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From my experience, cycling specific clothes aren't worth it for most people. I ride my bike every day usually with jeans or shorts. If you have good saddle it doesn't matter that you don't have padding.
As for running I didn't run in a long time so can't help.
For cycling, I think it depends on speed here. I agree with anything under 15mph (24km/h) you're not going super hard, but when I was biking every day, I could see the use of bike shorts when I was biking harder. (Chafing sucks)
I find the chaffing to be really bad when it’s hot. Cycling shorts help a lot with that for me. Having said that, I will ride a city bike during summer and wear normal shorts.
It depend on your morphology I guess: for me below 15km rides, I can wear jeans and it's fine, but above that it starts to be painful. When I'm touring I really enjoy having my cycling pant, even a cheap one does the job perfectly for me. But again, I have a quite large distance between my ischium bones, so the same may not apply to everyone.
I would agree, clothes have never really affected me. I did a 150 km ride around my city wearing jorts and a wind breaker.
I’ve read some more expensive leggings have not a single, but double seam at the front side (crotch)
Are you sure that's the front side? If so, I've been wearing mine the wrong way around ...
well I see 4 vertical seams: 1 left, 1 right, 1 middle front and 1 middle back. Online I've seen some leggings have 2 frontal seams around the manhood, that's what I meant.
Tuck it back
If you don't want to go commando, but don't want lines: AsWeMove. They're spendy, but extremely accommodating and once you get them dialed in, it feels like wearing nothing at all.
I've got leggings for running and they've got a double seam. They are so stretchy I don't think it matters what seam is in rhe crotch area it should still feel alright. I wear shorts over the top because it feels wrong without them.
so you go commando?
Get this man some under armour stat! My friend, do you think male athletes are going around with thongs on?
https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/c/mens/clothing/underwear/
do you think male athletes are going around with thongs on?
I have no idea, these are my first leggings.
About your link, that's what I meant with double frontal seam, the under armour male leggings like these, but those look like underwear, so the only way to wear them is with running short, right?
You can wear them however you want. Just know that no man is wearing a thong.
I recommend underwear and shorts on top. If it's cold, you want more layers anyway. And double check the type you are buying. Your link is for "heat gear", which is for when it's hot out.
I have running shorts that have an extra inlay which functions as sort of underwear. So I dont feel as if Im going commando but I kind of am. In winter I go commando in leggings and wear the shorts on top to cover up a bit. If youre not going commando you should put thought into what material youre going to wear as underpants because not being breathable in your crotch area, especially on a bike is going to be extremely uncomfortable.
Yeah I don't see a point in wearing underwear with them. My underwear is the same material so I figure they're interchangeable
I'd like to frame challenge a little bit and ask: what specifically is your goal here? Why do you want to wear the leggings? Is it about keeping warm while exercising outside in winter? Do you just like how they feel and/or look? Are you exercising or cycling for transport?
Personally, when cycling for exercise in winter* I put on my usual short cycling knicks or bib-knicks, and then over that I put long leg socks designed for cycling. Unlike tights, leg socks don't interact with your waist and hip at all—that's left to your normal clothes. They're cut to smoothly allow you knee to bend, and they are long enough for the top to cover your knicks and he bottom to be covered by your (foot) socks. I also wear arm socks, which do much the same over the elbow. It's also possible to buy long knicks if that's preferable.
When cycling for transport in summer I often wear cycling gear and get changed at my destination. In winter I'm much more likely to dress for the destination. I wrap a hair scrunchie around my right leg to keep my pants' material from getting dirtied and cut by my chainring.
For running, where I live just normal running shorts work fine in winter as long as I do a really good warm up. But I imagine the leg socks could be helpful here too.
/* Though I live somewhere quite warm. A cold winter's night might, at the most extreme, reach as low as 6 ℃. But it's far more typical for the night to not drop below 10°, and for the day, even the early morning, to be 14–18°. So exactly how applicable my experiences are to where you live is unclear.
I basically want to use them as regular sport pants to run, walk, cycle, stretch and given that I have to walk a lot for my job, I may use them daily as a first layer, so my legs don't hurt as much as without them. I'd also like to use em with nothing on them, because they look good like that with no lines (where I live I only see men with the leggings on, with nothing to cover their crotch). The regular pants I have are very loose, I'm tall and skinny built and I always have trouble finding the right pants: long enough to cover my legs and thin enough not to waste too much fabric. The leggings I'm testing (asics, nb) seem to do exactly that.
I'm not going to wear them on social occasions but I may do the groceries with them on.
Yeah so my recommendation is that for cycling, wearing knicks or bib-knicks is a better idea. The padded chamois is much more comfortable while cycling than unpadded regular clothes, even regular non-cycling-specific sports clothing. They're also explicitly intended to be used without any underwear. I think with the exception of wearing them around to the shops, knicks are a much better option for cycling than leggings.
I don't have any more specific advice for running, because I've always worn loose-fitting running shorts. Leggings may be the best option for you there.
For cycling the standard procedure is to wear cycling shorts underneath everything else. If its warm then just the bike shorts. For cooler weather, I have lycra leggings with the crotch pad built in. Another option is cycling shorts under long pants without an big crotch seam. Like these. Even colder weather, long underwear, snow boots and flat pedals. That's getting into full-on winter cycling with maybe studded snow tires and etc.
For running in cold weather I have wool leggings. They'd probably be fine for cycling (with cycling shorts underneath), but I usually don't bike when its cold enough to need them - under 25 degrees or so.
That's a lot of text to confess that you're cross-dressing 😂
Jk of course, it doesn't matter once you get used to them.
Check out Kapow meggings