Chamois creme helps relieve the friction of your moving about on your saddle. It’s especially useful with older pads if they’ve dried out a bit. But, if you have a poor saddle or bad fit on the bike, it won’t help those areas.
It takes me two finger-fulls of creme to do the following…
Pull your shorts on first. Then apply the creme by stretching the shorts and pulling the pad out of the waySince I’ve tried four different chamois creme’s over the years, I thought I’d pass on a review of them for anyone interested.
The four creme’s, their sizes, and costs:
$23.99 Assos, 4ozYou can probably find them cheaper. Strictly for comparative purposes, I’ve only listed the prices at my LBS which can be assumed to be the MSRP. (Friction Freedom is only found directly from the manufacturer. I haven’t seen any other sources for it, like eBay or Amazon.)
My first use of chamois creme was a year or so ago. I had never used them before, but had started to develop little saddle sores, and was hoping this might alleviate 
them. I had heard that some creme’s contain an anti-bacterial agent. I have come to find out, that–of those on my list–only Chamois Butt’r does not have this. Because of this lacking, I do not recommend Chamois Butt’r and I will stop reviewing it at this point.
(A new version, Chamois Butt’r European Style, is now on the market. It appears to include a menthol agent that gives a slight warming sensation. I do not know if it now contains an anti-bacterial component. I have not tried this version yet.)
There is a slight difference in consistency among the three. As long as you can get past the feeling of pudding in your fingers or on your crotch, this does not effect their use or value. Assos is a thick Noxzema-type paste, Friction Freedom is a thin sunblock lotion, and DZ Nuts resembles the Assos consistency but squeezed from a tube.
Assos is widely regarded as the best creme available, and I will concur. It has a gentle warming component, goes on well and stays where you put it, and lasts for a good 2-hour ride. My initial use of Assos alleviated my problem with saddle sores within 2 weeks.
Friction Freedom also has a slight warming effect and seems to last a nice long time. I have used FF the most of the three and have not had any problem with saddle sores since.
DZ Nuts, also with a warming effect, disappears the quickest of the three lasting only for a 1-hour ride or less, only lasting longer if more is used. This use of more DZ Nuts compared to the other two impacts its review: it is not as good a financial value as the others. I have only therefore used it sparingly.
In the end, if you’re looking strictly at their performance, any of these three cremes will serve you well. But if you’re like me, and do not have unlimited financial resources, the effectual cost of the items comes into play. Friction Freedom weighs in at $60 per pound; Assos at $96 per pound and DZ Nuts a cool $100 per pound. This gives Friction Freedom a decided advantage over the other two. And since it performs as well as Assos, it is my clear favorite.
My current team is also sponsored by Friction Freedom and allowing me to get FF at a reduced cost, thus improving its value. I have just ordered two jars which should last me ’til part-way through next season.
