Premax Performance Skincare Chamois Cream for Men

Hailing all the way from Australia, Premax Chamois Cream For Men is a premium offering with a new ultra-endurance formula. Loaded with natural ingredients, this cream delivers hours of riding comfort to your derrière, but it also stings you in the wallet. A women's version of the chamois cream includes slightly different ingredients and has a ph-balanced formula (there's a full review of the women's coming).

The chamois cream comes in a nice looking 200ml tube, with swish silver writing – first impressions are that it is a premium product. It wouldn't look out of place in the make-up department of a John Lewis or House of Fraser store. With a tube, rather than a tub, there is no chance of accidentally "double dipping" and risking contaminating the cream.

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The cream itself has a clean, fresh smell and a perfect consistency for spreading either onto the chamois of your bib shorts or directly onto the skin. Either way works fine. I prefer the bib shorts method. It doesn't feel cold when applying.

There is no "tingle" feeling to the Premax cream; some companies seem to infuse their creams with what can almost feel like a very mild "minty toothpaste" sensation down below, to add a cooling effect. The Premax doesn't have any of that, which I prefer. It comes straight up to body temperature within a second or two.

During the testing period I was riding an average of 170 miles a week, including a few 50-mile hot and sweaty rides, and suffered no discomfort at all. I used the cream on a real variety of bib shorts, from expensive ones to well-worn commuter shorts, and it worked really well with all of them. I found I didn't really need to think about my comfort at all, which I think speaks for itself, being able to get on and enjoy my riding rather than thinking about the comfort of my undercarriage.

I forgot to put the cream on for one ride, and only realised several miles in when I started to feel the tell-tale signs of soreness.

When the riding was done for the day, a quick shower was needed as I found the cream would still be in place – a good sign that it lasts for hours. My skin felt good afterwards, and ready to go again for more miles day after day.

It leaves no residue on the bib shorts either, washing off in a quick one-hour, sportswear wash at 30 degrees.

The only downside to Premax cream, really, is the price. It is considerably more expensive than other creams we have reviewed on road.cc and others in the marketplace. Dave gave the Muc-Off Luxury Chamois Cream a "very good" 8/10 at its £20 RRP (about £16 if you shop around), but you get 250ml rather than the 200ml of Premax.

One of the best performing creams we've seen – with a 9/10 review – and also great value for money, has been the Sportique Century Riding cream. Made for big miles, with a 198ml tube full of natural ingredients, it can be found online for as little as £11.99.

> Buyer’s Guide: 9 of the best chamois creams

In summary, the Premax cream works really well for long rides, its tube looks "gift-worthy" premium, and it's nice to see so many natural ingredients being used. It's just expensive compared to others, and doesn't appear to be available for less than the RRP. Therefore it receives a 'good' 7 out of 10.

Verdict

Premium 'no tingle' chamois cream packed with natural ingredients that works well on long rides, but it's pricey