I'm afraid the baggy cuffs will get caught in the chain
mechanisms.

Any suggestions?

If you don't want to spend much money, wear what you're comfortable
wearing warmth- and style-wise, and get a velcro leg strap to keep the
cuff out of the chain if it's loose and floppy. If you have some money
to spare, there are many manufacturers that make nice winter-weight
versatile "semi-fitted" sports pants that are usually marketed for
runners, hikers, and x-country skiers, but which would be fine for bike
commuters (depending on style you might want to cinch down with handy
reflective leg strap). Hind makes some nice models.

~R wrote:
Hi,

Cold weather is upon us. Time to pack away our shorts. But I
don't feel comfortable wearing tights to bike to work. I'm still
a little chubby and very tall. What pants are good for biking
other than tights? Right now I'm wearing these lined nylon
warm-up pants, but they're so baggy that it's like a parachute.
Plus I'm afraid the baggy cuffs will get caught in the chain
mechanisms.

For a cheaper alternative to Peter's excellent advice, there are these:
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...egory_ID=1121#

They call them tights, but they're not; they're fairly loose fleece
pants with zippered pockets, a drawstring waist, and zippered ankles.

In colder weather, I prefer layering these over lighter tights in the
morning, so I can wear just the tights if it's warmer later in the day.
By themselves, I thing they're probably useful down into the 30s (YMMV)
although obviously, since they're looser, they're less effective than
tights of the same weight.

They look a lot like normal athletic wear when you're off the bike.

RichC

~R wrote:
Hi,

Cold weather is upon us. Time to pack away our shorts. But I
don't feel comfortable wearing tights to bike to work. I'm still
a little chubby and very tall. What pants are good for biking
other than tights? Right now I'm wearing these lined nylon
warm-up pants, but they're so baggy that it's like a parachute.
Plus I'm afraid the baggy cuffs will get caught in the chain
mechanisms.

Until you find what's ideal for you, get a safety pin for each cuff.
(IME, they work better than the various ankle bands, because your cuffs
won't gradually slip out.)

- Frank Krygowski

When I did tons of urban winter commuting in Chicago, I wore lycra
tights (don't have to be cycling specific) with jeans and Blundstone
boots.

I usually would *never* recommend jeans for cycling, but with lycra
tights under them, they don't bind to your skin as the lycra is so
slippery and work great for cycling. Good to around zero degrees if you
can keep the rest of your bits warm. Best things about this arrangement
are that if you're riding on ice and snow and fall--jeans are pretty
tough and when you get to your destination, lycra under your jeans is
not nearly as sweaty as long johns.

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:55:06 GMT, "~R" wrote:

Hi,

Cold weather is upon us. Time to pack away our shorts. But I
don't feel comfortable wearing tights to bike to work. I'm still
a little chubby and very tall. What pants are good for biking
other than tights? Right now I'm wearing these lined nylon
warm-up pants, but they're so baggy that it's like a parachute.
Plus I'm afraid the baggy cuffs will get caught in the chain
mechanisms.

Any suggestions?

Yes, swallow your pride and pull on a pair of tights. ;-)


jeverett3ATearthlinkDOTnet http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

"~R" wrote ...
Hi,

Cold weather is upon us. Time to pack away our shorts. But I
don't feel comfortable wearing tights to bike to work. I'm still
a little chubby and very tall. What pants are good for biking
other than tights? Right now I'm wearing these lined nylon
warm-up pants, but they're so baggy that it's like a parachute.
Plus I'm afraid the baggy cuffs will get caught in the chain
mechanisms.

Any suggestions?

~Rob



SportHill makes what I could best describe as "relaxed fit" tights, or
"tights for chubby people". They are somewhat form fitting, stretchy, but
there's enough room in them for a pair or two of long underwear, or to hide
your own extra padding. They also have front zipper pockets and ankle
zippers, and the legs are cut close enough that they won't get caught in a
bicycle chain. I've been quite happy with mine.
--
mark

In article . net,
"~R" wrote:

Hi,

Cold weather is upon us. Time to pack away our shorts. But I
don't feel comfortable wearing tights to bike to work. I'm still
a little chubby and very tall. What pants are good for biking
other than tights? Right now I'm wearing these lined nylon
warm-up pants, but they're so baggy that it's like a parachute.
Plus I'm afraid the baggy cuffs will get caught in the chain
mechanisms.

Any suggestions?

~Rob

I use cheapo Target wind pants.

They work pretty well, but. I wear my bike shorts underneath them and
find the wind pants like to creep wayyy down around my butt, a problem
exacerbated by the smoooth bike shorts, giving me what would be
super-ultra-mega plumber's crack if i didn't have the sexy spandex
underneath to obscure the view.

The only anti-creep-down solution that i found workable is suspenders.
You need good seriously grippy clips on the suspenders or the slippery
wind pants won't stay connected.

Nice thing about the wind pants is they make an excellent foundation
(well, shell, actually) for layering as the temps continue to drop.

I use a bit of velcro around the right ankle to keep it out of the
chainring. When the weather is snowy or super rainy or when i wear
boots, i velcro both pants legs around the outside of the boots.

fwiw, hth, yadda.

..max

In article . com,
wrote:

Until you find what's ideal for you, get a safety pin for each cuff.
(IME, they work better than the various ankle bands, because your cuffs
won't gradually slip out.)

The velcro i use is adhesive backed. What i did was (inadvertantly)
remove the plastic strip from _one_ piece of the velcro and basically
let it get all gunked up with road dirt. It's still got tack, but it
doesn't transfer adhesive to the pant leg. Pants don't slip. This
discovery was more accidental than sought after.


..max