Chamois position



BiggMakk

New Member
Oct 3, 2005
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If you look at the chamois of bike shorts it looks like the triangular area (behind the perineal) corresponds to the triangular shape of the saddle. However when I wear my bike shorts, my sit bones, which align perfectly on the saddle, don't align in the shorts. Most of the cushioning area rests above the saddle on the top-back of my butt not doing my sit bones much good. I've tried pull the shorts from the front to pull the wide part of the chamois more forward, however within a few minutes of riding, it's right back to wear it was.

Is there a trick to wearing bike shorts I'm not aware of? I wear the best bike short bibs I can afford. I have noticed the pros seem to have their entire front "package" protected with the chamois (at least that's what it appears like). I can only do this if I raise the shorts very high up my thighs as to gather more fabric to pull upward.

I do have a small boney butt. Could this be the problem? Shorts are made for riders with more average sized butts (bigger than mine)?

I'd like to get to the "bottom" of this problem.
 
BiggMakk said:
If you look at the chamois of bike shorts it looks like the triangular area (behind the perineal) corresponds to the triangular shape of the saddle. However when I wear my bike shorts, my sit bones, which align perfectly on the saddle, don't align in the shorts. Most of the cushioning area rests above the saddle on the top-back of my butt not doing my sit bones much good. I've tried pull the shorts from the front to pull the wide part of the chamois more forward, however within a few minutes of riding, it's right back to wear it was.

Is there a trick to wearing bike shorts I'm not aware of? I wear the best bike short bibs I can afford. I have noticed the pros seem to have their entire front "package" protected with the chamois (at least that's what it appears like). I can only do this if I raise the shorts very high up my thighs as to gather more fabric to pull upward.

I do have a small boney butt. Could this be the problem? Shorts are made for riders with more average sized butts (bigger than mine)?

I'd like to get to the "bottom" of this problem.

I just noticed this exact thing when I was trying out a new saddle. I'm sure it's always been the case (always used the same type of bibs), but I thought I'm not getting the full benefit of the chamois.
 
Try different shorts or bibs. Are you sure you don't have them on backwards?
 
noonievut said:
I just noticed this exact thing when I was trying out a new saddle. I'm sure it's always been the case (always used the same type of bibs), but I thought I'm not getting the full benefit of the chamois.

Hi. I'm the person who started this thread. I discovered something by accident that may help.

When you wear your shorts/bib, don't pull it all the way up to where your the chammy conforms to under-parts. Let the elastic of the leg-cuffs keep your shorts a bit baggy. As you bend when you sit on the saddle, the looser chammy fabric will now move to the exact position to cover the sit-bones with the broader part of the chammy.

It's made a big difference for me.
 
I had the same problem a while ago and went a size up from what I normally wear and it helped quite a bit.