numbness

[Rivermist]

For a long time I never had the problem of numbness caused by a long time in the saddle. Lately it
has occurred fairly regularly.

Nothing is different in my bike configuration except I am spending more time down on my aero bars.

I need some advice on what to do. I have thought of three things and would like some feedback from
the group... 1) tilting the seat slightly down so that when on the aerobars there is less pressure.
2) buying a different seat with more of a groove in the middle 3) moving the seat slightly right or
left of center (someone told me this works)

Your opinions?

 

[David]

First, make sure someone who knows what they are doing has you fitted properly.

>I have thought of three things and would like some feedback from the group... 1) tilting the seat
>slightly down so that when on the aerobars there is less pressure.

I wouldn't do this ...it is counter productive and you will spend energy pushing back to stay
on the saddle, if properly fitted: BUT, make sure that the forward 5 inches or so of the
saddle are level, not the whole saddle which may kick up in the back.
> 2) buying a different seat with more of a groove in the middle

IMHO opinion, this is just a gimmick and only helps if you don't want to spend the time to get
positioned correctly.

> 3) moving the seat slightly right or left of center (someone told me this works)

This definitely works! Tinley actually helped me w/ this at USTS hilton Head in the late '80s.
Scew the saddle .5 cm or 1/2 the width of the saddle away from your "hang." Your "taint" now
runs along the side of your saddle instead of on top. I have done many thousands of miles
training for and doing 12 IMs w/ no problem using this technique, and am still having kids in
the "masters" catagory.

Good Luck,

Good Luck! David Never give up, Be satisfied w/ your best, Do unto others.....

 

[Andresmuro]

Try to stand up and rest your crotch for a few seconds, every so often. Also, shift gears. The
fastest the cadence, the greater the pressure against your crotch. When hammering in a higher gear,
you push harder and you push your body away from the saddle (slightly). Every so often, shift to a
higher gear. Stand up for a few seconds and then sit down and hammer for a few strokes. This will
help relieve some of the pressure.

I use, and like, the San Marco Tri saddle. It has more padding in the nose. You can sit there for a
while and it feels good. I still need to get up and rest my crotch every so often.

Andres

 

[MJuric]

On 09 Jun 2003 15:51:11 GMT, [email protected] (David) wrote:

> First, make sure someone who knows what they are doing has you fitted properly.
>
>>I have thought of three things and would like some feedback from the group... 1) tilting the seat
>>slightly down so that when on the aerobars there is less pressure.
>
> I wouldn't do this ...it is counter productive and you will spend energy pushing back to
> stay on the saddle, if properly fitted: BUT, make sure that the forward 5 inches or so of
> the saddle are level, not the whole saddle which may kick up in the back.

I think this probably depends on how much of a tilt we are talkinging about. When I'm in my
trainer I regularly get numbness if I don't get out of the saddle fairly regularly. However
numbness happens very rarely, to this point this season never, on the open road. The only
thing I can attribute this to is teh fact that the saddle must be at a slighlty different
angle on the road than in the trainer as nothing else changes as far as postion. Although it
is possible that the slight motions that are inherant to actually riding outside may be
enough to prevent numbness.

~Matt

>> 2) buying a different seat with more of a groove in the middle
>
> IMHO opinion, this is just a gimmick and only helps if you don't want to spend the time to get
> positioned correctly.
>
>> 3) moving the seat slightly right or left of center (someone told me this works)
>
> This definitely works! Tinley actually helped me w/ this at USTS hilton Head in the late
> '80s. Scew the saddle .5 cm or 1/2 the width of the saddle away from your "hang." Your
> "taint" now runs along the side of your saddle instead of on top. I have done many thousands
> of miles training for and doing 12 IMs w/ no problem using this technique, and am still
> having kids in the "masters" catagory.
>
>Good Luck,
>
>
>Good Luck! David Never give up, Be satisfied w/ your best, Do unto others.....

 

[Psycholist]

Triathletes often use a seatpost that's bent forward to pitch the saddle forward into a more
comfortable position for use on aerobars. I don't know if you can replicate the position with a
conventional seatpost just by moving the saddle forward and tipping the nose down. I believe the
theory is that the bent seatpost rotates you slightly around a pivot point which is the bottom
bracket -- keeping things in proper relative position.

Bob C. "Rivermist" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:Hj0Fa.922085$Zo.211387@sccrnsc03...
> For a long time I never had the problem of numbness caused by a long time
in
> the saddle. Lately it has occurred fairly regularly.
>
> Nothing is different in my bike configuration except I am spending more
time
> down on my aero bars.
>
> I need some advice on what to do. I have thought of three things and
would
> like some feedback from the group... 1) tilting the seat slightly down
so
> that when on the aerobars there is less pressure. 2) buying a different seat with more of a groove
> in the middle 3) moving the seat slightly
right
> or left of center (someone told me this works)
>
> Your opinions?

