saddle numbness vs.impotence

[rockeedog]

i am putting together a study on a subject near and dear to all of us. numbness in the pelvic region from too much cycling. do you have any personal experiences you'd like to share in this regard. do the cut-out seats work for you? have you tried them? how about nose-less seats. or have you given up sex altogether? this study is for a forthcoming book. your cooperation is appreciated. i am most interested in hearing personal tales a la the bicycling mag's exec editor's confession circa 1997.
thanks,
bill katovsky

[email protected]

 

[Aztec]

Originally posted by rockeedog
i am putting together a study on a subject near and dear to all of us. numbness in the pelvic region from too much cycling. do you have any personal experiences you'd like to share in this regard. do the cut-out seats work for you? have you tried them? how about nose-less seats. or have you given up sex altogether? this study is for a forthcoming book. your cooperation is appreciated. i am most interested in hearing personal tales a la the bicycling mag's exec editor's confession circa 1997.
thanks,
bill katovsky

[email protected]

I am always struggling w/ comfort after 1.5-2 hours. But mostly in the sit bones area (I'm 155-160 lbs). I have tried many, many saddles. Cutouts don't seem to make much difference.

I've never had a lot of numbness problems, just here and there. On any quality saddle, it's been non-issue. I seem to do best on a lightly, but softly, padded saddle, no cutout needed, with slight curve to it. The Fizik Aliante seems best so far. The Arione, flatter and firmer, was awful. The supposedly great for private area circulation Specialized Body Geom Pro wasn't too bad, but padded thickly and too firmly for my rear end.

I have had no issues with the private equipment's function. But then, like I said, my issues tend to be with the duff/saddle connection, not up front. For example, the aero position is actually more comfy than a more upright one.

 

[indyandy]

My saddle gives me numbness but only on TT efforts. Long rides no pain no numbness. The numbness that I do have during TT's doesn't seem to affect me after I get off the bike.

 

[n crowley]

Originally posted by rockeedog
i am putting together a study on a subject near and dear to all of us. numbness in the pelvic region from too much cycling. do you have any personal experiences you'd like to share in this regard. do the cut-out seats work for you? have you tried them? how about nose-less seats. or have you given up sex altogether? this study is for a forthcoming book. your cooperation is appreciated. i am most interested in hearing personal tales a la the bicycling mag's exec editor's confession circa 1997.
thanks,
bill katovsky

==============================================

Problems with saddles have the same root cause as cycling
related lower back pain, the pedalling is the culprit. With normal
pedalling the saddle cannot be tilted downwards because it
increases the sliding forward on the saddle which causes
problems with too much pressure on the hands. So it has to be
level and with today's more forward tri-bar position on the
narrower front of the saddle, the problems are increased even
further. With the correct pedalling style "Anquetil's", the saddle
can be tilted well downwards with no sliding forward and the
rider is seated well back on the widest part of the saddle in
a perfect comfortable powerful aerodynamic position for time
trials.

 

[Cowboyathlete]

Originally posted by rockeedog
i am putting together a study on a subject near and dear to all of us. numbness in the pelvic region from too much cycling. do you have any personal experiences you'd like to share in this regard. do the cut-out seats work for you? have you tried them? how about nose-less seats. or have you given up sex altogether? this study is for a forthcoming book. your cooperation is appreciated. i am most interested in hearing personal tales a la the bicycling mag's exec editor's confession circa 1997.
thanks,
bill katovsky

[email protected]

Give up sex? LOL NEVER. One thing does need to mentioned on this issue that is often not addressed. If a man has an elarged prostate for whatever reason, leading to pressure on the urethra and pudendal nerves, that will certainly make any saddle numbness and pain worse.

