Ladies please help: what cycling shorts to buy?

[rbb]

Wow, thanks so much everyone for the great advice! I can see this is going to be a massive learning curve and an expensive undertaking for a bit of fitness! I'll hopefully be going for a bike fit this week and see what comes out of that.

[Hang5]

Good shorts will helps, but the saddle is the ultimate factor. 
Spend some extra money on a good saddle for women. I tried many saddles but the Mimic saddles work for me. As many have mentioned here, a good bike fit will help you find out what width saddle you need, or maybe your seat post is too high. Most women need wider saddles. 
Everyone’s body is different so what works for one women won’t always work for another. 
A lot of women like the power saddles with a deep channel. Test a few and see what you like. Most quality bib shorts will have enough padding too. Good luck! 

[Sydd]

I would change your saddle. I used to battle with the same issues, and was spending a huge amount of time on the bike. 

I have an ISM saddle on each of my bikes - selected differently for each bike depending on discipline and the resulting position you will sit in. 

Personally, I enjoy the Ciovita bibs but with the correct saddle I can now ride in just about whatever bibs I want without any of the problems you described. Nothing worse than spending the day racing and not being able to go to the toilet or have a bath afterwards...

 

 

[Mari Smith]

I have Lizzy shorts and their padding is much thicker than other brands I have seen. You can also try the Indola Enduro shorts. I must add that I have a gel seat as well. Helps a lot. 

[Spafsack]

Hi everyone

Wonder if anyone has had the same issues. First off, i am a huge Ciovita fan, there website, user interface, service and delivery, product range, all of it is top shelf. However, my wife is struggling with pain, numbness in 'that' area. I bought her the navy bibs corsa 2 a few months ago. After 5km she already complains. She has the spez mimmik sadle, bike fit, set up, all 100%. She then tried her older giant liv bibs, no probs at all. Has anyone, woman, had discomfort from corsa 2 bibbs as well?

It is actually such a pitty as she loves the brand, she has matching tops, but if its not working for her so be it. Keen to hear views.  

[Vallende Vaandel]

1 hour ago, Spafsack said:

Hi everyone

Wonder if anyone has had the same issues. First off, i am a huge Ciovita fan, there website, user interface, service and delivery, product range, all of it is top shelf. However, my wife is struggling with pain, numbness in 'that' area. I bought her the navy bibs corsa 2 a few months ago. After 5km she already complains. She has the spez mimmik sadle, bike fit, set up, all 100%. She then tried her older giant liv bibs, no probs at all. Has anyone, woman, had discomfort from corsa 2 bibbs as well?

It is actually such a pitty as she loves the brand, she has matching tops, but if its not working for her so be it. Keen to hear views.  

Also a Ciovita fan and I have a Corsa bib. If it's a grand day out I go for my pancake-like spez shorts, and if we do another shorter ride the day after a I go for the Corsa option. Me and my husband have the same experience with the corsa bibs - the padding is thicker but not so as to want to overly complain. But I do get that numbing annoyed feeling if saddle time surpasses 2h or during a long climb (which I don't get with a thinner chamois)- if they were just 20% or 30% thinner I believe there would be no numbness involved and I would happily blow my budget on them.

[Spafsack]

3 minutes ago, Vallende Vaandel said:

Also a Ciovita fan and I have a Corsa bib. If it's a grand day out I go for my pancake-like spez shorts, and if we do another shorter ride the day after a I go for the Corsa option. Me and my husband have the same experience with the corsa bibs - the padding is thicker but not so as to want to overly complain. But I do get that numbing annoyed feeling if saddle time surpasses 2h or during a long climb (which I don't get with a thinner chamois)- if they were just 20% or 30% thinner I believe there would be no numbness involved and I would happily blow my budget on them.

Thanx V, not sure if its the thickness of padding that causes this or the actual padding itself, how its placed, stitched etc...I might check and compare them when i am home later to actually see what differences i can spot.

