I've had a few pairs of Pearl shorts and have always been happy with them. If you're unsure about size etc., buying shorts that you can try at the LBS is probably a good idea.

i like voler

I have Pearl Izumi, and Nike DriFit shorts, and a pair of Descente bibs. They are all very comfy to me.

I use a pair of desoto tri shorts for 1/2 IM distance or less

I have Pearl, Cannondale, Performance, Sugio, Trek and probably a couple others. They all have their ups and downs. More panels is better but costs more. 6 to 8 panels seems fine, 10 is overkill. Performance brand are inexpensive and seem to run small in my experience. The key to liking your shorts is making sure they're lubed up. Get yourself some bag balm or chamois butter. It'll make all the difference in the world. Also, don't wear underwear under them. Too much material. Best time to buy seems to be late fall and early spring.

good point. like everything people have their opinions. i prefer to wear tri shorts on ALL rides so as not to get too soft for race day. that being said, i like TYR's. they seem to be the most comfortable.

My longest-lasting pair of bike shorts is a pair of Pearl Izumis that my dad bought me, I think around 13 years ago! They have held up great while other shorts have fallen apart (my husband's Nashbar shorts only lasted one season).

I've always trained in bike shorts until this season when I discovered that my new Orca tri shorts that I got for the Ironman are actually more comfortable for me. So I might get some more of those to train in. Until the Ironman distance, I've always raced in a tri suit which also has a minimal pad, and found that to be pretty comfortable up to 70.3 distance. The Orca shorts did fine at IM distance and I had no saddle sores whatsoever (I think I did two long training rides in them).

i have some pearl bibs that i really like, as well i have some performance that are nice as well. i do feel that pearl's quality is better than performance, however i'm not sure that it is good enough to justify the price. the performance bibs are a bit more reasonable in the price department.

i train with bibs, much more comfy than shorts. as a friend told me, once you try bibs you'll never wear shorts again, he was right, they are so much more comfortable.

as for racing, i do sprints, olympic, and xterras. so far my tri shorts, which are performance, have done well. the chamois is certainly less than the cycling bibs, but have been fine for the races so far. i am doing a HIM this year so i'm not sure if i'll use my bibs for that....