rhm

Wow. Well, if that works for you, that's great. I'm a middle aged guy in cotton. I've tried shorts with a chamois and haven't found one that works for me. It has nothing to do with the distance; I regularly ride 100+ miles in 'street clothes' with cotton briefs.

Dave Cutter

This is incorrect.

The Chamois was NEVER used in single layer(s). Which is the way Chamois was/is used for water/sweat absorption.

The Chamois was originally... and is still used to prevent blisters. It doesn't matter whether you're rubbing your underwear clad gym short wearing bottom across a saddle.... or whether you're wearing gloves to protect your hands from hard labor... the soft chamois leather works perfectly as it sticks to (by soaking up the sweat) the skin. The layers of soft leather originally used in cycling shorts isolated the movement between the saddle and the skin in the loosely stitched layers of sheep skin (chamois).

Think about it for a second. New cyclist don't complain about their bottoms sweating. They complain about getting the skin rubbed off the tender areas. Or if they're lucky about getting a sore bum.

bbbean 

i live and ride in a drained swamp, those are typical summer conditions for me.

kickstart

I've never found cycling shorts that work for me either. My biggest complaint is the tight fit, as such I can't just stand up and air out, and MTB shorts go too far in the other direction being too baggy.

I find that cotton blend hiking shorts work very well, and my work uniform shorts are fairly good too.

bbbean 

As a cotton producer and merchant, I salute you, but your butt is far, far, far tougher than mine if you can ride a centuries in your tighty whiteys.

ThermionicScott 

"...to wick away sweat to prevent chafing" would probably be a better way to write what I said. The skin gets sore more easily when it's wet. That sound better?

pdlamb

I think you're missing Dave's point. Chamois in the shorts is like leather work gloves; the chamois takes the rubbing and wear so your skin doesn't have to.

Dave Cutter

I wish I could find my source story. As I remember it... during an early race a cyclist got a blister (from the movement/abrasion) his promoter hand stitched a few layers of the soft sheep skin together to isolate the friction between the layers.

To this day.... that is all we need. Any movement between the saddle and the skin needs to be isolated somewhere in-between... or else we get a blister.

Sweat... padding... all that stuff are just extra. Don't get me wrong... they're nice extras! But it's the blisters that are ride/race stoppers.

alan s 

This doesn't explain why padding is necessary. A thin layer of skintight lycra would be sufficient to isolate your skin from the saddle, so why all the padding? Nope, it's to disguise your package behind a diaper layer.

ThermionicScott 

Interestingly, leather gloves are what I associate my absolute worst hand blisters with.

I guess I don't disagree with Dave's main point -- that it provides a layer that moves with the skin -- but I've always figured that wicking sweat away from the contact surface (keeping it as dry as possible) was the real key. I hardly ever ride in bike shorts anymore, preferring a pair of merino boxer briefs under lightweight gym shorts. The merino undies are amazing at wicking moisture from one point to all surrounding points to evaporate away, and I can ride pretty much indefinitely without fear of sores. I've always attributed it to that.

Dave Cutter

+1 That's it.

The whole use of cycling shorts, types of chamois as well as [the use of] lotions and powders can all be very confusing. Many of us can/could ride in underwear and shorts for long fast rides... rarely if ever having a problem. Others... blister or rub a hole in their skin if not moistened with a cream to help the padding stay on their skin.

Some cyclists have issues with chafing and/or saddle sores.... which are different issues altogether. Although any issue in that area could be related to the shorts/chamois/or lack of.

noglider 

Well, I learned a few things here. I guess one lesson is that once a need is filled, new purposes can be thought up, and that doesn't mean they are invalid. I do happen to like the wicking action of a chamois, even if it wasn't put in there for that.

Dave Cutter

I am sure your wool shorts work well for you (and there is no reason they shouldn't) but not for the reasons you think.

Wool is a great insulator. The fibers kink well together and stagnate want is in the fibers. It can we dry air or even water... it will stagnate it to body temperature and become completely saturated. Only because of saturation does wool migrate the moisture. Because the moisture absorption and insulation to body temperature it will feel dry/comfortable. It will also stay close to your skin as does/would the sheep skin (chamois).

Once our tender areas become accustomed to the rigors of cycling blisters aren't all that common. Saddle sores.... often confused with blisters aren't the same thing at all. A saddle sore is more like a painful butt pimple.

jrickards

"Proper running socks" are built the same way, double layers so that one layer "sticks" to your foot (the heel is the worst place for chafing/blisters), the other layer "sticks" to the shoe and they rub against each other.

jrickards

I've suffered more this year than any previous year (why? I don't know) with chafing and have needed chamois creme on more than one occassion to relieve the situation. I presume that the chamois creme enables my skin to glide without rubbing on either the chamois of the shorts or against other skin.

Unfortunately, with 6 pr of shorts from 4 different manufacturers, none, this summer, were better than any other at preventing chafing.

Dave Cutter

No.... even a single layer of asbestos wouldn't isolate your skin from the friction of rubbing against the saddle. A few loose layers.... with one somewhat sticking to the skin is what does the job well. I think the "padding" comes form manufactures out doing each other.

But.... I've yet to see even ONE chamois/tights that would successfully disguise MY package. Glad to hear you get good results with that though.

Dave Cutter

I have a bit of background in garment technology... but not so much knowledge with medical issues. But I also have to deal with a tendency to chafe (even without cycling). I use a hair dryer. Not on my head/hair... I am bald there... but hairy as an ape other places.

I take a few minutes to eat and drink (and stop sweating) after my rides before hitting the shower. Then I dry completely after I've scrubbed clean.... even using the hair dryer.

alan s 

That could explain the chafing problems!

jrickards

Bald too but unlike you, limited hair elsewhere. I don't chafe at any other times other than when on the bike but not for short (<1hr) rides, generally only for longer rides (3.5hrs to the cottage for example).

I'm unclear as to why being completely dry after a ride prevents chafing for the next ride. I may only do a quick towel dry after my morning shower (post-bike commute) but by the time I'm ready to put on my kit for the afternoon's ride home, I'm dry for the next ride unless you think that putting on a powder (baby or Gold Bond or similar) might be necessary to keep my crotch "dry as a bone" (no pun intended, ok, maybe a bit of a pun).

Dave Cutter

I used to use powder. Certain products such as baby powder, or antiperspirant may help with keeping the problem areas dry. Wikipedia.

umazuki

Re: the "boys" and chamois -

I've found it does keep everything nice and in place. When you got a nice spin going and one of the berries gets pinched between your leg and the saddle... oof.

ThermionicScott 

Any chance that your saddle is too high? That can cause you to slide back and forth across the saddle when pedalling.

ThermionicScott 

Zing!

Dave Cutter

Just a little humor injected.... for fun.

alan s 

Felt kinda sorry for you actually (all that binding and chafing going on down there). Glad to hear it's not true!