[eala]

On 2/8/2022 at 4:08 PM, rbb said:

I'm a complete noob, just started riding at age 50 (literally - I never learnt to ride as a child). I bought a pair of First Ascent Domestique cycling shorts from Sportsman's Warehouse. I've done six 30-minute rides out on quiet suburban roads. My problem: I get really sore "down there" after less than 30 minutes. And I'm not talking bum soreness - I'm talking it feels like I've been cut inside my vagina. It burns when I go to the loo after a ride. And again - I'm not doing hours and hours on the bike - it's literally 30 minutes max. I just thought I needed to get the bike set up properly (which I know I do - I thought I should just get a bit more confident on the bike first), but my sister, who has been riding for years, just bought the same shorts and is complaining that she's also getting pain that she's never had before. So maybe it is just the shorts. I don't want to spend thousands of Rands on gear - I'm just doing this riding thing as a bit of a hobby to stay fit. So - which shorts to buy?

My wife who has always been fit and active found the same happened to her .When i started cycling i struggled to keep balance on a spinning bike .It takes time for your cycling muscles to wake up and keep your hips steady .Core strength is super important also and that will determine how comfortable you will sit .As you get stronger and your legs carry more weight than your behind ,things will improve .Ride with a tool and adjust your setup when you notice / feel where the problem is .The saddle might be perfect but tilted the wrong way ,or too much forward ext .Keep on adjusting until things improve .Even the best saddle and shorts will fail if your position is wrong  

[rbb]

21 minutes ago, eala said:

My wife who has always been fit and active found the same happened to her .When i started cycling i struggled to keep balance on a spinning bike .It takes time for your cycling muscles to wake up and keep your hips steady .Core strength is super important also and that will determine how comfortable you will sit .As you get stronger and your legs carry more weight than your behind ,things will improve .Ride with a tool and adjust your setup when you notice / feel where the problem is .The saddle might be perfect but tilted the wrong way ,or too much forward ext .Keep on adjusting until things improve .Even the best saddle and shorts will fail if your position is wrong  

Thanks for this. Your point about things improving as my legs get stronger is an interesting one. I think I have fairly good core strength. My problem with making adjustments is - I don't know what adjustments to make! I have had a professional bike fit done, got a new saddle and a new bib. Things do seem to have improved mildly, so now perhaps it's just a matter of sticking with it, getting my body more used to it, and maybe trying out a few different bibs.

[splat]

53 minutes ago, rbb said:

Thanks for this. Your point about things improving as my legs get stronger is an interesting one. I think I have fairly good core strength. My problem with making adjustments is - I don't know what adjustments to make! I have had a professional bike fit done, got a new saddle and a new bib. Things do seem to have improved mildly, so now perhaps it's just a matter of sticking with it, getting my body more used to it, and maybe trying out a few different bibs.

What saddle and bib did you get ?
Pity that its only a mild improvement

If you have had a proper setup done, you shouldn't need to make any further adjustments.
(Well, theoretically...)

[The Ouzo]

15 minutes ago, splat said:

What saddle and bib did you get ?
Pity that its only a mild improvement

If you have had a proper setup done, you shouldn't need to make any further adjustments.
(Well, theoretically...)

and did you have the setup done with the same bib and saddle ?

[binxc]

2 hours ago, Vallende Vaandel said:

Also a Ciovita fan and I have a Corsa bib. If it's a grand day out I go for my pancake-like spez shorts, and if we do another shorter ride the day after a I go for the Corsa option. Me and my husband have the same experience with the corsa bibs - the padding is thicker but not so as to want to overly complain. But I do get that numbing annoyed feeling if saddle time surpasses 2h or during a long climb (which I don't get with a thinner chamois)- if they were just 20% or 30% thinner I believe there would be no numbness involved and I would happily blow my budget on them.

From what I can gather from previous conversation with Ciovita, their higher models of bibs probably have more "racey" padding and might suit you better. They are quite a bit more expensive compared to the Corsa bib and don't have the zip at the back for bathroom breaks. I asked why they didn't have a high end model with this function and it seems they feel the target market is different (racing snakes are not likely to stop while riding - fair enough, provided the ride is less than 3-5 hours long). I think they are missing a trick here - there is a growing field of ladies doing ultra-endurance races who would appreciate a high end chamois with the ability to take quick bathroom breaks that don't involve stripping off top layers. There are very few in this part of the market, unless you are looking at spending over R4000. 

