Short ‘rubbage’!

Yost

I will try not to be too graphic here. For the last couple of years, when I do pretty much any ride of 3+ hours, I get a sore graze-type patch in the area just above my (male) privates. I certainly feel it in the shower after a ride! It is usually fine after a day or so. If I do a longer ride, like Ride London this year, the soreness is worse. In fact, after that ride the grazing also affected my private part itself, and that was particularly uncomfortable!

From what I can make out, it is the stitching of the cycle shorts / bib shorts I wear which is causing this, as the marks are where the stitching would be located. I have decent £60-80 shorts, so cheap shorts shouldn’t be the reason. I do wear a pair of MTB-type shorts over the top though as I’m not a fan of the Lycra look. I wonder if this is causing additional rubbing and leading to the grazing/soreness?

I do apply chamois cream before each ride but it’s not helping in this area, only the undercarriage.

Has anyone had similar issues and can suggest any solutions, other than ‘don’t wear the MTB shorts’?

Cheers.

webboo

I would say unless they were bought in a sale £60/80 shorts are cheap. However the first thing I would try is a three hour ride without your overshorts.
Also in my shorts the stitching is no where near anything important.

darkhairedlord

Have you tried shaving then massaging the cream all over the area.

Matthewfalle

Webboo wrote:

I would say unless they were bought in a sale £60/80 shorts are cheap..

errr what?

someone has definitlybelieved the marketing or been mugged.

smudgerii

Matthewfalle wrote:

Webboo wrote:

I would say unless they were bought in a sale £60/80 shorts are cheap..

errr what?

someone has definitlybelieved the marketing or been mugged.

Spot on

webboo

Smudgerii wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Webboo wrote:

I would say unless they were bought in a sale £60/80 shorts are cheap..

errr what?

someone has definitlybelieved the marketing or been mugged.

Spot on

I’m not one with £ 60 shorts and sore bits.

Matthewfalle

strange how dhb, lusso etc are under that price bracket and don't cause rubbage.

#howstrange

webboo

They might not but how long do they last a year or two.

Darius_Jedburgh

Back on topic....what about a saddle with a hole in it?
Could prevent anything from rubbing "down there".

smudgerii

Webboo wrote:

Smudgerii wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Webboo wrote:

I would say unless they were bought in a sale £60/80 shorts are cheap..

errr what?

someone has definitlybelieved the marketing or been mugged.

Spot on

I’m not one with £ 60 shorts and sore bits.

And people with £200 shorts have never had sore bits? Price is no guarantee of suitability

webboo

Smudgerii wrote:

Webboo wrote:

Smudgerii wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Webboo wrote:

I would say unless they were bought in a sale £60/80 shorts are cheap..

errr what?

someone has definitlybelieved the marketing or been mugged.

Spot on

I’m not one with £ 60 shorts and sore bits.

And people with £200 shorts have never had sore bits? Price is no guarantee of suitability

Whether or not people with £200 shorts have sore bits I have no idea. However compared to £200 shorts £60 would be cheap which is what the op was claiming that they were not.

Matthewfalle

sorry - you paid £200 for a pair of shorts?

webboo

No.
Do you actually read any posts other than your own

cycleclinic

Sometimes it's not the shorts. The same shorts on different saddles can result in soreness. I would not rule out the saddle.

Matthewfalle

Webboo wrote:

No.
Do you actually read any posts other than your own

nah. where is the fun in that?

david7m

The only way to eliminate the over shorts is to try a ride without them. One lycra ride won't hurt

smudgerii

Webboo wrote:

Smudgerii wrote:

Webboo wrote:

Smudgerii wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Webboo wrote:

I would say unless they were bought in a sale £60/80 shorts are cheap..

errr what?

someone has definitlybelieved the marketing or been mugged.

Spot on

I’m not one with £ 60 shorts and sore bits.

And people with £200 shorts have never had sore bits? Price is no guarantee of suitability

Whether or not people with £200 shorts have sore bits I have no idea. However compared to £200 shorts £60 would be cheap which is what the op was claiming that they were not.

But compared to £20 shorts £60 shorts are not...

