The Cycling Bib Short – Relief For Potbellies Or CyclingPro?

A couple features come to mind when I think of the cycling bib short. First off, a pro cyclist would get thrown out of the peloton on his clavicle if he didn’t show up in a bib short. So, it can be safely stated that cycling bib shorts are universal in their appeal with very serious cyclists.

However, there is another more sedentary reason for wearing bike bib shorts. Namely, pot bellies.

No Waistband –No Problem!

Without a waistband to dig into a protruding abdomen, bib shorts are also favored by those overweight cyclists who are fortunate enough to discover these suspendered shorts.

A good number of abdominally-well-endowed beer guzzlers show up at my chiropractic office wearing suspenders and no belt.

The benefits of not having a waistband to dig into the megagut along with the suspenders to hold up the pantaloons entice these good ole boys to forgo traditional pants.

I hadn’t thought of it before, but the same concept would appeal to cyclists who haven’t yet achieved the lean and mean physique of the Tour de France cyclists.

Same Features, Different Short

I’ve really already covered the uniqueness of the bib short in stating that it doesn’t have a waistband and it has built in suspenders.

But there are whole boatloads of features to be considered that are common to a pair of cycling bib shorts as well as bicycling shorts. You can read all about cycling shorts in general on my bike shorts page.

Women Vs. Men

There are a few differences between cycling bib shorts made for men and those made for women. I’ve noticed that men and women are shaped differently, and it seems that quality manufacturers of cycling apparel have too.

Women’s waists necessitate more of a tapered cut above the hips. Women’s cycling bibs are also made with a longer waist.

From a fashion-preference point of view, women’s cycling shorts will often have a shorter leg length.

And then there are breasts…

What’s a bib short manufacturer to do about keeping those suspenders where they need to be in relation to the breast area? Two solutions enter into play.

By keeping the back part of the suspenders together farther up the back, there is less possible spread of the front suspenders. This looks like a ‘T’ in the back.

The Pearl Izumi’s P.R.O. Bib Short has a clasp between the front two suspenders to keep them from spreading.

Another solution is to make the entire bib short into more of a full tank top. This has the additional benefit of added support.

But it fails in the department of keeping a woman cyclist cool.

I Like My Chamois To Fit Like A Snuggy

I almost forgot the feature I like the most about the bib short. After-all, I’m not a pro cyclist and I’m not a potbellied guy either. But I do wear bib shorts almost exclusively.

I like bib shorts because the suspenders pull my shorts up snuggly against my unseemly parts. That means the chamois stays where it’s supposed to be and my testy relationship with my saddle is optimized.

I just saw some high end bib shorts for close to 50% off at BikeNashbar.