 

[Tom Henderson]

"psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> Triathletes often use a seatpost that's bent forward to pitch the saddle forward into a more
> comfortable position for use on aerobars. I don't know if you can replicate the position with a
> conventional seatpost just by moving the saddle forward and tipping the nose down.

The offset seat post design is meant to simulate a steeper seat tube, not to pitch the seat forward
or bring the nose of the seat down.

Tom

 

[Peter Cole]

"Rivermist" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:Hj0Fa.922085$Zo.211387@sccrnsc03...
> For a long time I never had the problem of numbness caused by a long time in the saddle. Lately it
> has occurred fairly regularly.
>
> Nothing is different in my bike configuration except I am spending more time down on my aero bars.
>
> I need some advice on what to do. I have thought of three things and would like some feedback from
> the group... 1) tilting the seat slightly down so that when on the aerobars there is less
> pressure. 2) buying a different seat with more of a groove in the middle 3) moving the seat
> slightly right or left of center (someone told me this works)

I had the same problem when I started using aerobars frequently. I went for option #2, which
basically eliminated the problem. I first used a Terry (Ti Race model), then a Selle Italia
Tri-matic. I can ride for long stretches (hours) on the bars now without numbness. Try saddle
positioning first, as that's a no-cost solution, but I found the "perineal cutout" saddles worked, I
don't understand the "fart slot" saddles though.

 

[Michael J. Ande]

> > For a long time I never had the problem of numbness caused by a long time in the saddle. Lately
> > it has occurred fairly regularly.
> >
> > Nothing is different in my bike configuration except I am spending more time down on my
> > aero bars.
> >
> > I need some advice on what to do. I have thought of three things and would like some feedback
> > from the group... 1) tilting the seat slightly down so that when on the aerobars there is less
> > pressure. 2) buying a different seat with more of a groove in the middle 3) moving the seat
> > slightly right or left of center (someone told me this works)

I never had a problem with this for many years as well, and then, after a long layoff, BIG problems
with it. My numbness lasted 8 weeks, not fun ;-)

Anyway, I took about 3.5 weeks off the bike to get the numbness to go away. After that I had a
bike fit by a fitter recommended to me by team Trek. I also bought a Koobi Xenon saddle
(koobi.com); problem solved. Also, I stand a bit more than I used to, and I notice when I don't,
slight numbing occurs.

Hope that helps, Michael

 

[Rivermist]

Thanks to all of you for your excellent suggestions. I am reviewing all of them and am hopeful that
this can be taken care of.

"Rivermist" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:Hj0Fa.922085$Zo.211387@sccrnsc03...
> For a long time I never had the problem of numbness caused by a long time
in
> the saddle. Lately it has occurred fairly regularly.
>
> Nothing is different in my bike configuration except I am spending more
time
> down on my aero bars.
>
> I need some advice on what to do. I have thought of three things and
would
> like some feedback from the group... 1) tilting the seat slightly down
so
> that when on the aerobars there is less pressure. 2) buying a different seat with more of a groove
> in the middle 3) moving the seat slightly
right
> or left of center (someone told me this works)
>
> Your opinions?

 

[Steve Matteson]

in article At_Fa.1209950$F1.142339@sccrnsc04, Rivermist at [email protected] wrote on
6/12/03 8:36 AM:

> Thanks to all of you for your excellent suggestions. I am reviewing all of them and am hopeful
> that this can be taken care of.
>
> "Rivermist" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:Hj0Fa.922085$Zo.211387@sccrnsc03...
>> For a long time I never had the problem of numbness caused by a long time
> in
>> the saddle. Lately it has occurred fairly regularly.
>>
>> Nothing is different in my bike configuration except I am spending more
> time
>> down on my aero bars.
>>
>> I need some advice on what to do. I have thought of three things and
> would
>> like some feedback from the group... 1) tilting the seat slightly down
> so
>> that when on the aerobars there is less pressure. 2) buying a different seat with more of a
>> groove in the middle 3) moving the seat slightly
> right
>> or left of center (someone told me this works)
>>
>> Your opinions?
>>
>>
>
>

Just one more opinion! I had numbness problems too that just started out of the blue (not even from
switching to aero bars).

After a loooong search for the perfect saddle (I think I tried 6 makes and models with cutouts and
spenco inserts etc) I finally tried a Koobie Au Chrono. About 100 miles later the saddle was broken
in and I haven't had numbness in 2 years (120-160 miles per week).

I was skeptical about the cut-out design at first but it was an obvious correlation between where my
numbness was and where the saddle was 'open'.

Good luck!