serious question

team47b

I am not being contentious or taking the pith I just wanted to know the answer to something that has baffled me.

Whenever the subject is brought up everyone chips in with their best solution, but I am still left with the question about the cause.

So, straight answers please.

What is rubbing and with what to cause chafing, why do people need lycra, padding and cream etc. The problem eludes me. I wear polyester I am 164cms tall, weigh 56kilos, 15% fat, in proportion, my bike is the right size, I ride for hours, never been sore and any saddle is comfortable for me. Is it caused by excess fat on the thighs causing the rub or anatomical differences as I assume our feet are approximately the same distance apart? I realise everyone has different sit bone spacing but as long as the saddle is the right size/width/length don't we have natural padding on our, can't believe the prudish nature or lack of freedom of expression on this forum that does not allow me to call it by the name we all use, posteriors.

Is this something that happens to most people or do the ones without the problem stay silent?

Not wishing to pry, definitely no need for photos (blokes without lycra...Noooooo!)

rake

i use padded shorts, but no ive never really been sore from any distance except when i made the mistake of using my shorts again without washing them. never used this chamois cream. i hadnt heard of it before i came on here. same with aches an pains or this that n the other syndrome i dont really have many problems, if i ache or something i usually press on and it goes away.maybe im lucky, i never usually comment on this but you asked.

andrewjoseph

without padded shorts, cream, a good saddle, I could not ride decent distances, and certainly not day after day.

some people don't need cream.

but for most people. it is not the tights that are chafing, it is the perineal area, maybe base of buttocks. it all depends.

some people, you are one of them by the sounds of it, are just lucky.

ddraver

I can ride without padded shorts, or chammy cream, but it's even more comfy to do so with than without.....

andrewjoseph

team 47b,

Just thinking about this more.

i notice you say you ride for hours. i'm not wanting to argue here, but are you riding at intensity or just pootling? do you ride day after day? if not, this may be why you are lucky. if you do then you are extremely lucky.

most, if not all, pro cyclists, insist on a comfortable saddle. i believe that most if not all, use padded shorts and also some sort of cream. They have to look after the contact points as their job depends on it. if the pro's didn't need it, then us wannabe's wouldn't use it either, because many of us try to emulate the pro's and do what they do, (to some extent anyway).

team47b

andrewjoseph wrote:

team 47b,

Just thinking about this more.

i notice you say you ride for hours. i'm not wanting to argue here, but are you riding at intensity or just pootling? do you ride day after day? if not, this may be why you are lucky. if you do then you are extremely lucky.

most, if not all, pro cyclists, insist on a comfortable saddle. i believe that most if not all, use padded shorts and also some sort of cream. They have to look after the contact points as their job depends on it. if the pro's didn't need it, then us wannabe's wouldn't use it either, because many of us try to emulate the pro's and do what they do, (to some extent anyway).

Bikes are my only form of transport. I ride almost every day. I ride as intense as I can, push myself. Done 350k over the last fortnight, mixed journey lengths, tuesday was 80k. Mrs T does the same, she also has no problems, although I did tell her that I wouldn't discuss her a55 on a forum - again!

andrewjoseph

you are a lucky guy!

what saddle do you use?

ShutUpLegs

team47b wrote:

Bikes are my only form of transport. I ride almost every day. I ride as intense as I can, push myself. Done 350k over the last fortnight, mixed journey lengths, tuesday was 80k. Mrs T does the same, she also has no problems, although I did tell her that I wouldn't discuss her a55 on a forum - again!

14 miles a day average is hardly going to merit the use of decent shorts and chamois cream.

team47b

ShutUpLegs wrote:

team47b wrote:

Bikes are my only form of transport. I ride almost every day. I ride as intense as I can, push myself. Done 350k over the last fortnight, mixed journey lengths, tuesday was 80k. Mrs T does the same, she also has no problems, although I did tell her that I wouldn't discuss her a55 on a forum - again!

14 miles a day average is hardly going to merit the use of decent shorts and chamois cream.

That's solved my lack of problems then

team47b

andrewjoseph wrote:

you are a lucky guy!

what saddle do you use?

I use the saddles that came with the bikes. So, a Cube Streamer saddle and a Ridgeback standard saddle on my hybrid, two really different shape and fit saddles. The ridgeback is wider, softer with the 'groove' down the centre, and the Cube is longer narrower and harder, no 'groove'. I used to commute on a saddle that was complete devoid of padding or cover of any sort, just a bit of plastic, don't think they make those any more. Never had a problem with any saddle, I am light and small so only seem to balance on a saddle, no real pressure unless I sit up/back on my sit bones, perhaps I swivel my hips more than bend at the waist. When moving fast I am pushing with my legs, which with the saddle at the right height/position means my weight is forward and very little weight is on the saddle.

Or as you say I'm just lucky, or as ShutUpLegs said I don't do enough

kayakerchris

I think it may be distance. I wouldn't routinely use chamois cream for anything less than 60 miles and have happily done 20-30 before I got padded lycra. If you look back at the TdF stories you will se people abandoning because of pressure sores, etc before lycra came along.