The point is, price is no guide to suitability. Also one should not judge what another person has to consider as expensive. None of us know the financial circumstances of others

StillGoing

Franco di Banco wrote:

Back on topic....what about a saddle with a hole in it?
Could prevent anything from rubbing "down there".

How does that help when they're saying the rubbing is the area above the genitals ie between where the top of the bibshorts is and their genitals? How many folds of lower abdomen fat are there?

Yost

Thanks for replies so far - some more helpful than others but that’s usual I guess! Still not sure I have a solution other than not wearing the MTB shorts over the top, as I have to assume this is causing above normal rubbing. Not sure I’m ready to shave down there yet!

cougie

Webboo wrote:

I would say unless they were bought in a sale £60/80 shorts are cheap. However the first thing I would try is a three hour ride without your overshorts.
Also in my shorts the stitching is no where near anything important.

What ? I've been riding 35 years plus. I think apart from one pair of Assos that may have been over the limit and went the way of all assos back then - transparent - I've never paid more than £60 for a pair and often a lot less.

Chafing is pretty rare. Gritty wet weather may not help but chamois cream should.

webboo

I suppose I should say I haven’t bought a pair shorts for about twenty years. I get them bought as Christmas and birthday presents.

webboo

Treble post

webboo

As above.

timothyw

Unless I'm completely misunderstanding the OP, I've had this but it's not from rubbing, it's heat rash/prickly heat where because you are in a hunched over position you get a fold of the skin (where your pubes are) which then gets hot, sweaty and eventually irritated.

I did trim my pubes one year but it didn't seem to make much difference, other than making the old chap look bigger.

So yeah, stop wearing two pairs of shorts and trim your pubes would be my advice.

And make sure you wash before and after long rides.

lesfirth

TimothyW wrote:

Unless I'm completely misunderstanding the OP, I've had this but it's not from rubbing, it's heat rash/prickly heat where because you are in a hunched over position you get a fold of the skin (where your pubes are) which then gets hot, sweaty and eventually irritated.

I did trim my pubes one year but it didn't seem to make much difference, other than making the old chap look bigger.

So yeah, stop wearing two pairs of shorts and trim your pubes would be my advice.

And make sure you wash before and after long rides.

Exactly my thoughts. I found some Canesten anti fungal cream sorted it.

keef66

Are these cycling shorts with a waistband, or full-on bibshorts with shoulder straps? I used to find the former uncomfortable on longer rides; bibshorts were a revelation.

Wearing MTB shorts over bibshorts doesn't sound like a good idea to me

Matthewfalle

lesfirth wrote:

I found some Canesten anti fungal cream sorted it.

utter rubbish. something soft that Richard would do.

wire brush and paraffin is what you need.

Yost

TimothyW wrote:

Unless I'm completely misunderstanding the OP, I've had this but it's not from rubbing, it's heat rash/prickly heat where because you are in a hunched over position you get a fold of the skin (where your pubes are) which then gets hot, sweaty and eventually irritated.

I'm not sure this is what's happening (but I might be wrong). It is always in exactly the same place, and a very small area, more like a grazing as if someone has had a go with some sandpaper. It seems to be right on the point where the stitching starts just above the padding, this stitching then goes right up to the top of the shorts. This stitching exists in all of my various shorts of different brands and quality so I assume this is nothing unusual. Maybe I'm just a bit sensitive in that area and the extra layer of shorts is exacerbating it.

Yost

keef66 wrote:

Are these cycling shorts with a waistband, or full-on bibshorts with shoulder straps? I used to find the former uncomfortable on longer rides; bibshorts were a revelation.

Wearing MTB shorts over bibshorts doesn't sound like a good idea to me

Both, and I've had problems with both, which is what makes me think it's the stitching that's rubbing, as that's a common feature on all of my shorts. As most have said, it might simply be the MTB shorts, but I was hoping there might be a solution which didn't involve not wearing them any more.

webboo

Are you wearing your shorts the right way round. You wouldn’t be the first who had them on backwards

awavey

its not a belt buckle or a button,zip, on the MTB shorts or something like that is it ?