How do bike short sizes translate into waist sizes? I’m between a 31 and 32 waist, a bit closer to 32. That’d put me in medium right?
Re: bike shorts- S, M, L. Zuh?
Sizing can be slightly different for each manufacturer. For Pearl Izume and most other manufacturers small is a 31" waist and medium is a 33" waist. I’m also about a 32" waist. I can wear either S or M cycling shorts. I have a few small shorts, but most are medium. The smalls are a bit too snug, still wearable but not what I would choose to wear for a long ride. The mediums are more comfortable and fit me better.
Just wanted to check something actually. What does waist size refer to? Where my pants normally sit, or where my belly button is?
It’s around the hip bones where your pants sit. But cycling shorts extend above the waist so if you have a pronounced beer belly you may find traditionally cut cycling shorts to be a bit snug around the tummy.
If you do expand significantly above the hip bones consider seriously shorts with built-in straps, called a cycling bib short. It eliminates the roll-down and the waist-binding associated with traditional shorts.
Here is one example but there are plainer, cheaper versions that work great.
If you are also wearing tights (say, in cold weather), the bibs are much more comfortable because you don’t have multiple tight waistbands pinching off the circulation.
I just went and looked at the bibbs. I took a look at the size chart and it does’t seem to be a good choice if you have a ten inch difference between chest and waist, unless the stretchy material makes up for that.
It does; it’s really stretchy. I don’t have particularly wide shoulders. I tie the back straps together with a shoelace, which works fine. In hockey as a goalie I used to tie my front suspender straps together with a shoelace to keep them on my shoulders, copying Tony Esposito, if I remember right.