Chamois Creme for Long rides

[quixoticgeek]

Can anyone recommend a good chamois cream that lasts for really long rides?

With the related question of any idea what it is they add to the Women's versions of the various creams that makes the price so much higher (28% higher for the Assos cream!)?

J

[Kim]

I like Conotrane's price:performance ratio, if not its smell.  It seems slightly better in wet conditions than some of the others, but I can't vouch for more than about 12 hours in one go.

I didn't realise there *were* women's versions.  Do they come in PINK tubs or something?

[hellymedic]

I've hardly ever used chamois cream.

The female perineum has rather more soft exposed 'mucous' skin than the male so I'd expect female-specific creams to be better suited to 'delicate' skin.

I have no idea if that is the case but can recount finding Sudocrem VERY sore when I put that on a saddle contact area.

[quixoticgeek]

I like Conotrane's price:performance ratio, if not its smell.  It seems slightly better in wet conditions than some of the others, but I can't vouch for more than about 12 hours in one go.

Conotrane seems to be something that only appears in google searches along with mention of being from boots. Makes me think it may not be easy to find in Amsterdam... What section is it in in boots, I may look in etos just on the off chance.

I didn't realise there *were* women's versions.  Do they come in PINK tubs or something?

Well, from what I can tell, they reduce the size of the container, and up the price, and make it pink (in the case of Assos)...

Sportique, list both versions on their website as the same price, only I can't seem to find anywhere stocking the women's in the larger 180ml container, only the 100ml, making it effectively more expensive than the 180ml mens version stocked elsewhere...

Chamois Butt'r is the same price for mens and women's version. Tho the reviews I've seen suggest it has longevity issues...

Insert standard feminist rant about the cycling industry here.

J

[Kim]

I like Conotrane's price:performance ratio, if not its smell.  It seems slightly better in wet conditions than some of the others, but I can't vouch for more than about 12 hours in one go.

Conotrane seems to be something that only appears in google searches along with mention of being from boots. Makes me think it may not be easy to find in Amsterdam... What section is it in in boots, I may look in etos just on the off chance.

I've only bought it online (5-6 quid for 500g), but I expect it'll either be with the baby stuff or the non-prescription pharmacy stuff.  It's a barrier cream for incontinence and pressure sores, and correspondingly smells like Old People.

[Nick H.]

There are 3 different Sudocrem products and they have different ingredients. Perhaps the antiseptic version could be expected to sting a bit on raw skin?

When I got my first bad case of nappy rash a pharmacist in the US told me that zinc oxide https://draxe.com/zinc-oxide-benefits/ was the key ingredient I needed, and I could get it in sunblock as well as nappy rash cream. The nappy rash stuff was only available in enormous tubs so I bought sunblock, and was saved from much agony. Any cream with a high zinc oxide content can be multipurpose, as chamois cream, sunblock, and burn treatment.

Difficult to say which creams are better or last longer. I suspect cream performance will vary according to how comfortable your chamois pad is. I reckon  a little cream goes a long way when you have the best chamois pad, which is why I've ended up wearing nothing but Assos. You can tell by looking at them that there's a complicated multi-stage manufacturing process, and they feel like a perfect fit. But I'm a bloke and I don't know anything about the chamois pads in Assos women's shorts.

[Nick H.]

I got the Assos ingredients from their site. The womens' has many more words! That's the limit of my expertise.

Womens':

COMPOSITION AQUA HYDROGENATED POLYDECENE OCTYLDODECANOL GLYCERYL STEARATE SE PROPYLENE GLYCOL GLYCERIN SORBITAN STEARATE CETEARYL ALCOHOL CYCLOPENTASILOXANE POLYSORBATE 60 OZOKERITE HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL PHENOXYETHANOL MENTHYL LACTATE PANTHENOL STEARYL STEARATE TOCOPHERYL ACETATE DIMETHICONE/VINYLTRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE CROSSPOLYMER RIBES NIGRUM SEED OIL STEARIC ACID HAMAMELIS VIRGINIANA WATER MENTHOL PARFUM HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED OIL UNSAPONIFIABLES ALCOHOL DENAT. CARDIOSPERMUM HALICACABUM FLOWER/LEAF/VINE EXTRACT HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED OIL TOCOPHEROL CITRIC ACID ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS LEAF EXTRACT

Mens':

COMPOSITION AQUA HYDROGENATED POLYDECENE OCTYLDODECANOL SYNTHETIC BEESWAX GLYCERYL STEARATE SE GLYCERYL PROPYLENE GLYCOL CETEARYL ALCOHOL SORBITAN STEARATE POLYSORBATE 60 CYCLOPENTASILOXANE MENTHYL LACTATE PHENOXYETHANOL PANTHENOL DIMETHICONE/VINYLTRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE CROSSPOLYMER MENTHOL HAMAMELIS VIRGINIANA WATER TOCOPHERYL ACETATE BHA ALCOHOL DENAT. CITRIC ACID

[Samuel D]

Are those really words?