[Vallende Vaandel]

53 minutes ago, binxc said:

From what I can gather from previous conversation with Ciovita, their higher models of bibs probably have more "racey" padding and might suit you better. They are quite a bit more expensive compared to the Corsa bib and don't have the zip at the back for bathroom breaks. I asked why they didn't have a high end model with this function and it seems they feel the target market is different (racing snakes are not likely to stop while riding - fair enough, provided the ride is less than 3-5 hours long). I think they are missing a trick here - there is a growing field of ladies doing ultra-endurance races who would appreciate a high end chamois with the ability to take quick bathroom breaks that don't involve stripping off top layers. There are very few in this part of the market, unless you are looking at spending over R4000. 

I had a suspicion the higher end bibs would have thinner padding - but I'm a touchy feely kinda girl - so unless there is a shop I can go to and feel the chamois on them I won't drop my dollar. But, if they are in 100% actual fact thinner than the Corsa's I will order a pair today. The fit and feel on these woman specific bibs are mind blowing. My only gripe is that they are on the post-honeymoon size. Not too chunky to put you off but you kinda wish for thinner

[Jewbacca]

3 minutes ago, Vallende Vaandel said:

I had a suspicion the higher end bibs would have thinner padding - but I'm a touchy feely kinda girl - so unless there is a shop I can go to and feel the chamois on them I won't drop my dollar. But, if they are in 100% actual fact thinner than the Corsa's I will order a pair today. The fit and feel on these woman specific bibs are mind blowing. My only gripe is that they are on the post-honeymoon size. Not too chunky to put you off but you kinda wish for thinner

There is a shop;

117 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, Cape Town, 7925

You can touch and feel the clothes 

[ChrisF]

Okay ,,,, male alert ....

 

I got a Ciovita Corsa bib last year.  This is my "long ride" bib.  It worked well for a few months.

 

December my distances increased, doing various rides from 4 to 6 hour.  My but did NOT like these long rides ...

 

Bike setup was checked ....

 

New saddle was purchased ....

 

Do what I may, after 3 hours it was torture being on the bike.

 

 

After a nature break on a ride in February I had a light-bulb moment .... walking back to the bike the fit of the pants were "not right" .... And then I realised the edged of the shammy was rolling up and causing a hard outer ridge - EXACTLY where I was experiencing the discomfort during the long rides.  For the rest of the ride I would stop every 10 km to "un-roll" the edged of the padding ....

 

This past weekend I did a 4 hour ride, with basic First Accent pants.  PERFECT !!!  No soreness after the ride, and perfect the next day.

 

 

Having a closer look at the Corsa - MALE bib - it has very thick padding, with an outer wing of single layer padding.  this single layer rolls in and causes the issues ....

 

 

Would be very interesting to know if the female Corsa bibs has a similar issue.

[rbb]

6 hours ago, splat said:

What saddle and bib did you get ?
Pity that its only a mild improvement

If you have had a proper setup done, you shouldn't need to make any further adjustments.
(Well, theoretically...)

The till slip for the saddle says "ERGON ST GEL SADDLE". The bike fitter chose it during the bike fit. The bib was actually donated to me by a kind member of this forum - it's an ftech bib. And to answer ouzo, yes, I wore the bib to the bike fit.

There is still one further adjustment that the bike fitter needs to make to the bike - he didn't have the part available at the fit so I'm going back to get that done. When I say "mild improvement" - perhaps it's better than that. Certainly there was no burning when I went to the loo after my ride today, but I still don't feel comfortable in the saddle. Maybe I'm just being overly picky and what I regard as "discomfort", others regard as normal. My biokineticist once remarked at how I get irritated by small discomforts - she had a word for it which I wish I could remember....

Edited March 2, 2022 by rbb