 

[mikedmonds]

I have had considerable trouble with saddle comfort and numbness; particularly on long rides, and have tried almost all saddle types. Standard flat, noseless, split, holes in the middle; you name it! All with little relief. The best seems to be a split V saddle made by Specialized. It has a wide V split from the back foreword, and has a raised rear. The rear supports my sit bones; and when I push back on it, it raises the center of my bottom and relieves the pain. The only trouble is that this puts too much weight on my arms, and I can't sustain this for long (especially on my road bike; on the mountain bike, the more upright position helps produce a natural rearward force). I need to have a nose, and rest my mid on it for much of the ride; hence I hurt and go numb. I end up moving around alot toward the end of a ride, and push back as much as possible.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Mike

 

[Doctor Morbius]

I have the same problems. I'm convinced that there is no such thing as a comfortable saddle. I've tried several including the following: Specialized Body Geometry Comp Men's, Specialized Milano (so far the least painful), an Advocet wide cruiser saddle with the gel blubber filling, a stock GT saddle, a Wilderness Trail Bike WTB SST.X2 and others.

None of them come anywhere close to being comfortable. After an hour to 90 minutes it's all about the pain. It's either pain in the sit bones, pain up front or pain in BOTH areas.

If anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE let us know. I don't see how the guys in the TDF can stand it.

Once I get the pain in the **** figured out I can then work on the hand numbness/pain and the foot numbness/pain. Those are my big three limiting factors. Otherwise I'm pretty sure I could be doing 5 & 6 hour rides by now.

 

[turbosnail]

Ahh well after 5 kids and a vasectomy I don't worry. However I must admit after plent of riding over the last year I can go all night!!!!!!!!

 

[ric_stern/RST]

a lot of the pro cyclists have children, and then ride many thousands of km's per year (e.g., 35,000+), so it would appear it doesn't affect them. any damage is more likely to be caused by poor set up of position rather than cycling being bad for you.

ric

 

[dhk]

Originally posted by Doctor Morbius
I have the same problems. I'm convinced that there is no such thing as a comfortable saddle. I've tried several including the following: Specialized Body Geometry Comp Men's, Specialized Milano (so far the least painful), an Advocet wide cruiser saddle with the gel blubber filling, a stock GT saddle, a Wilderness Trail Bike WTB SST.X2 and others.

None of them come anywhere close to being comfortable. After an hour to 90 minutes it's all about the pain. It's either pain in the sit bones, pain up front or pain in BOTH areas.

If anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE let us know. I don't see how the guys in the TDF can stand it.

Once I get the pain in the **** figured out I can then work on the hand numbness/pain and the foot numbness/pain. Those are my big three limiting factors. Otherwise I'm pretty sure I could be doing 5 & 6 hour rides by now.

Believe a lot of it is just getting used to longer rides. At this point, I'm ok for about the first 3 hours, or 50 miles. Then I start getting some butt pain which comes and goes with the miles.

On my tougher Century this spring, was on the bike for about 7 hours. Had some pain from time to time starting at the 50 mile point, but it went away by the time I hit the finish. Quick rest stops every hour really seem to help. Also, standing out of the saddle every 15 minutes or so provides relief. Often you can shift up a couple of gears and stand on the flats, or raise up just off the saddle on downhills....all provide breaks.

Weight loss didn't really help me either. I'm lighter, but have a lot less fat padding under my sitz bones. I figure pain in the **** is better than pain in the legs, but it is frustrating when something so fundemental limits our endurance.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

Originally posted by dhk
Believe a lot of it is just getting used to longer rides. At this point, I'm ok for about the first 3 hours, or 50 miles. Then I start getting some butt pain which comes and goes with the miles.

On my tougher Century this spring, was on the bike for about 7 hours. Had some pain from time to time starting at the 50 mile point, but it went away by the time I hit the finish. Quick rest stops every hour really seem to help. Also, standing out of the saddle every 15 minutes or so provides relief. Often you can shift up a couple of gears and stand on the flats, or raise up just off the saddle on downhills....all provide breaks.

Weight loss didn't really help me either. I'm lighter, but have a lot less fat padding under my sitz bones. I figure pain in the **** is better than pain in the legs, but it is frustrating when something so fundemental limits our endurance.

