Quitting Chamois Creme

My favourite…

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I usually use chamois cream and when I get lazy and don’t apply it before a ride, I find out the hard way. Typically, I won’t suffer any major issues during the ride without but it’s the ride the next day that I find it. Kind of like chafing after a long run and finding it in the shower. My chamois cream isn’t terribly expensive so I’m not sure of the benefit of not using it. Better safe than sorry and unable to ride for the next week.

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I used to use noxema with about half a tube of diaper rash ointment added it and well mixed. Worked like a champ. Now I’m lazy and just buy assos.

Assos is the king of chamois creme

I use Noxema on most rides, and campuses butt’r on races.

This is fairly new. I started last year when I started noticing pain and saddle discomfort. It’s been much better since I started using something

I have been riding for 35 years . I started when a chamois was actually a chamois , leather that is . I have never done a ride without chamois crème . I have never had a saddle sore . Take that for what it is worth .

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same, ok 33 years. I can’t even remember bibs existing when i started. In fact you had to use chamois cream just to keep the pad from being like broken cardboard after you dried your shorts.

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i forget where i heard it, but i love the phrase “modern chamois’ do not need creme. modern taint does.”

that’s certainly the case for me. when i was a young/slim teenager, i found i could kindda get used to my (classic) chamois, provided i kept them cremed up and in good shape. now that i’m an older/not-slim 50 year-old, i find i can kindda get used to my (modern) chamois, provided i keep my skin cremed up and in good shape.

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I rode years without it and never had a problem. This included long rides indoors without much ventilation or movement and long hot days in the dusty saddle. But…then I started getting saddle sores and with more frequency. I started using Butt’r. It made a difference. NOW, I can go without it, but I dont want to. A little dap makes me feel good and also helps protect my skin from my sweat. It creates a “good” barrier for me.

I know this is individual and saddle sores are going to happen from time to time, but I’d make an argument that if you need chamois cream, you perhaps have a bike fit problem. A saddle that is too high seems like a common culprit because it requires your hips to rock to reach the down stroke which causes that taint to slide side to side more than a proper saddle height would.

I see this argument often and while it has some merit fit is not the only thing.

Sometimes it’s just your skin and ahem how much hair you may have.

I’ve been riding enough, and had enough positions on a bike, to know (anecdotally of course) that the fit doesn’t matter.

Im 100% more comfortable with chamois cream. Different fits, saddles, bikes, chamois, etc have never made an appreciable difference for me.

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FWIW, I bought a pair of Assos bibs and they feel better without chamois cream than my dhb Aeron bibs do with it. They cost three times as much, though…

For those that do use chamois crème/cream of some sort, and are looking for a cheaper option, I recommend milking cream. The agricultural kind… I’ve used various brands, and have zero need to even try a bespoke chamois cream.
Udder Balm/Udder Butter/ Milko/etc are designed to be friction-reducing and and slightly antiseptic. It also comes in agricultural-industry sized pots, and not cycling-industry sized prices.
Speak to your local vet, you don’t even need to live on a farm to find the stuff, (usually).

This was the reason I started the thread @jasonmayo - basically just to say that I found I couldn’t go directly from creme-habituated to riding dry overnight as I’d experience what you described (& sometimes create saddle sores too), but by coming back dry after my season reset when I was slowly easing back into more saddle time anyway the transition was a complete non-issue.

Obviously creme works for some and not for others. To each their own - as @Pbase said, if it works it’s comparatively cheap.

I’d really just intended to do a quick PSA to say if anyone’s on the creme and considering coming off it (for whatever reason) then going cold turkey mid-season might not be a great indicator of what their long-term experience will be like.

Apologies all for getting long-winded and burying the lead in my initial post!

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