Well, technically Russell Eich, writing for Bike Radar, took a long walk off a short pier, but I figured I’d hit you with a clickbait title just as Bike Radar’s Editor did.  Why not?

I could get into dismantling his arguments against bibs and for shorts, but why bother?  Some people like shorts better than bibs, and I suppose the world will spin on with that reality.  Personally, I think he’s bat-$#!+ crazy, but that’s just me.

Like Russell, I have thousands of miles on my legs.  Like Russell, I’ve worn both bibs and shorts extensively – and I even made some of his same arguments for shorts on this blog.  One of my most popular posts of all time explains exactly what I look for when picking out cycling shorts…  One problem:  I made the arguments before I tried bibs – or more to the point, at least I have ignorance as an excuse.  In fact, one of Russell’s very reasons for preferring shorts is my main reason for going with bibs.  For Russell, he says the waistband isn’t a big deal.  For me, the waistband on shorts drives me flipping nuts.  I suffer from tight belt syndrome and have written about it before (it’s one of my more popular posts of late).  If I wear anything too tight around my waist, I end up with severe back pain.  Same with a wallet in my back pocket – fuhgeddaboutit.  Within a week I’ll be hobbled to a point I’ll be hating life.  While the waistband on a pair of shorts isn’t nearly as bad as a tight belt for me, it does cause unnecessary pain and the way I see it, why ride around in pain if you don’t have to?  In my case, putting up with shoulder straps is worth not having a waistband.

That said and to put this simply, choosing shorts or bibs is personal.  Personally, I prefer bibs.  Mr. Eich apparently prefers shorts.  To claim that everyone who prefers the other is wrong or worse, daft, is over the top.

Of course, this, ahem, subdued reality doesn’t exactly generate clicks, either.

Bibs:

You say tomato…  I say keep your mits off my bibs, bro.