For a few years now, the range of pee-friendly cycling shorts for women has been growing, i.e. bibs that mean women no longer have to undress at the top to do their business quickly. In conversations, however, I also keep hearing men who want a similar design. Perhaps that would be called poo-friendly?
Pee-friendly cycling shorts
For a long time, women had to undress completely at the top in order to pee. Nowadays, there are some manufacturers who only offer cycling shorts in the women's range that can be pulled down without exposing yourself, despite the straps. There are zips, magnetic fasteners and my favourite: straps that attach to the sides at the back, into which you can hook your thumbs to pull the shorts over your bottom while squatting.
The advantages:
- Finally, no more standing half-naked at the side of the road just because you have to pee.
- Time saving. The puller break is much quicker, which can be crucial, especially in racing situations. Anyone who now says: "I don't need to pull in a race" - there are ultra-cycling races such as the Transcontinental Race, which leads once across Europe, around 4000 kilometres long. If you have to take off your reflective tape, jacket, jersey and bibs at every break, that adds up.
Men also want this
Whenever I rave about pee-friendly cycling shorts in cycling groups, I hear men's voices saying: "I want them too." Sometimes it's about waistbands that are cut too high, but more often it's about the big business on the long haul and the valuable time men lose when taking them off.
The design should work just as well for men's trousers as it does for women's trousers, because "pee-friendly" is not really a correct term. The design is not specifically for peeing, it simply allows the trousers to be pulled down without having to take them off at the top. If women can pee with it, men can poo with it too. It's the same design, only the use case is different.
Rapha recently launched a new Brevet collection, for the first time with a pee-friendly bib for women. Rapha also worked with ultracycling athlete Jana Kesenheimer on the development. Another athlete in the Rapha team is the Frenchman Victor Bosoni, also an ultracyclist. Who knows, maybe he, too, would like a pair of cycling shorts that will make those sitting toilet breaks go faster. And perhaps the next collection will include "poo-friendly" cycling shorts for men.
Sandra Schuberth
Editor
