Cycling clothing guide: shorts

Cycling shorts are made from flexible Lycra material sewn together from lots of panels.

They are very tight-fitting to make your legs as streamlined as possible and cut down on drag.

The seat and front of the shorts are padded with synthetic chamois (real chamois is a soft leather - window cleaners use it as a cloth).

Chamois is a soft leather made from the hide of a goat antelope - window cleaners use chamois cloths for polishing windows.

Shorts come in male and female versions that are cut differently and have different padding.

Some long mountain stages in the Tour de France can last for up to six hours or more which creates the serious problem of saddle sores.

Imagine spending the equivalent of a whole day at school, pedalling along at high speed, balanced on a razor-thin bicycle saddle?

Nowadays, thankfully, all shorts are padded.

And even if you are just a beginner, a good pair of shorts is important to avoid the pain of saddle sores.