Quality bike shorts & diminishing returns?

[John Cameron]

At what price point (USD) do we start to overpay for good bike shorts? The most I've ever paid for shorts, Pearl iZUMi Attacks, is $50. I'm sure that's considered cheap by many cycling devotees.
How much more would I have to pay for a chamois of a considerably higher quality? At what point does my added expense just become profit for the manufacturer?

 

[Froze]

Actually those Pearl shorts you have I also have and I like them fine, they normally sell for $80 but when I find them on sale for between $45 to $50 I will buy one. I bought those because of the high reviews and they are deservant of those reviews. I wear these for shorter rides.

On longer rides of over 75 miles I switch to Louis Garneau Fit Sensor 2 which retail for about $80 but I get those on sale to for between $45 to $50.

I think the LG shorts are bit more comfortable than the PI shorts for longer rides.

I think those two shorts (my opinion of course) are the two best shorts on the market for the money, and in order to find something a tiny bit more comfortable you would have to spend around $250 and I bet if you bought those you really wouldn't like them any better than what you already use!

So congrats you found the sweet spot and the sweet short!

 

[phillman5]

I also like Pearl izumi stuff for quality/costs. I've had more expensive shorts, that routinely I ended rides with saddle sores.

 

[Uawadall]

I'm also a fan of the pearl izumi stuff. They run a little long(i'm 6'4) and a medium fits me like a glove. They age extremely well, they 3 pairs I have just started to show major sings of wear after 3 years and countless machine washing/drying. Is there some reason why you are looking elsewhere for cycling shorts?

 

[John Cameron]

I'm also a fan of the pearl izumi stuff. They run a little long(i'm 6'4) and a medium fits me like a glove. They age extremely well, they 3 pairs I have just started to show major sings of wear after 3 years and countless machine washing/drying. Is there some reason why you are looking elsewhere for cycling shorts?

Nope, just making sure I'm not missing out on a quality product

 

[Uawadall]

Nope, just making sure I'm not missing out on a quality product

This entire industry is built upon people thinking they're missing out on something. I get caught up from time to time, but a bike that fit and has a good gear range is all you need. Clothes that are comfortable is all you need. I saw a youtube vide this week where the guy said "serious cyclist only wear bib shorts"....I proceeded to read a few articles that said similar things.IT sounds like a ridiculous notion to me, I have never bought a pair and have never held shorts as an excuse for discomfort. If it aint broken, don't fix it.

 

[Froze]

I've read the same stuff that bib shorts were the best, not sure why because if you look at one model made by the same company they have the same padding as a particular model in a short! There is a lot of nonsense on the bicycle market that's all about generating sales. Even the nonsense that disk brakes are better than rim brakes even on dry surfaces is pure BS, it doesn't matter what kind of brakes you have it boils down to tire adhesion to the road surface. If you had a robot that could ride a bike and had one on a disk equipped bike and another on a identical rim equipped bike they both would stop the bike in the same distance. There are of course some things that are better like tires for example, in the last 10 years tires have made huge forward progress. But in clothing, well...look guys, I use to live in the Mojave Desert area of California and I rode a bike quite a bit out there, and it was hot a lot of times, yet I found a $12 jersey to perform BETTER than a $130 jersey! All my "cheap" jerseys, except the $12 one, perform the same as high end ones, the $12 one performs better; the same is true for socks as well.

 

[Uawadall]

I've read the same stuff that bib shorts were the best, not sure why because if you look at one model made by the same company they have the same padding as a particular model in a short! There is a lot of nonsense on the bicycle market that's all about generating sales. Even the nonsense that disk brakes are better than rim brakes even on dry surfaces is pure BS, it doesn't matter what kind of brakes you have it boils down to tire adhesion to the road surface. If you had a robot that could ride a bike and had one on a disk equipped bike and another on a identical rim equipped bike they both would stop the bike in the same distance. There are of course some things that are better like tires for example, in the last 10 years tires have made huge forward progress. But in clothing, well...look guys, I use to live in the Mojave Desert area of California and I rode a bike quite a bit out there, and it was hot a lot of times, yet I found a $12 jersey to perform BETTER than a $130 jersey! All my "cheap" jerseys, except the $12 one, perform the same as high end ones, the $12 one performs better; the same is true for socks as well.

I honestly thought bib shorts were for riders who needed a little support. It only bothers me that people preach products as a "must" when its really just preference or whats in style. This is a reason why so many don't get into cycling. More people would embrace it if they knew a 600 dollar bike, helmet, a few cheap jerseys and shorts will last them a while. I also find that I prefer riding with mountain bike shoes than road ones and don't think theirs any real speed difference. Still not sure how I feel about disk brakes as I've never used them. I will eventually, that is becoming the new standard.

 

[Froze]

I honestly thought bib shorts were for riders who needed a little support. It only bothers me that people preach products as a "must" when its really just preference or whats in style. This is a reason why so many don't get into cycling. More people would embrace it if they knew a 600 dollar bike, helmet, a few cheap jerseys and shorts will last them a while. I also find that I prefer riding with mountain bike shoes than road ones and don't think theirs any real speed difference. Still not sure how I feel about disk brakes as I've never used them. I will eventually, that is becoming the new standard.

Yup you're so right, many more would ride if the all the **** they want you to buy wasn't so expensive.

I do the same thing you do with shoes as well! I use Speedplay Frogs on my road bike and use of course mountain bike shoes. I do that in case I ride to some town or park or whatever and I want to walk around I can do so comfortably and without removing the cleat which it still isn't a good idea to walk around on road shoes because they are VERY slippery when walking on various surfaces.

 

[Uawadall]

Here we go, we didn't have a bot in a while.

 

[Corzhens]

This reminds me of my husband who is very frugal when it comes to personal belongings that’s why I always try to buy expensive items for him. Some years back when we went to a swimming pool resort, I was surprised to see him wearing the cycling shorts that I bought for him so many years ago. He has swimming shorts but he used the cycling shorts which was more than 10 years old. Until now that cycling shorts is still in his closet and even when already worn out, he still uses it.