Thanks for the assurance. I've just started doing a 50 miler once a week as my long ride. The rest of my rides are 1.5 to 2 Hrs. I'm currently riding approx. 100 to 150 miles per week, which is nothing compared to some people but it's OK for me. Besides, I'm a white twitch kind of guy and am more suited to the weight room than endurance activities.

My goal with cycling this year is to complete (not compete) a century in 7 hours. I'm about half way there and should make it by August if the heat and ass pain doesn't kill me first.

If it's just a matter of conditioning the derriere as we would our heart and lungs then I'll just put up and suffer.

I think endurance events would be alot more fun if they just weren't so long!

 

[yash]

I had nubness-down-there problems. It was a bad saddle. Since I've switched to Selle San Marco Aero there's no problem. I think it's worth trying.

I've bought it because i was verry woried with strange sensation near the prostate. When i was lying down to sleep or take a nap it was pulsating. My father had same syptoms when he got prostate inflamation. So i got worried. I was 18 then.

I went to my friend's bike shop and asked if he could get me one. Week later i did mount it. Few days to get used to and... my problem did dissaperar.

I still experience some nubness while tempo-like efforts (staying v long in the saddle and hammering low cadence). But getting out of saddle for few seconds every 20mins does the trick. But I don't have any dangerous symptoms anymore.

I recommens Aero to anyone who is dissapointed with his saddle. I can ride it even fo 5hrs without huge discomfort. Some friends use a lot more expensive ones and have problems after 2hrs.

And I've never met anyone disdissapointed with Aero. Anyone who used it said only good things about it.

The only drawback is lack of titanium version. And it isn't very light (about 220-250gr).

And don't buy gel version. Maybe it's good for riding 30km but for training/racing purpose... you know

 

[martin_j001]

I weigh in at around 230lbs, and I have to say that I have never really had any problems with discomfort. I did use a Selle Italia Flite Trans Am (with the cutout) and found that the cutout actually caused a little discomfort right around the edges of where the cutout was--probably due to the lighter amount of padding around the edges and my weight. I used the standard Flites for several years and never really had any problems, and now am on a Fizik Arione and find this to be the most comfortable of all. After about 4 hours or so on the bike, my sit bones will get a little sore (with any saddle I have ever used), but as many people have already mentioned it is releived by a quick rest or standing out of the saddle for a moment.

 

[Chaim]

I am in "pain" on easy, flat rides.
I am "ok" on intense, hills.

The pressure I put on my legs relief the pressure on the saddle.

So, what I do on flats is, I occasionally go to higher gear and I stand to reduce the pressure.

I tried a few saddles and end up with Selle Italia Flite Trans Am (with the cutout) but I don’t think it made a huge difference.

 

[gemarc]

I used to suffer lots of problems with numbness and "strange feelings" in the groin area dispite trying several different saddles nothing seemed to work.

Infact I packed in for a while as it was simply not worth it.

I also felt that the pain was caused by the basic design of a traditional saddle being wrong because it put so much weight in the wrong area.

Anyway after a while I really missed my cycling and started again I also did some research about impotence and other cycling related problems.

Anyway this lead me to try the hobson saddle which has a totally different design to a traditional saddle anyway I gave it a go.

http://clients.corifeus.com/hobson/web/medical.htm

I was not sure to start with but after a while I realised that my pain was getting better.

I now cycle whenever I want and can do a century with almost no pain.

Alot of the problems I had before were noticable later in the day like numbness ect and I hardly get any of that now.

Both my bikes now have this saddle and I probably would not cycle nearly as much without them.

Clearly not eveyone gets pain but I have a feeling a hell of a lot do and while the above saddle may not work for eveyone I think the basic design of a traditional saddle is wrong as it puts pressure in the wrong places.

By the way I have no connection with Hobson and being in the UK had to get mine imported.