How to choose the right cycling shorts?
Before talking about your body shape, the choice of your cycling shorts will depend on your favorite discipline!
Indeed, whether you practice road cycling, cross-country mountain biking (XC) or downhill mountain biking (DH), the criteria are specific to each practice.
- MTB shorts
- Road bib shorts
- Bib shorts, with or without straps?
- What is my size?
- Bib shorts materials and inserts
- Bonus: Castelli bib shorts
Road bib shorts
Do you want to be able to ride for hours with pleasure? You must select quality shorts that ensure optimal comfort !
How to ensure comfort?
By protecting your buttocks from friction with the saddle.
How to guarantee pleasure?
When riding on the road, aerodynamics are essential , which is why you need tight-fitting equipment to reduce wind resistance as much as possible . Road shorts are available in long or short versions to make your rides even more enjoyable in both summer and winter !
MTB shorts
In cross-country, aerodynamics are important! This is why you should choose equipment that fits close to the body in order to limit wind resistance. On your mountain bike, you must also be comfortable in order to cover miles of forest and undergrowth rides, just like during an enduro on the beach or a mountain getaway. The seat on your saddle is essential, so remember to take shorts with quality padding to avoid any inconveniences such as the famous friction at the buttocks which can cause chafing, irritations that can affect your performance. Can be practiced at any time of the year, you will appreciate different lengths of shorts : short, long or capri. In downhill, also called DH, wind resistance will not be the most important criterion.
Freedom of movement will be more legitimate in the choice of shorts. The risk of snagging the shorts is also much greater, which is why downhillers or free-riders prefer to buy compression shorts, which they wear under looser shorts! It's also a question of style !
What are suspenders for?
For all sports practices, the search for performance and comfort is an objective for many of us! Thus the straps ensure ideal support of the shorts at the level of the lower body. Buying shorts with straps will guarantee you long outings, without the risk of feeling your shorts slipping on your hips... with the very many repetitions of leg movements.
So, you know which model to buy! But which size to choose?
To select the size of shorts that best suits you, measure your hip circumference as well as your inseam.
Women's Size Guide
| XS | S | M | L | XL | |
| Hips (cm) | 87 | 92 | 97 | 102 | 107 |
| Inseam (cm) | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
Men's Size Guide
| XS | S | M | L | XL | 2XL | 3XL | |
| Hips (cm) | 90 | 94 | 98 | 102 | 107 | 112 | 117 |
| Inseam (cm) | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 |
You've received your Castelli bib shorts. It's time to try them out.
A little personal advice from Guillaume Girout, a converted professional cyclist.
He brings you his expertise to select the shorts according to your body shape:
- Put on your shorts
- Take a position on your bike
- Tilt your torso onto the handlebars as if you were pedaling.
If the shorts are too small,
- you will feel discomfort at the seams
- your thighs will be tight.
- Have you opted for a model with straps? It is also a shearing sensation that you will feel if the model is too small.
If the shorts are too big,
- the chamois does not stay in place, it will not hold you in
- you will feel the shorts ride up your back
These few tips will allow you to either have a quality bike ride with your new shorts or return them for an exchange.
And on the textile and insert side.
The textiles used for cycling shorts are technical fabrics such as elastane, better known by its brand name: Lycra®™. This technology guarantees elasticity to the shorts to fit the shape of your body. Cycling shorts are like a second skin: stretchy and resistant, light and breathable. When you buy cycling shorts, pay attention to the fabric used to make them. The chamois or protective insert is nonetheless an important element in cycling. It is this part of the shorts that guarantees you comfort when pedaling. Limiting vibrations and shocks, wicking away perspiration , while reducing friction , this padded part of the shorts has very specific functions. Finally, as the shorts are worn bare (without underwear), the inserts are treated to resist bacteria and microbes. The types of inserts are very varied : foam , gel , seamless , glued , thermoformed , etc. Depending on your body type: man, woman, child, the inserts will have different shapes. Depending on the duration of your outings and the type of practice, the insert of your shorts will not be the same.
What about Castelli bib shorts:
Castelli brand shorts benefit from innovative technologies . They are therefore designed with technical textiles to give you maximum sensation during your training but especially for competition! The seams , the support bands , the flat straps , everything is thought out so that from our first prices you can enjoy riding! Designed to last over time and to adapt to your body shape, Castelli cycling outfits are the result of several years of research and development.