Commuter Conundrum

langtounboy

Having spotted a flashing LED 100m in front of me the chase was on. It wasn't SCR his bike was much lower on the food chain, full mud guards and double rear panniers but he was in full Lycra and clip-less pedals.
As I was closing I couldn't help but notice that the back of his cycling shorts were completely worn through and he was basically wear 15 denier tights over his nether regions .
Is there an etiquette for this, do I zip past and tell him, "Buddy you need new shorts your bums on show" or just resist the urge to urge and pedal through.
I never actually got the chance; as I went past as he swung out into my path to turn left :shock:
If it was you wearing nothing but a mesh over your crack would you want to know :?:

tangled_metal

I cycled behind a glass with a near mesh back to her shorts. I believe it was a design feature. Her cycling partner in front also had the feature i think but I couldn't get past the lady so can't confirm that for sure.

I didn't say a word because of fear if feminist backlash for commenting on a woman's attire.

Can I just say whether on a man or a woman I think mesh rear to cycling shorts is a really bad idea. Even if it makes you more comfortable it's really antisocial having your crack out on show to those who find themselves behind you.

essex-commuter

langtounboy wrote:

Is there an etiquette for this, do I zip past and tell him, "Buddy you need new shorts your bums on show" or just resist the urge to urge and pedal through.

Would you comment on the clothing of someone you don't know if you was walking down your local High St?

I wouldn't, therefore I wouldn't on the bike. It has nothing to do with me. If someone is not savvy enough to notice that their shorts are past their sell by date, or they don't care that they are, then that's their problem.

elbowloh

metmucro

tgotb

Tangled Metal wrote:

it's really antisocial having your crack out on show to those who find themselves behind you.

I wonder whether there's an angle here, on dealing with drafting fairies?

Other than that, what Essex said. This is Britain; even if I'd put my helmet on backwards and my tackle was hanging out I'd expect people to turn a polite blind eye...

hopkinb

Unless you know them, keep schtum and overtake swiftly.

elbowloh

Personally, I think i'd like to know if my arse was hanging out. I could then ensure those bibs were binned and I didn't inflict that horror on anyone else. I don't think I could live with knowing about the nightmares and people waking up in cold sweats that I surely would have caused.

essex-commuter

elbowloh wrote:

Personally, I think i'd like to know if my ars* was hanging out. I could then ensure those bibs were binned and I didn't inflict that horror on anyone else. I don't think I could live with knowing about the nightmares and people waking up in cold sweats that I surely would have caused.

When you're putting your shorts on put a hand the other side of the material. If you can see anything other than the colour of your shorts...bin 'em.

Gallywomack

This does raise another question - what's the best way of knowing when your bib shorts have worn through to the point where your crack is showing?

Asking a SO seems an obvious one, but the problem may not be apparent except when actually riding in daylight, so this check could be hard to coordinate with a non-cycling partner.

Ask a mate - not always an option for the lone wolf commuter

Having a regular schedule of disposal of ageing garments would be effective but a tad indiscriminate - you might end up chucking perfectly decent stuff this way.

Is there some failsafe way, like holding up to a bright light or similar? Simple visual check, eg bits of padding crumbling away = shorts are knackered, something like that? I'm never very good with that kind of thing, as I can never be that confident what level of wear is still OK.

I think my bibs have tended to give up the ghost in some other way (torn in an off, most commonly) before this has been an issue but I am haunted by thought of being a see-through bibs merchant. Not such an issue at the moment in fairness as I tend to be in baggies these days.

Edit: Answered above I see - seems a reasonable approach but surely depends on light levels in the place you're getting dressed?

essex-commuter

Gallywomack wrote:

Edit: Answered above I see - seems a reasonable approach but surely depends on light levels in the place you're getting dressed?

I must admit I don't make a career out of it. You just know.

Gallywomack

Fair enough

elbowloh

Gallywomack wrote:

Asking a SO seems an obvious one, but the problem may not be apparent except when actually riding in daylight, so this check could be hard to coordinate with a non-cycling partner.

The first time my wife saw me in bibs she said "they're funny dungarees". So yes, a non-cycling partner might not be the best help.

essex-commuter wrote:

When you're putting your shorts on put a hand the other side of the material. If you can see anything other than the colour of your shorts...bin 'em.

I have tried this, but I don't think the hand stretch test matches real world conditions, particularly in bright daylight.

pblakeney

Personal solution? A full length mirror.
Advise friends? Definitely. Had it done, grateful.
Advise strangers? No. Lights though, oh yes!

itboffin

Hold on a sec were you over taking on the inside or they did a crap car driver swing out before turning for no reason?

condorman

I'd rather be told and have been. Cue quick trip to Cycle Surgery at lunchtime. I would say if it was cycling gear. What I see most often are women wearing lycra gear that was not designed to be used for cycling and is totally transparent. That's difficult to address, usually easy to spot as they have a patient queue of traffic behind them ...

The Rookie

Women wearing Yoga pants on bikes could be a dangerous distraction to car drivers, so I always ride behind them blocking the view so that the drivers are kept safe........

tangled_metal

I did the same behind a lass with a large, practically mesh panel on her shorts. For the public good of course. Until I had to give up because I couldn't keep up! She was fair shifting, obviously a competitive roadie. Drafting behind her was hard work on a fully loaded commuter.

rakkor

elbowloh wrote:

The first time my wife saw me in bibs she said "they're funny dungarees". So yes, a non-cycling partner might not be the best help.

You're lucky - Mine reckons I look like Big Daddy

bradsbeard

On my commute it's unbelievable the amount of ladies riding with see thru leggings. Surely you have some idea?

Fair play to those who go commando and no pad.

essex-commuter

bradsbeard wrote:

On my commute it's unbelievable the amount of ladies riding with see thru leggings. Surely you have some idea?

Fair play to those who go commando and no pad.

Where do you commute? Asking for a friend.

kingstongraham

rakkor wrote:

elbowloh wrote:

The first time my wife saw me in bibs she said "they're funny dungarees". So yes, a non-cycling partner might not be the best help.

You're lucky - Mine reckons I look like Big Daddy

Makes me feel better about being called a puny circus strongman.

hopkinb

If you were riding with me down CS7 on a black BMC, past south Wimbledon, we had a word about red light jumpers at the tram crossing, you turned off up Cannon Hill road. Your shorts are worn out.

awavey

bradsbeard wrote:

On my commute it's unbelievable the amount of ladies riding with see thru leggings. Surely you have some idea?
.

but how would you know ? unless the material seems really that sheer to begin with, why would you expect it to be see thru in the seating area, if its not that see thru on the front and you arent going to stare over your shoulder into a mirror to check out how your booty looks hunched over.

I tend to think on the yoga leggings side its down to buying a smaller size than fits and over stretching the (likely cheap) material rather then they are just old and worn, even the thickest of leggings will have some transparency under the right light and stretch condition.

though I have seen it a few times on bib shorts on a couple of occasions that left little to the imagination :shock: and where I thought to god I hope mine arent doing that.

but Im absolutely not going to mortify a complete stranger on a bike that they are sharing their natural bathing suit with the general populace, a friend maybe youd try and subtly point it out and be less subtle if they didnt take the hint at first, but random stranger nope regardless of gender not a conversation starter, Id want the world to swallow me up if anyone pointed that kind of thing out to me, and your then stuck riding home the whole way thinking people are just staring at your bum.