I seem to always have my leg warmers fall down. They seem a little tight, and I wear them under my bike shorts. Are they any tips to keep up around my thighs instead of my falling to my knees?
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Wear panty hose.– Daniel R HicksCommented Dec 6, 2017 at 1:05
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Do they have rubbery grippers? Wear them so the grippers are over your bike shorts.– Criggie ♦Commented Dec 6, 2017 at 1:32
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1Are your bike shorts spandex or baggie shorts? If it is the latter no leg warmers will stay. If it is the former, the spandex needs to be taut (i.e., not worn out or too large a size) as the tension helps hold the top of the let warmer in place.– Rider_XCommented Dec 6, 2017 at 3:40
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@Criggie Yes they have rubber grippers.– ChthonyxCommented Dec 6, 2017 at 4:20
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1@Rider_X That looks like an answer to me! :-)– David RicherbyCommented Dec 6, 2017 at 9:27
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8 Answers
I'm using Endura windchill legwarmers, they're fine on the bike, and usually fine when walking (but can start slipping if I haven't gone to extra effort to give them even more room in the knees), they're pretty tight.
Observations
I find I have to get this fit just right on the lower leg and upper leg, with a bit of slack in the knee area, if my knee area is noticeably tight, or either lower or upper leg not tight enough, then the leg warmers are going to start sliding down. However I have also found the upper can be TOO tight also guaranteeing slip (the lower seems to be ok with being "too" tight in my case).
How I Put Them On
I put them on while sitting. I usually put them a bit too high and tight on the lower leg to get plenty of knee room, and get the upper leg "just right" tightness... then faff about getting just the right amount of knee space by pulling the lower down a bit (but still tight).
How I Deal With The (Rare) Times They Do Slip
I have found that I don't want to pull the warmer up from the top, I just end up with overly tight upper and knee and slippage over and over, instead I want to pull it up from around knee height (i.e. tightening lower area) before pulling it up comfortably tight at the top (if there's not enough knee space, then pull up from knee height again).
A trick that Japanese schoolgirls use to keep their knee-high socks up is some rubber glue(the stationery kind not the bicycle kind).
It’s easy to apply, won’t come off with moisture (sweat), but is easy to rub off the skin at the end of the day.
answered Dec 11, 2017 at 0:02
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2Life would be a lot simpler if we could just glue all our clothes in place. No need for buttons or zips or belts or laces!– Criggie ♦Commented May 14, 2018 at 4:43
So I would suggest a good pair of leg warmers with a nice grip on the top, however this still doesn't mean that they wont slip.
Shaved legs where they are connecting to is a good way, but a good pair of bib shorts with a grip on the bottom helps.
I found my Merino leg warmers would slip even though I had them under my bib shorts, so I made sure I didn't have them pulled too tight, and they were a good few centimeters under my shorts.
In my experience the shorts are also important in holding the warmers in place. The silicone sticky layer on the warmers is often not sufficient to keep them in their place on their own, or it takes too many tries to get them so so holding, but with the silicone layer also on the bottom of the shorts hoses they hold much better. I have both types of shorts, with and without the sticky layer and the difference is significant.
answered Nov 16 at 7:35
Since you already own leg warmers, one technique for holding them up is tailoring. Add a dart such that the top lip is drawn tight against the leg.
I have "shin warmers" which reach up to just-below the knee, so I added a dart to remove length around the top. This holds the whole thing just above where my calf muscle bulges out but below the knee.
For thigh-high leg warmers try and get them up to the top of your thighs.
An additional solution is to replace any elastic that has failed with new elastic, but gauge the total length to be tight on you. If its hard to get on it will be hard to fall down.
Instead of legwarmers, consider tights or bib-tights. Both can come in lighter-weight summer versions where sunburn protection is important, through to thicker insulated versions for cold-weather rides. Some are water repellent, but none are truly water-proof.
Tights are tight-fitting trousers. They frequently include a modern chamois pad, and can be worn under trousers/skirts or as-is. Example:
Bib tights are a combination of shoulder straps and tights and also offer padded liners along with some level of midriff support. They're generally black but greys and blues are not uncommon. White and other light colours are to be avoided.
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How do you wear the tights? Under bib shorts? One is supposed to not wear any underwear in them. Commented Jan 16 at 9:27
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@VladimirFГероямслава the tights are the only thing you wear next to your skin. I normally wear office trousers over the top of them.– Criggie ♦Commented Jan 16 at 10:54
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OK, but I understand the problem in this question is how to wear the leg warmers with normal cycling shorts. And then the problem is whether it is appropriate to wear the thighs under these. Commented Jan 16 at 14:02
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@VladimirFГероямслава these ARE normal padded cycling shorts, just longer. This answer is saying "instead of leg warmers, get the same function from this other thing" which avoids the legwarmers falling down. Downvote if you think this is a bad answer.– Criggie ♦Commented Jan 16 at 20:26
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1@VladimirFГероямслава you could layer bike tights and shorts but one should probably be minimally- or un-padded (triathlon shorts for example) Then you could wear leg warmers under the tights. But if you're layering that much, running tights over the top are better. In consistently cold conditions tights offer plenty of advantages over shorts, hence the recommendation in the answer to wear them instead. If you have a cold start before the day warms up, or warm days leading to cold nights while still on the bike, leg warmers are better as they allow you to adjust– Chris HCommented Nov 18 at 11:44
I find that roll-on body adhesive (aka body fixative) works well. Roll it around your thigh where you want the top of your leg warmer to stay. You can experiment on how far to glue around your thigh to keep the warmer up.
The interface beten the grippers on the shorts and on the outside of the leg warmers is important.
Gripper bands running round the inside of the shorts (most shorts), and vertical gripper strips on the leg warmers (mine are Endura Windchill) hold together well. In contrast, gripper dots inside the shorts (a cheap but otherwise good pair I have) don't touch the strips on the leg warmers, which ride down.
The gripper strip on the inside of the warmers works on its own in the dry, but rain or sweat defeats that. I also get a skin reaction from long sweaty hours against the strip on mine, but with the right shorts I can fold that over and the leg warmers and shorts grip each other will enough to stay up for several hours on the bike.
Garter belt seems to work for me.seriously though, they need to design a pair more like suspender pantyhose.
