In all my years of riding I’ve spent a lot of time searching for new ways to make the long rides more comfy on the tush. I’ve been through four seats on my current bike, added highway pegs, tried the gel pads, and recently added a lazy rider (which works great). It never occurred to me to that one of the problems might be so close to home…my underwear. Umm….ladies, ya might want to click the back button on your browser now before I get into the repugnant side of the male anatomy.
This past year I read a post on the IntruderAlert message board from my friend Gary Paul where he talked about an all too familiar problem that we guys have all experienced on long rides: sore butt, accompanied most of the time by a certain level of crotch discomfort. Now you tough Iron Butt guys that ride “Commando” might not be interested but here is an excerpt from the post where he talks about examining the problem:
Recently, a careful, and somewhat disturbing, examination of the afflicted area in a hand held mirror revealed that it was not really the “buttocks” proper that were suffering from “monkey butt”, “red arse”, “galling”, “saddle-sores”, or whatever you call it in your rump of the woods. It was really the place where the leg fat is connected to butt fat.
Skipping all the intellectual goings on and going straight to my conclusion, I concluded that my jeans, and or drawers, aided by sweat, were binding up with hair of the derrière and causing a lot of tension, which in turn aggravated the nerves in the bound-up area.
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Nerve aggravation caused by butt hair binding? It made sense to me, so I went to the local sporting goods store to see what they had. I found a pair of boxer briefs from 
Nike that claimed to have moisture wicking fabric they call Dri-FIT Technology which is essentially 82% polyester / 18% spandex. They had Flat seam construction which won't irritate or chafe. So I bought a pair and tried them out on my next trip. They actually worked! I could tell a significant difference in butt pain at the end of the day and this trip was in late July in GA. They were also very friendly to the boys if you know what I mean, keeping them in place.
Now I’ve seen all kinds of different brands using various types of fabric. Under Armour makes a pair that I hear works excellent. It’s made of a fabric they call Microfiber which is something like 81% cationic polyester/19% Elastane. The Elastane is a stretch fabric like Lycra. There are also cheap brands that you can buy at Wal-Mart that may also work.
http://www.underarmour.com/
http://www.nike.com/