[Torslanda]

Looks like the same shit they print on face cream packaging.

How's your arse for wrinkles?

[T42]

Wasn't aware that Assos cream had bifurcated.  Ain't science wonderful?

[Si S]

The women's stuff is oilier,so possibly longer lasting and has more smelly stuff in it.  Interestingly it also has witch hazel (HAMAMELIS VIRGINIANA WATER) in, this is a good thing, witch hazel is a cure for pretty much any skin problem.

[The French Tandem]

The two of us are happy with "regular" Assos cream. This is the first time I hear about a women's version!

[T42]

Sexual dimorphism, that's the term I was looking for.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The women's stuff is oilier,so possibly longer lasting and has more smelly stuff in it.  Interestingly it also has witch hazel (HAMAMELIS VIRGINIANA WATER) in, this is a good thing, witch hazel is a cure for pretty much any skin problem.

That's listed in both, though it doesn't include any quantities so the proportions might be different. The women's also contains HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED OIL, which shows that Roger hasn't read this thread.

[Oxford_Guy]

I don't like the tingly stuff like ASOS, as have sensitive skin (goes with being a redhead), I've found Century Riding Cream pretty good, though. https://www.sportique.net/products/century-riding-cream

[aidan.f]

#1 for Conotrane from me. Tested over many miles. You can get it in 100g tubes. It's not usually on display, so ask your chemist. They then dig around in the drawers, consult a price book, and look suprised. £1.85 iirc. Considering where I apply it an VFM I'm not at all bothered about the smell. (Supposed to be 'fresia')

[Bolt]

When exactly did chamois creme cease to be a conditioner for chamois leather and reappear marketed as bum cream???

I'd never buy a cycling specific bum cream, standard Sudocrem does the job for me, sticks like sh** to a blanket and is a good treatment for cuts and grazes, insect bites, sunburn and all things generally red and angry.

[quixoticgeek]

When exactly did chamois creme cease to be a conditioner for chamois leather and reappear marketed as bum cream???

About the same time that the chamois stopped being made of leather and started to be made of something else, at a guess...

I'd never buy a cycling specific bum cream, standard Sudocrem does the job for me, sticks like sh** to a blanket and is a good treatment for cuts and grazes, insect bites, sunburn and all things generally red and angry.

You say treatment. How good is it as a preventative?

J

[Bolt]

You say treatment. How good is it as a preventative?

J

Well it kept my 3 kid's bums as babies all happy back in the good old abrasive days of towelling nappies and mine equally happy throughout a pretty abrasive LEL experience 

[rogerzilla]

I only use Sudocrem as a preventative.  It works.  What's funny is that you smear all this grey stuff over your barse, it makes a right mess of the inside of your black shorts and, by the end of the ride, it has completely disppeared.

[Bolt]

What's funny is that you smear all this grey stuff over your barse,

Yours is grey... my current pot expired in 2016 but the contents is still definitely white 

[Frank9755]

This is what many people use for long TTs.
I have a tub somewhere.  It is very oily.

http://road.cc/content/review/48015-elite-ozone-endurance-protect-cream

[whosatthewheel]

Stick to Assos and re-apply if necessary. I use a contact lenses container, it has two compartments, each of which can contain the right amount of cream you will need for a day on the saddle. So you have two extra days worth of chamois creme with you... alternatively you can use one of the pots for sunscreen, just remember which is which 

[Phil W]

#1 for Conotrane from me. Tested over many miles. You can get it in 100g tubes. It's not usually on display, so ask your chemist. They then dig around in the drawers, consult a price book, and look suprised. £1.85 iirc. Considering where I apply it an VFM I'm not at all bothered about the smell. (Supposed to be 'fresia')

Thanks for that. Just bought some for this weekend's ride. £1.50 for 100ml

[Oxford_Guy]

Stick to Assos and re-apply if necessary. I use a contact lenses container, it has two compartments, each of which can contain the right amount of cream you will need for a day on the saddle. So you have two extra days worth of chamois creme with you... alternatively you can use one of the pots for sunscreen, just remember which is which 

Nice idea!