Chamois Butt'r, etc

Hey all,

I'm a formerly just recreational rider (occasional and leisurely) that has been training this season for the STP (Seattle to Portland double-century).

I've been on rides 45+ miles so far, and was just reading some of the tips and tricks for century riders. Two STP tips (which could apply to any long ride) I read somewhere I have questions about:

1) "Apply Chamois Butt'r or Bodyglide to your shorts to reduce friction" - I haven't had any friction issues yet, but now I'm paranoid. Should I start using this on my last few longer rides as a precaution? And, uh, *where* excactly on the shorts are they talking about? The nether regions? The elastic around legs/waist? And do you put in on your shorts, or yourself?

2) "Don't wear underwear" - Uh... really? Is this tip geared towards men? Or is this a good tip for women, too? I haven't tried it... :confused:

Thanks!
Linda

Really and truly - cycling shorts are designed to be worn without underwear -it doesn't matter if you are a man or woman. The whole ideas is to create a seamless area in the place where your legs move and your body contacts the saddle - because seams can chafe and rub and bunch.

It's not about padding. Padding is a relatively new addition to cycling shorts- not long ago at all a chamois was exactly that - a piece of chamois leather. Chamois cream was originally used to keep the leather supple and soft. Many of us still prefer minimal padding and find thick chamois to be uncomfortable.

As for chamois cream use these days - that's pretty individual. Some people like it, others don't so much. I personally don't use it much. On very long, or particularly hot rides I might use a little zinc ointment on a few of my known contact spots.

Re: underwear -- yes, really. Some folks here do wear them under bike shorts with no problems, but most do better going commando. Bike shorts with a chamois are designed for you to wear nothing else with them. Underwear adds seams and can bunch up, which can both cause friction problems, and it also gets in the way of wicking and antibacterial properties of the chamois.

As for chamois buttr and other products, I think that varies. Basically it helps anywhere that you have problems with fabric or seams irritating your skin from constant friction. I generally only have problems just south of the sit bones, where the top of my legs/edge of my butt hits the edge of the saddle, so I put chamois butter on my skin there before putting the shorts on. I generally don't put it on the chamois itself, but I think some folks do. Back when I wore shorts that had a 2-piece chamois with nasty seams under my butt, I coated the seams in chamois buttr to make them less irritating.

count me in as one of the heavy chois buttr users. I don't ride with an very thick chamois but I do liberally slather the edges and center of chamois, pack a little inside the labia, and in the groin where the legs exit the hip.. I also replenish during the ride if it is more than 40 miles.

The other thing to bear in mind that in spite of advertised anti bacterial properties of chamois, and or chaamois butter, it pays to take them off and clean up the area with soap and water ASAP. Sitting around in hot sweaty chamois provides a perfect storm of bacterial breeding, salt and sweat blisters and other nastiness. Even if you can't wash, at least put on clean cotton underwear and shorts.

So as everyone else has said - Yes, NO underwear with padded cycling shorts.

I would suggest a thickly padded pair of shorts, like Assos. I just purchased my second pair for STP so I can have a clean pair each day. I didn't start to notice chaffing in the nether regions until I went on rides longer than 50+ miles. What I do now is bring a tube of DZ Nuts (my current favorite chamois cream) on all of my long rides, I slather it on the chamois before I begin riding from the part that touches my butt all the way up to the front of my labia and out to the sides of my chamois. I tend to have most pain up towards my labia if I have any. I found that reapplying every time I go to the bathroom on my ride has helped. You should try this out before STP, so on all your long rides from now on, I would try it, so you know what works and doesn't. You don't want to figure it out on a 200 mile ride.

Was watching that TdF film and saw how they used chamois cream.

Their assistants lathered up the entire chamois before the rider put it on. THICKLY!!!:eek:

I don't do that.

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Originally Posted by Kiwi Stoker

Was watching that TdF film and saw how they used chamois cream.

Their assistants lathered up the entire chamois before the rider put it on. THICKLY!!!:eek:

I don't do that.

