If I do a 100 miles or more (which I do quite often) there is a problem, since I got new shorts
The new shorts are Endura FS260 Pro bibshorts. I got these as the wicking performance of the material is amazingly good. The way to avoid sores is to keep everything dry. The FS260 fabric wicks great..but..there’s always a but for the butt…the pad is too thick
The pad soaks up all the sweat and even the magical FS260 stuff can’t wick it away
On a hot day or a very very rainy day I feel like I’ve wet myself. The problem is that bacteria love a warm wet place. Skin gets rubbed by wet material. And soon sores develop.
The way to stop this being a problem is to use a barrier cream. It works for babies nappies and also for sweaty cyclists. If you want the cheap stuff, use Sudocrem available everywhere. The slightly more up market fix is Udderly Smooth. These creams allow the skin to breathe to some extent but keep the wetness away from the skin.
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If I was the product development manager for Endura I would bring out an FS260 bib short with a thinner pad, less material on the back (or a mesh) and shorter legs. I’d name it after some european mountain climb and claim (probably correctly) that it was a better short for hot long distance rides. And probably better for summer commutes in London
Audaxing 
Bizarrely, even as I was writing this Endura have been developong a range called “Equipe” which is aimed at road cycling. The descriptions of the shorts are pretty vague. For instance they don’t say if they are using the 600 series pad like the FS260 Pro
There doesn’t seem to be any information about this new range on the Endura website but all the Internet resellers have listings for it.
By: audaxing on August 1, 2010
at 7:51 pm