Andy Somnifac 

I'm not sure that calluses are in order, but there's definitely a period of acclimation that you go through.

After being off the bike for an extended period of time (think years and 80 lbs of weight gain) and I can absolutely feel it after a ride of an hour to an hour and a half. When I was riding a lot, I probably could have ridden on a split log for hours after developing a taint of iron after hundreds or thousands of hours in the saddle over the years.

So, in my opinion, yes, you'll feel it for a little while, but the muscles will adjust and strengthen. Eventually you will have an iron taint too.

guadzilla

Oh sure, no disagreements there. I started riding competitively last year after a break of a few years, and the first few long rides were not fun.

I just think that the acclimatization is built through riding and getting the sit bones used to the pressure. The chammy cream helps with friction/chafing - removing that doesnt help with acclimatization, IMO.

colnago62

I was watching one of those Ask A Coach episodes from TrainerRoad and their position was that if you are needing to use cream every ride that probably have a fit issue of some sort.

Clipped_in

OP, you may find this helpful:

sfrider 

That's probably more due to the 80 extra pounds than anything else... Stuff's gonna rub when it's a tight squeeze! Fortunately, getting back on the bike will eventually have that taken care of all by itself!

Andy Somnifac 

I took 40 lbs off already, so we're only 40 up from my low, which has probably lower than strictly necessary. I had gotten down to 137kbs @ 5'9". I'm now a shade under 180. So, while I'm heavy, I'm not like morbidly overweight. I'm shooting to settle in at 150.