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The pros tend to use ALOT of cream... I don't use as much, but there's a nice white layer on top of the chamois. You have to think they're likely on the saddle longer and are riding more aggressively, and don't stop - like most of us do.

The other thing about applying it - when I'm at home I'll have the shorts off and apply it to the shorts, just expose the chamois. But at my stops along the ride, I just put a thin line of cream down the middle, while my shorts are down, and I don't bother rubbing it into the chamois. It's a lot less messy.

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Re: underwear -- yes, really. Some folks here do wear them under bike shorts with no problems, but most do better going commando. Bike shorts with a chamois are designed for you to wear nothing else with them. Underwear adds seams and can bunch up, which can both cause friction problems, and it also gets in the way of wicking and antibacterial properties of the chamois.

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I cannot wear underwear with my shorts for more than about 10 miles. After that, things just start moving around and it's highly uncomfortable. Chamois cream...I don't use it, but I think I might have to when I start increasing my distance a bit more.

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Originally Posted by Owlie

I cannot wear underwear with my shorts for more than about 10 miles. After that, things just start moving around and it's highly uncomfortable. Chamois cream...I don't use it, but I think I might have to when I start increasing my distance a bit more.

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I don't use the chamois butter for rides < 2 hours, because I generally don't need it. It does help me for longer rides.

Wow, thanks for all the great tips! I'm hoping to do a 55 mile ride tomorrow, so will for sure try the sans-underwear shorts-wearing for the first time. Don't know if I'll have the chance to get ahold of any chamois cream before then, but I'm sure I'll find out by the end of the ride if there are issues. I know there are at least a couple of bike shops on the way in case I have a chafing emergency at least! :)

You don't have to go to a cycling specific store or get cycling specific cream if you want some chamois lube. Your local pharmacy will have options.

Lots of people use udder cream - Udderly Smooth is popular on my team (its not greasy), My husband likes Bag Balm - but it has a petroleum jelly base, so its kind of goopy and hard to clean out of shorts. I don't use much chamois cream, but I like plain old zinc oxide cream when I do. There's another current thread that mentions a powder, with the colorful name of Anti-Monkey Butt powder... but it actually sounds like something I might want to give a try, as I don't like creams too much.

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Originally Posted by Eden

You don't have to go to a cycling specific store or get cycling specific cream if you want some chamois lube. Your local pharmacy will have options.

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Aquaphor and pure shea butter (what I use) are other popular choices that you could probably find in a drugstore. Any sporting goods store and many shoe stores will have Body Glide, which is safe for "down there" as well.

Good idea to try without any lube. You may find you don't need it - and if you do, you'll have a better idea of where you need it.

If I need to re-apply lube during a ride, I put it on my person only. What was on my parts is now in my chamois, in addition to what I put there to begin with - so I don't figure I need to put any more on the chamois.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Aquaphor and pure shea butter (what I use) are other popular choices that you could probably find in a drugstore. Any sporting goods store and many shoe stores will have Body Glide, which is safe for "down there" as well.

Good idea to try without any lube. You may find you don't need it - and if you do, you'll have a better idea of where you need it.

If I need to re-apply lube during a ride, I put it on my person only. What was on my parts is now in my chamois, in addition to what I put there to begin with - so I don't figure I need to put any more on the chamois.

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Aquaphor is also great for "after-ride" use, as well....especially helpful and soothing on sore lady bits. I used it extensively after an especially sore 100-mile ride last weekend, and was stunned at how much it actually helped with my tender and inflamed lady parts.

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Originally Posted by nscrbug

Aquaphor is also great for "after-ride" use, as well....especially helpful and soothing on sore lady bits. I used it extensively after an especially sore 100-mile ride last weekend, and was stunned at how much it actually helped with my tender and inflamed lady parts.

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I wish I had known about this today, I had to cancel a ride tonight due to soreness and inflammation from a ride this morning/saddle issues. Thanks for the information! I am hoping the problem will be solved Friday, but this is great information to have for the future.

+1 for pure shea butter, have tried this as a chamois cream to help deal with the saddle issues and it has been helpful.