Cycling UK Forum

As long as the itchy bits have stopped itching thats the main thing !!!!

orange wrote:My ex wife is a dispenser in a chemist. She knows all the ingredients of creams etc.
On her recommendation I have been using conotrane over sudacream for years because
A) it's a lot lot cheaper
B) does exactly the same as sudacream
C) a lot of the midwives/health visitors from her pharmacy use it from a tube because of hygienic reasons.
That you are not sticking dirty fingers in a pot and contaminationg it which I hadn't thought about until explained
to me.

Double dipping.... nice!!!!

So a pot lasts 15 years and you are worrying about the expense, I confess I do not know the current price of sudocrem... ( no need for it) but I guess we are talking a few pence per year at that rate of use.....

I have openly admitted to being a miser.

Graham wrote::D I have openly admitted to being a miser.

I'm due to go on a 200 mile cycle soon. I've been recommended Sudecrem to help reduce friction. Any thoughts on this?

I have moved your post to a pre-existing, dedicated topic.

You can see that there are alternatives to consider ( above ).

Greasing your undercarriage with such stuff should reduce any abrasion, but consider also :-

1) Where the abrasion occurs and why it might be happening

2) Alternative types of shorts with different types of pads ( quite a wide variation ).

3) Other issues such as :-
a) frequency of washing clothing
b) efficiency of rinsing (-away the cleaning agent )
c) type of soap / detergent
d) skin sensitivity

etc.

On our LEJOG this summer the use of Sudocreme was endemic.... the sight of groups of mature cyclists passing the sudocreme between them in various lay-bys on our route must have traumatised a large number of passing motorists and their families ....
The build up of sudocreme in the pads of our bib shorts, even though rinsed / washed every day led to the phenomena of the "Sudoskid" ... the white deposit left everywhere we sat .....

I prefer to find out what's causing the problem. Is the bike set up correctly? Clothing ok? Saddle suits you?

Distance built up gradually?

I don't use anything, and prefer to avoid any sort of cream.

I have carried sudocrem a few times when I was either doing a distance that with I wasn't sure my backside was ready for, or touring when I was going to be riding day after day. I haven't used it, though.

I suggest avoiding needing nappy rash cream by not following the modern fashion of wearing nappies when cycling. Of course, that can mean quite a bit of time finding a comfortable old-fashioned saddle instead.

Graham wrote:1) Where the abrasion occurs and why it might be happening

IMO this is the top thing and in my experience, the top three causes are:
1. Clothing seams, especially those around pads in cycling shorts but also from the pad edge to waist and cuff. You especially don't want a seam between you and the saddle.
2. Wrong saddle shape for you, rubbing legs or bum as you pedal
3. Inner layer of clothing folding or bunching if not a snug fit, producing a seam-like irritation that matches no seam.

In our case it was 60 - 80 miles a day, for 14 days, at temperatures
above 30 deg C.

Sweat happens ...

landsurfer wrote:On our LEJOG this summer the use of Sudocreme was endemic.... the sight of groups of mature cyclists passing the sudocreme between them in various lay-bys on our route must have traumatised a large number of passing motorists and their families ....
The build up of sudocreme in the pads of our bib shorts, even though rinsed / washed every day led to the phenomena of the "Sudoskid" ... the white deposit left everywhere we sat .....

Endemic but not universal
My own regime used Vaseline applied along the join at the top of the legs. Liberal application of Almond oil with tea tree applied after showering. I didn’t bother with Vaseline the last few days and that was possibly because washing shorts in showers didn’t shift that greasy residue.

I use talcum powder as a preventative. In the event of a sore I use suds cream but if it really is a fungal problem which becomes likely as the perfect breeding ground exists you need a proper antifungal cream.

E45 for my feet. Decanted in to old film containers when travelling.