They don't?!?
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you wash it after every ride anyway. on the plus side, you get no underwear rashes that you would definitely get if you wore underwear.
and my personal favourite reason: your underwear doesn't "cut" int your belly.
My understanding is that unlike undies the bike shorts don't have seams that will rub as you pedal so they're meant to be used as the base layer.
Let me ask a parallel question:
Why don’t people wear underwear under their swimsuits?
That one is more clear to me: a soaking wet underwear is not comfortable.
Also, swimsuits do not seem to atract body odors. If anything they get chloriny
underwear under bike shorts would also be soaking wet though.
Hasn't been for me but maybe I'm not riding long enough.
Maybe if the underwear is not wet, it's not time for bike wear. This is for endurance and sweat management.
Chaffing and moisture management. Underwear is more often than not cotton. Putting a layer of cotton between you and the lycra would trap moisture. And yeah, the chaffing would be unreal.
Why would that be necessary, like Mamil, I wash those padded shorts after each use.
Nothing, and I repeat, nothing prevents stink if you're not washing after every ride.
Do you not wash clothes?
I do. I still don't like getting poop on clothes if i can avoid it, hence underwear.
Ignoring possible medical conditions; that seems like a fairly easy problem to solve.
Do you know something I don't? I use a bidet, I wipe. I shower. But still my underwear smells like ass. I figured this is the point of underwear: to protect the clothes.
Yes, underwear will help keep you from getting poop on your bike shorts. No, underwear will not keep ass sweat and smells out of your bike shorts for more than a couple minutes. So it depends on use case. As long as you are dingle berry free, an extra layer of fabric isn't going to help much for smells.
I think I'll have to disagree with you because underwear does make a big difference for other clothes, so why wouldn't it help with bike shorts?
You're going to have some particles from the anus and urethra that leak out while you ride, making your butt smell like ass. They can either be absorbed by the (relatively cheaper and easier to wash) underwear, or the expensive padded bike shorts. The shorts will still get sweaty and get washed after every ride, but they'll have less skin and body fluid particles in them.
I get that most people can't wear underwear underneath because of the added friction. Still stands to reason that if this wasn't an issue, the underwear would help protect the padded bike shorts.
Wet wipes, bro. They'll change your life.
I always wore underwear as it was extra padding for the prostate.
Quick question, does your bike seat have the padded part or is it just the tube?
I am not sure what you mean by "tube". My seat has minimal padding and is pretty firm. All the bike people I've ever met have told me to never get the padded seat, always get the padded shorts.
Mine looks like of like the "men's recreational" but without the air gap, here:

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