Back in the days of wool shorts and leather chamois, your brand new Italian shorts had a chamois as soft and buttery as the leather seat of a Ferrari. Yet after the first wash it was a crinkled stiff mess that needed a cream just to smooth it out enough to be rideable. The cream I was familiar with was akin to Bagbalm: a honey colored, thick translucent goo which had to be massaged into the leather. It also gave it enough lubricity to prevent hot spots. Every ride would be followed by a shorts washing then drying and the dried chamois got more goo and massage than your legs. It was a minor pain but one could assume it to be a ritual every roadie did, save Lord Eddy who had Mrs Merckx do it. Did I mention padding hadn’t been invented yet? Just thin leather and the black wool (and eventually thin lycra) it was sewn to.
Lycra replaced wool before synthetic chamois replaced real leather, the synthetic looked similar but behaved better after washing. I stopped using chamois cream because it was no longer really chamois and the need to un-crinkle the thing was gone. Different synthetics came and went, even a polar fleece pad by Avocet, but a cream would just disappear into it, a waste. Synthetic chamois improved bit by bit, our Concor seats were still miserable and the idea of padding actually came into fashion which may have made Concor seats better, but barely. Regardless of saddle, for me the limiting factor for the 100k plus rides was the discomfort of just sitting on the bike.
I don’t remember when the dim bulb went on in my dim brain, but somehow it dawned on me that the pros were still slathering their shorts up with abandon. I would be interested to know how much a team goes through in the Tour; I reckon kilos of it. The preparation and lubing of the cyclist’s most sensitive contact point with the bike is nothing to be taken lightly for a pro. If you really want to get ‘core, try DZ’s procedure on staying right.
For the uninitiated, I put a large aliquot of the cream about where my sit bones contact the chamois and then press the chamois together to spread it. Apply it where you need it. Sure it feels a bit clammy when the bibs are engaged but that passes. A long way into a ride you notice the warmed cream has produced a near zero friction coefficient ‘down there’, all is well and one’s attention can be spent on other things like staying in the saddle and laying down a little V. I always put my creamed-up bibs on at home even if I’m heading for the car to get to a ride. Years ago a Tour racer pulled over for a serious call of nature which required shorts lowering and removal. In the ensuing re-shorting, sand from his shoe contaminated the creamed-up chamois and miles later his Tour was over. My point is this; putting on bibs in the car, outside the car, in the bushes are all bad. Your sand-free bedroom is better.
Have the new chamois pads made the creams redundant? I don’t want to find out the hard way. Certainly if you are doing this for a living you are doing your best to avoid saddle sores and blisters and the creams are still the one true way.
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Agreed !
Actually, I agree with Omar more. If your shorts fit and your saddle fits and you ride your bike enough to have calluses on your perineum, you shouldn't need it. Unless you are prone to saddle sores, then finding the right thing to put on can help a lot.
@Cyclops
I will refer this to the Velominati Products Development Division.
As to what you and the dog do in the privacy of your own home, I don't want to know anything more lest I be an accessory.
@Omar
@michael
Hmmmmm, maybe, he said guardedly. I have the best shorts(Velominati bibs), I believe my bike fits, maybe I could blame the saddle. One never really knows if the saddle fits until you do a looog ride. I may be on a life long quest for the perfect saddle. That's another whole subject. Maybe I'm too damn big.
That I doubt. These people use the best bibs, fit their bikes, have tough asses, would only use saddles they like and I bet they are slathered. If you put in the yearly miles these people do, I'm willing to bet a V-chalice almost all use a cream and with good reason. But that is a tough bet to settle as I know no pros. If I meet up with Ryder H this winter I'll put that on the long list of questions I have for him.
@john,
Velominati kit awesomness aside, having the "Best Shorts" is a highly individual thing. As soon as I bought Assos shorts, I never again had a problem with any abnormal discomfort on the bike. That was after trying Castelli, Giordana, Pearl Izumi, etc etc. Same thing goes for saddle, you have to get measured and try a bunch of them before you find one that you really like.
Regarding Pros using chamois cream, we know that Pharmstrong loves Assos chamois cream, and he's been using the same saddle for a really long time. With how many miles he puts on the bike, the skin on his perineum is bound to be tougher than the average joe, but I could be wrong.
Next time I'm back home in San Diego, I'll ask one of the local pros on a club ride about the chamois cream enigma.
And they don't ALWAYS use the best bibs, fit their bikes, and only use saddles they like. They use what their teams give them, ride frames that are the right "stock" size for them but may not fit perfectly, and most use whatever saddle their sponsors throw at them. The ones who DO ride whatever they want are usually only the big names.
As consumers we have an advantage over the pros in that we can shop around through different brands to find what works best for us rather than being force-fed a bunch of kit. Sure, the free schwag would be nice, but it's not always the best for each rider.
Thanks for the post. I have not been much of a user, but after last weekends ride and my subsequent request for suggestions, I see my prayers have been answered. Now if only I had a V Pint to drink my Saison Dupont in I would be completely content.
@michael, @Omar
Bottom line is this: butt butter amounts to little more than a lubricant; I don't use it much myself, but the argument that you shouldn't need it is completely missing the point. The times I do use it, I notice the increased comfort, especially on long rides.
No matter what the fit, size, etc of your ass, saddle, or bike, lubrication reduces friction. Period. The more you ride does not, in fact, insulate you from this - on the contrary it increases your risk of having problems like saddle sores. You move your legs more, and, given the complexity of the crotch and the organism in general, nothing beats lubrication when it comes to reducing wear on moving parts.
The right bib fit might reduce the need for it, but doesn't remove basic physics from the equation.
On a side note, as consumers we do have more choice than the pros, but many consumer products even labeled as "top of the line" or "what the pros wear" is not actually the same stuff. Take, for example, the V-Bibs; the aero Race bibs by Castelli that you find in stores have a lower cost pad in them to cut inventory costs and lift profitability of the products. The V-Bibs are the only bibs I'm aware of that consumers can buy that have the same pad in them that is issued to the Pros.
@frank
Well I agree with you somewhat, but you didn't necessarily disagree with me. There's a fine line between riding too little and having crotch problems, riding just enough to not have crotch problems and riding enough to have them, I've been on all 3 sides of it.
Basic friction from legs moving generally causes chafing where the legs meet the torso, but not saddle sores, these will go away with more riding or chamois cream. Pressure mixed with the rocking motion and heat, friction, hygiene, perinum physiology is what causes saddle sores. Saddle sores are generally subcutaneous irritations of what looks like follicles on the skin 'down there'. I don't know if any cream or not will help or prevent these as it may be better to let your skin breath as much as possible. Having said all that, I have no idea what my point was.
@john - Aaron and Mary from Winston's Brand definitely mail order. That stuff is awesome and I find myself not needing as much Cobble Cream as Butt'r. The Butt'r seemed to break down... and with the sunflower oil and tea tree oil in the Cobble Cream, it's antibacterial and stays put nicely.
If any Velominatus order, make sure and tell 'em I sent ya. I highly recommend their CX Warm embro for rides sub-50 degrees.