Well, those days are long gone, and fortunately technology has helped with great choices in saddles and molded foam pads in our bibs. But, hours in the saddle can still cause irritation and things can get a bit nasty down "there." Cyclists get what's called "saddle sores." They tend to look like ingrown hairs and get red and irritated. No there is actually no ingrown hair, but a red abrasion, with... well I'll just stop there. Once you get them, it's pretty hard to have them cleared up without extended periods of time off the bike to heal. Oh, and don't let anyone tell you to ride a nice gel, cushioned saddle cover, etc. This is usually advice recreational riders give to serious riders when they stare at our thin, lightweight seats.
The purpose of the designs of our modern seats is to put the weight of your body on the two ends of your pelvis bone. That's why the shape of our seat hasn't changed much over time. You have two key spots, which by the way, can be slightly different from person to person, and then the front which helps to make up the third spot, resulting in a nice 3 point, stable platform. If you aren't sitting on these spots, the weight of your body can shift to the softer tissue and cause big discomfort.
You see recreational riders out on their big, soft, cushy, beach cruiser seat, and they swear it is the shiznit. Well it is comfortable for a short ride, but anything a bit longer, and things get a bit sloppy. Remember the old car seats in your buddy's old Oldsmobile? Those flat, soft seats were comfy, but a road trip showed that a longer ride needed a nice conformed seat that the European cars had.
So now we've come full circle to our bike seats, and even with all the modern versions and fit, things can still rub in strange areas. Nothing better than a nice cream to keep things smooth and flowing. Now there are several types of cream, and there are tastes and preferences, but it is just one of those things that cyclists only talk about behind closed doors with other cyclists.
I've used a few brands in my short days riding as a road cyclist (most mountain bikers are pretty uneducated about this stuff), and sometimes you feel like you just want to test out something a bit different. I came across this stuff recently when reading a blog online. It's called Mad Alchemy, and it comes in a plastic jar. It showed up by mail along with the cool 'zine the guys had put together. I applied it liberally and went out for a ride. They said to test it in a small area first in order to make sure there would be no reactions, but heh, I like to live dangerous. This stuff is slightly thinner, similar to Chamois Butt'r, and not as heavy or thick like Assos, but overall not bad. It's not going to win any awards in my book, but it does get the job done. Fun stuff right?
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