I need pants that won't cook my scrotum

[spectastic]

the nature of my research and teaching gig dictate that I have to wear pants in the lab. Texas is hot. I bike to campus. All the pants that I have are inelastic (uncomfortable on a bicycle) and hot. Surely, I'm not the first one who has faced this dilemma. What have people done in the past?

[St Andrews Lynx]

Wear cycling shorts and change once you get there?

[Eigen]

3 hours ago, St Andrews Lynx said:

Wear cycling shorts and change once you get there?

This. Pretty much what everyone I know does. I wear shorts and a jersey in, then change in my office. My old department chair used to have an entire close rack in his office for this purpose. 

[Apogeee]

9 hours ago, spectastic said:

the nature of my research and teaching gig dictate that I have to wear pants in the lab. Texas is hot. I bike to campus. All the pants that I have are inelastic (uncomfortable on a bicycle) and hot. Surely, I'm not the first one who has faced this dilemma. What have people done in the past?

Bring clothes to change into. Also, baby wipes or something similar to briefly wash with before you change can be helpful to avoid chafing later.

[spectastic]

I was hoping to avoid having to change, but I guess that's the most obvious choice. 

[St Andrews Lynx]

40 minutes ago, spectastic said:

I was hoping to avoid having to change, but I guess that's the most obvious choice. 

If you WANT to spend your whole day working in sweaty, smelly clothes...then that's fine, I guess. :S 

The other folk you come in to contact might have differing opinions on this. There are bigger issues at stake here than your scrotum, bruh.

[spectastic]

let me reword the question. Is there a convenient, light and more fashionable alternative to hospital pants?

[drivingthoughts]

@spectastic If you don't want to change, there are some options, but it depends on how casual you can appear. I highly recommend Chrome's clothes for something that rides well and still looks good. Patagonia and Pearl Izumi also make a number of good options. Now, to be honest, I'm from Texas (and shall never go back) and when I commuted to work there, I followed the change-your-clothes practice. My commute was 17 miles, so I actually wore one set there, changed into my work clothes, then put on clean cycling clothes for the way home. When I lived in Utah, my commute was shorter (5 miles, so I never bothered with cycling shorts) and I could abandon my Texas approach since sweat actually evaporates in the desert; as such, I found myself riding in presentable clothing and just starting work right away. From what I recall, both Patagonia and Pearl Izumi have a few options resembling scrubs, just make sure you tie up one leg or you'll have chainring issues.

Also, the Chrome Metropolis was my commute bag of choice and it easily held everything (and more), but a few years ago, I switched to panniers and found them to be a much cooler alternative. 

If you don't want to pedal (and thus reduce your sweat) you can always get a stoke-monkey. 

[Apogeee]

1 hour ago, spectastic said:

let me reword the question. Is there a convenient, light and more fashionable alternative to hospital pants?

Probably, but not as easy, professional-looking, and effective as just changing your pants, though. What, 30 seconds? A minute if you follow the method of the military and use a baby wipe?

[sjoh197]

2 hours ago, spectastic said:

let me reword the question. Is there a convenient, light and more fashionable alternative to hospital pants?

I also live in texas and I agree with the others about changing... But maybe you could look into nylon hiking pants. You could even get the convertible zipper kind that zip off at the knees for the rest of day. Not necessarily fashionable, but I wear them backpacking and hiking and have never had any issues with sweat or chafing. They are lightweight, wicking, and breathable.

You can get them pretty cheap on ebay-usually lightly used($20-25) The new ones are typically hella expensive though ($65-100) so you'ld have to be willing to go the used route.

[dr. t]

6 hours ago, spectastic said:

let me reword the question. Is there a convenient, light and more fashionable alternative to hospital pants?

As an avid cyclist, no. Or more specifically, technically yes, but they're super expensive and a marginal improvement.

You might look into "baggies" - mountain biking shorts for those who want the glory of lycra without all the skin-tightness

Edited June 5, 2016 by telkanuru

[spectastic]

thanks for the suggestions. I realized after I posted how stupid of a topic this is. sorry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'll just go and get a couple of cheap cargo pants that'll go over my shorts, and keep them on campus somewhere.

 

btw. I would never wear road cycling shorts to school. I don't need that kind of attention. I've got some nice baggy mtb shorts that I circulate, and they're pretty nice.

Edited June 5, 2016 by spectastic

[rising_star]

9 hours ago, spectastic said:

btw. I would never wear road cycling shorts to school. I don't need that kind of attention. I've got some nice baggy mtb shorts that I circulate, and they're pretty nice.

If you don't want to attract that kind of attention, change in a location away from your building. You're a grad student so 99% of those on campus won't recognize you. Choose a building near-ish by and use their bathrooms to change. Or change in the campus gym.

[Apogeee]

9 hours ago, spectastic said:

thanks for the suggestions. I realized after I posted how stupid of a topic this is. sorry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'll just go and get a couple of cheap cargo pants that'll go over my shorts, and keep them on campus somewhere.

 

btw. I would never wear road cycling shorts to school. I don't need that kind of attention. I've got some nice baggy mtb shorts that I circulate, and they're pretty nice.

I don't think this is a stupid post. It's a real life, "how do I survive" post. People have to take care of each other. If you're worried about this, it's taking away from your life energy. Coming up with a solution that works for you isn't stupid. Quite the contrary. And you don't have to wear the shorts all day - take them off and put the other pants on in the bathroom. People do this everywhere, especially if they are walking for exercise during lunch, for example. You'll be much more comfortable, and this will help you to look as professional as you are. 

[spectastic]

Got two rather dashing khakis from goodwill. $8.11

 

Better than switching to geico

[Crucial BBQ]

Something I had learned from hiking is to go synthetic (or wool for natural).  Polyester is my choice but nylon could work as well.  Synthetic fabrics wick moisture (sweat) away from your body to the outside of the fabric.  As such, they tend to not only keep you dryer but also tend to stink less when compared to cotton.  This is what sjoh197 is talking about.