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Comment by Rafuino | Hacker News Reader

The whole no shower aspect isn't practical if you're riding for an hour plus and climbing like OP does. There's no way to avoid showing up a sweaty mess and baby wipes just won't cut it.

Does anyone have recommendations for bike pants that aren't cycling pants? I only have a ~25 minute ride to work that's pretty simple and urban, but I've ruined several pairs of pants with even mundane, simple cycling. I don't want to buy a bike jersey and spandex... so pants that I could also wear at work would be a welcome recommendation!

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There's no way to avoid showing up a sweaty mess

Nearby gym or swimming pool membership is one option. I used this strategy in university. If you creatively bribe the staff you may even get in free.

I don't do spandex. I like heavy cargo shorts and have several loose fitting pairs in bright red camo for a personal (anti-)fashion statement ... err ... I mean safety and visibility. :)

Agreed about showering. I'm lucky to have been born with weird genes, so I sweat very little. For this reason, my advice doesn't tend to be too helpful.

One thing I do is to leave in the morning before the sun has cleared the trees and houses, so it's still relatively cool except on the absolutely hottest days in Wisconsin. And I slow down, and ride with an upright posture, which may help with air flow.

I wear synthetic hiking pants from REI or similar. They have held up quite well to daily bike commuting, about 4 miles each way on relatively flat terrain.

Winter is another matter. ;-)

What's happening to your pants? Maybe baggy shorts over your regular pants would protect them. Lots of people also wear mountain biking garb, which tends to be somewhat less form-fitting. If you're wearing holes in your butt, maybe your saddle is too high.

At least five of my work colleagues have gotten e-bikes.

Holes in the inseams, pretty much! More layers over the top definitely won't solve that problem.

I use these and love them: https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/141676/club-ride-tour...

In fact I'm going to be ordering 1-2 more pairs so I can have them all in rotation when one gets dirty. One caveat is that there is some pilling happening in the crotch area after repeated use.

Club Ride has men's pants too you could check out.

Something like: https://www.rhone.com/products/commuter-pant-slim ?

I don't own the pants myself, but Rhone makes high quality and well-regarded clothes, and I think these are designed for your use case.

> There's no way to avoid showing up a sweaty mess and baby wipes just won't cut it.

This is true, but you can definitely minimize the effect: showering right before I ride makes a huge difference, and ditching the bag/wearing a synthetic wickable shirt (Under Armour's are good, IME) makes 20 miles daily in NYC bearable for me. Deodorant and changing are, of course, essential.

> Does anyone have recommendations for bike pants that aren't cycling pants?

I have a few pairs of Chrome pants and shorts[1]; they're cycling oriented, but are passable as normal casual wear.

[1]: https://www.chromeindustries.com/clothing/pants-and-shorts/

In the bay area, it's still possible to ride to work for a significant distance without a shower.

I used to have a 12 mile commute that took nearly an hour - It's almost always cool in the morning, and I'd ride slow for the last mile or so to minimize sweating, then change into my regular clothes at the office. No shower or wipedown required. On the way home I'd typically just wear my regular clothes.

I don't know how you're ruining your pants, but if it's bike grease or getting your pant legs sucked into the chain, a simple ankle strap will let you avoid that. By using a drive wax lube (I use White Lightning, but there are others), that also minimizes the dirt transfer if your pant leg does brush against the chain or chainring.

It's mostly holes in the inseams, nothing to do with chain issues since I roll up my pant legs as necessary.

Sure, it's possible, but highly dependent on your route and time in the saddle.

  simple ankle strap will let you avoid that

A rubber band will do in a pinch.

Clever Cycle has practical bike fashion needs: https://clevercycles.com/apparel/men/bottoms

They have stuff for the other genders as well.

How did you ruin the pants?

I wear just normal sports shorts in the summer and in the winter add a long spandex pair of pants (wormth and comfort) with the shorts over it

The seat of the pants gets threadbare from riding, and eventually you get a blow out. That's no fun.

Mostly holes in the inseams. I basically wear jeans at work everyday, so something similar to that look is what I'm aiming for. It'd be awesome to not have to change when I get to work since the facilities aren't so great.

Shave all your crevice hair. Armpits, buttocks, groin, neck. Find a gym near work and stop there first.

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