Just so I don't get ragged for thinking about my butt, I am a former athlete and an Athletic Trainer now. So, trying to take care of myself is something I think about a lot (as you will find out later it doesn't get much farther than a thought). When I started riding over a year ago I couldn't get more than a few miles in the heat and the burn would begin (as is with most or all of us "big boys"). Since I tip the scales at 280 lbs I thought my weight was the reason and would just powder up to keep the the butt dry but would still get the burn just a little later and worse than before.

Being an uninformed rider at the time (didn't know about Mean City) I bought a Mustang. Needless to say I was still pretty upset when I would still get the burn. It was so bad I couldn't enjoy the better saddle. So I started to think about why this was happening. I went back to the school books I realized that stupid physics class could combine with my basic physiology class to explain the problem. The root of the problem is the friction that is created when you sweat. The cotton whatever you are wearing next to your skin absorbs the sweat and can no longer slide with you when you ride. So when the skin gets irritated (and skin in that area isn't very thick) you start to feel the burn. So why doesn't powder work? The powder will just absorb the sweat until it becomes saturated and then create an even greater problem because you have this powder ball that you are sitting on (OUCH!!!).

Since my theory was still solid I tried to figure what material wouldn't absorb. Since I'm around athletes all day, Under Armor is always very visible. So I decided to go and buy a set of knock off compression shorts and see what happened. For some reason I would put them on over my draws which would help but not get rid of the problem. Then I decide to wear my underwear over the shorts. This helped a lot more but then realized the seams on the bottom of my boxer briefs (don't know if this happens with boxers) would still cause a decreased blood flow through the area and cause pain. So as strange as it felt to me I just put the compression shorts on as underwear then put my jeans on over them, no underwear. This did make me use the belt a little tighter because there was no friction to keep my pants up (notice to those who have dunlap disease of the mid section like me). WINNER!!!!!! No matter how far, how hot, how much I squirm, or how much I sweat, there is no burn.

After testing this theroy for over 12,000 miles with no burn I thought I would just retest with only the 100% cotton underwear (and my jeans) today for a small 120 mile round trip. Guess what, the burn returned quickly and the return trip was murder (almost stopped at Wally World to buy another pair of compression shorts). This will work with any seat. I've used it on stock seats (tail bone killed me but no burn) Mustang seats, Corbin seats, and MCC seats (current seat). If this will work for a fat boy like me then it will work for you too.

If you have done this and it didn't work send me a PM so I can figure out why. There is no physiological reason this shouldn't work because there is no way for the culprit (friction from wet fabric) to happen. There are some compression shorts out there that are made with padding built in that I haven't tried and don't know what will happen. The ones I have are just cheap Wal-Mart brand that is all spandex. Check the tag, if there is a significant amount of cotton in the shorts you might be in trouble. Let me know.

 

I've been using the riding shorts (underarmour knockoffs) for years and swear by them. Multiple day trips skip a day and boy you could feel it. The kicker is I never told any of my riding buddies the trick they would be moaning asking how I could ride so long, 2 of them ride goldwings, tell them to trade there goldwings in. LOL.....

 

Are you guys talking bicycle shorts?

 

Friends don't let friends wear spandex!

 

They do if it keeps them on the bike. Riding is better than hurting.

 

Totally agree with all said, add a set of the wooden beads from BEADRIDER.COM and you will be amazed at the increase in comfort on the long hot rides.

 

So....I guess I need to go out and buy a few pair of "banana hammocks"....or "benders" as we used to call them. haha....interesting theory and I have to say....you are probably 100% correct.

 

Goodbye, butt burn!
There, I said it.

 

Hey Iceman, good luck with this one. I agree with you on the Under Armour though. It does solve the problem. The bigger problem is all of the immature ******** on this forum.

 

I know some sporting goods stores even sell Bike-shorts with built in padding. So for you scrawny guys who don't have the butt padding (I do not have this problem!) that might be a bit helpful too.

But on longer days I do pull out my old baseball slide shorts, work wonderful.