Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
I know a woman who rode PBP on a Brooks, got bloody, took 6 months before she could do anything interesting again. So there's that. There's a reason that in the world of slotted saddles, the women's saddles always have a larger slot. And it's certainly true that the shorter the ride, the less the saddle matters, but this is the Touring forum.
And yeah, padded shorts are a must IMO. And no, they don't have to be clean and dry. After the first hour, they won't be clean and dry anyway. I saw a column yesterday where the author opined that wearing the same underwear for 2 days was disgusting. Like wow that's a pretty low bar for disgust. PCT thru-hikers carry fresh shorts and T-shirts for every day? No. IME one can wear that same shorts for 3 days riding as long as you take them off soon after getting off the bike and they aren't salt-encrusted. All that said, I usually take 1 pair spare shorts, so 2 pair total, 1 pr. hiking shorts, 1 poly undershirt, 1 jersey, 1 LS nylon shirt.
Wouldn't it be fair to say that a 1200kms endurance event like Paris-Brest-Paris is a whole different kettle of fish, and that I am sure that there are both male and female riders that have had unfortunate undercarriage issues on all kinds of seats doing extreme stuff like that, with beaucoup mucho hours riding?
as for the clean dry thing, to me hiking and riding are very different, due to the very different skin/seat interface issues.
I once gave a talk at a cycling organization here in Montreal way back in the 90s after a France trip I did in the Pyrenees, and I went to a number of other trip conferences by other people, including one by a woman who had ridden across Canada. I always remember her specifically warning other female riders to always wash their bike shorts each day and to get out of them right away, as she had had an unfortunate yeast infection that was extremely annoying.
So while I personally have dangly bits and not lady bits, I can still say from my long touring experience, and from my wifes and good friends lady experience, that I agree with the view that daily washing of padded bike shorts is super important.
To me, the whole skin/pad/seat interface is the big difference compared to hiking. One of the big reasons I like my Brooks saddles is how there is less friction between my bike shorts and the leather. I can micro adjust my butt position and there is less friction or "grabiness" compared to regular seats I've ridden on.
I also found with leather seats that due to the leather "breathing" better than a plastic seat, that I clearly found that I was less "damp" down there in my padded bike shorts. So to me, better "airing out" when riding in hot conditions (of which I've done a lot, whether in France, Canada or other countries) means less time with "damp" skin, which means less chance of my skin being "softer" , which means less chance of abrasion issues that can lead to tiny wounds, which can of course lead to saddle sores, which are basically tiny pimple like things that start small----which leads to the connection to keeping your bike shorts washed each day, so that bacteria and whatnot dont stay there and grow.
hey, I'm not a doctor, but by rigorously following getting out of my bike shorts right away, washing them right away, rinsing them well, drying as best as can (or simply using other spare pair next day and continuing drying as I ride) has meant that I've had only a few cases of saddle sores over the years. The times I have, I actually do associate it with not washing bike shorts and or a slight seat position issue, which lead to a physical abrasion issue, ie rubbing and sensitive skin and then infection.
Also with guys, we sometimes have more hairy bums (sorry, yuck) and can introduce different abrasion issues.
and then we get into the whole skin/man slash lady bits interaction with a given padding in a given bike short. I very much notice the difference from one brand and model of bike shorts to another. When I first got some good padded bike shorts and as I ride a lot, well, regularly anyway, I was able to repeatedly test them back to back to my then existing shorts, and it was clear that on long rides, the better ones meant I was less sore at the end of the day.
To me, this was super clear, so since then, I've stuck with Brand X and Model Y, simply from the "if it aint broken and it works" angle, and its kinda the same with the seats. If I'm going on a bike tour, I'll prefer the leather Brooks.
If it aint broke, dont fix it, and I then know what I'm dealing with and won't have surprises---but yes, it took me years of riding and trying different things to get to this point.
and yes, this is all geeky details, but hey, thats why we come on here, but in the end, every person just has to find what works for them.
PS, I forgot mentioning "chammy cream" use. I tried it years ago, and found that it did help with less friction, so less skin soreness. Over the years though, I have reduced using it, and dont take it on bike trips simply because the better bike shorts and seat combo is good enough that I can forego having one more tube and the weight to bring along, and physically I'm ok riding day after day on tour.
Plus, I ride most days commuting too, so I'm sure this helps condition the 'ol keester.