 
Cycling Tights
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Why would I want to wear those silly black cycling tights while cycling?
How many of you were like me in my early years of cycling? I thought that there was no way was I going to wear those skinny, shiny black tights. I learned the hard way that cycling shorts and cycling tights are an indispensable part of any cycling wardrobe.
Cycling shorts are made from flexible Lycra material sewn together from multiple panels, sometimes with different colors. The area where you sit (seat and front) is padded. In the not so good old days, cycling shorts used to be padded with chamois, a real leather product. Shorts with this padding are hard to find anymore. There are better products are out there now. The most commonly used padding is a synthetic chamois that works great. One major benefit is that you don't have to lubricate it before every ride.
Sometimes the padding contains gel cushions, but this may not be a good idea because this material does not let your sweat evaporate, and the pads do not improve comfort noticeably.
Shorts come in male and female versions that are cut differently, and have different padding. Unlike other clothes, bicycle shorts are not worn with underwear because that would defeat many of the advantages listed below.
One of the advantages of bicycle shorts is that they are flexible, padded, and seamless. Regular pants may constrict your thighs (which expand when you ride). They will chafe the inside of your thighs where they rub against the saddle. If they are loose-fitting as they will bunch up. I never ride anywhere anymore without bicycle shorts. If you are concerned about looking geeky, there are versions with an outer short that looks like regular walking shorts, with invisible inner Lycra shorts.
Make sure that the waist and leg hole size fits. Shorts must fit tightly but must not constrict the waist or the thighs (sometimes leg holes are far too small). The legs should have rubber threads sewn in at the leg ends. It usually looks like multiple thin white rings stitched into the inside. Do not buy cycling shorts that just have a single rubber ring sewn into a fold, as they will slip up your legs.
Cycling tights (long leg covers) come with and without padding. The ones with padding are like cycling shorts with long legs, and the ones without are worn over regular cycling shorts.
I prefer the latter because I don't need as many of them. I can also take them off when it gets warmer. I have found the padded variety slips too easily.
Cycling tights must be close fitting, and must be long enough to pull up at least over your navel (you don't do that normally but if you can't they will slip down as your bend over on your bike seat). I prefer tights with a cord at the waist (that can be tied off). It will keep them up better. (Waist cords are unnecessary in regular cycling shorts.)
Cycling tights have the same advantages over street clothing as shorts, with an additional one: in wet weather street clothing becomes heavy, inflexible, and clings to the skin. Cycling tights remain flexible, and although they get wet they don't soak up water. Because there is no air between your skin and your tights they feel much warmer despite the fact that they are made from much thinner material.
Cycling tights come in various thicknesses, from the thin Lycra material used in shorts to thicker Lycra with a fuzzy inside, and fleece. I have several pairs: the thin ones for warm weather, the thick and fuzzy ones for temperatures above freezing, and the thick fleece ones for anything colder than freezing (when I don’t ride often. (Fleece does not work well in rain.) Some of tights have zippers at your ankles which makes them easier to get over your feet (or even cycling shoes); the material is flexible but without zippers you might tear the seams.
Content by Thomas Driemeyer, www.bitrot.deEdited by Reg Gupton, gupton@growthseminars.com
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