Paceline Chamois Butt'r

Paceline's chamois cream comes in two different versions: you've got yer straight Chamois Butt'r (in the tube, £12.99 for 227g) and yer Chamois Butt'r Eurostyle (in the jar, £13.99 for 227g).

They're both mineral oil-based with a whole bunch of other long-named ingredients in there (iodopropynyl butylcarbamate, anyone?). The difference is that for your extra pound, the Eurostyle version comes with witch hazel leaf extract, menthol and schinus mole fruit extract. Together, they give a cooling, slightly tingly effect - a bit you get with menthol chewing gum... but on your undercarriage.

They're a similar consistency to one another - a lot like Savlon, say, in texture - and they're easily applied either directly to your skin or to the seatpad of your shorts. They're not entirely odour-less but neither smells strongly.

Once slapped on, the Chamois Butt'r does a fine job of preventing soreness and chafing, and it doesn't disappear even over the course of a long ride. It comes out easily enough in the washing machine too.

The Eurostyle version also comes in 5ml individual sachets at 70p a pop, so you can take one or two with you and re-apply during your ride but, to be honest, we never felt the need so would stick with the jar - it's cheaper.

On the whole, we'd be inclined to go for the Eurostyle version complete with that cooling effect. It just feels a bit better and for the sake of an extra quid, why not?

Verdict

Good chamois cream - easy to apply and it does the job. Go for the Eurostyle version for a cooling feel