“If you’re a rider and you’re getting numbness in your penis, switch saddles or get a bike fit and make those symptoms go away.”
In his time in the saddle game, Dr Minkow has come across many men who have chosen to ignore numbness or pain — something he views as a big mistake.
“Cyclists dismiss these kind of symptoms and go ‘Ah it’s just part of riding. It’s no big deal.’ And they basically tend to deny that there’s a problem,” he said. “And of course many of them do not go on to have erectile dysfunction. But what this study is starting to show is that cyclists should not deny all the symptoms. There are some that have to be taken seriously.
“If you have certain areas of numbness, pay attention. Pay attention and be careful and do something about it. Change something, get [a bike] fit, change your saddle, change your riding style, but don’t let certain symptoms go.”
If you’re riding a traditional saddle, switching to a saddle with a cut-out and/or stub nose is perhaps the most significant change you can make. This will ensure that your sitbones are taking the bulk of the compression forces, rather than the soft tissue in between.
Is there a saddle out there that has these qualities:
1. a very narrow nose
2. a dramatic transition between the nose and the part where you actually sits on, i.e., this part is where your thighs would come down.
So far, the seat that I've found close to having the above characteristics is the Selle Italia SLR/SLS monolink version. Their traditional "rails" version (where there are 2 rails) is not as good for me since my thighs still rub against the rails too.
“If you’re a rider and you’re getting numbness in your penis, switch saddles or get a bike fit and make those symptoms go away.”
In his time in the saddle game, Dr Minkow has come across many men who have chosen to ignore numbness or pain — something he views as a big mistake.
“Cyclists dismiss these kind of symptoms and go ‘Ah it’s just part of riding. It’s no big deal.’ And they basically tend to deny that there’s a problem,” he said. “And of course many of them do not go on to have erectile dysfunction. But what this study is starting to show is that cyclists should not deny all the symptoms. There are some that have to be taken seriously.
“If you have certain areas of numbness, pay attention. Pay attention and be careful and do something about it. Change something, get [a bike] fit, change your saddle, change your riding style, but don’t let certain symptoms go.”
If you’re riding a traditional saddle, switching to a saddle with a cut-out and/or stub nose is perhaps the most significant change you can make. This will ensure that your sitbones are taking the bulk of the compression forces, rather than the soft tissue in between.
I switched to the Terry Men’s FLX a few years back. The cut out in the middle helps but I think the key its ability to flex a lot between the right and left sides in the rear.
Lot's of things to consider about the shape of your seat. There is a lot more to it than just width, length, padding and whether or not there is a center slot.
Understanding the role that saddle curvature played was a revelation for me.
My SLR Gel Flow was a little too narrow for me, so I tried the Specialized Power saddle. To my eye, it looked like a great solution. A wider platform with a wide channel, and short nose. Unfortunately, it still caused some soreness in the thigh crease and along the edges of the center channel.
The Shimano Pro Stealth (Wide) has a wide platform, long wide channel, and very little curve. This ended up being perfect for my needs.
Here are some images (links to the owners included) that might help visualize
Relax. A good shop will grind off the rough spots, clean it, and polish it for you before they put it back where it belongs. You'll gain a couple of watts even if you don't buy a new seat.
I recently replaced a classic Flite with a Shimano Pro Falcon Ti Flow saddle and for me it seemed to be a seamless replacement (I was not having a problem with the Flite, had never tried a flow saddle, and I am not having any issues with the Pro).
It may help others to know that Pro makes these saddles in 3 models for shape (flat, rounded, in between) and in several widths (I know of at least 132mm and 142mm).
Their Griffon is the "rounded" model, the Falcon is the "flat" model, while the Turnix is the "in between" model. Additionally, most of these saddles have choices of Ti or carbon rails.
Not surprised at all to see Specialized saddles reported in the article. I'm currently using a 2018 Fizik antares r3 and it's the only saddle I've tried that gets close to the Specialized Toupe'.
I was on an S-Works Power for a while, but have now become an ISM PN 3.0 convert. Since I ride at a pretty low back angle of 37%, my pelvis is rotated forward and I sit on a much narrower part of my sitbones called the pubic rami. About 90% of the time I am sitting on the forked stub nose of the saddle, but a wider flared part in the back is still there for the rare occasions where I am sitting up and cycling at a casual pace.
If you've switched to something like a Pro Stealth or S-Works Power and are looking for even more relief, ISM may be an option. Also anyone with an aggressive hip/pelvic rotation should try tilting their saddle down 2-3 degrees.
Been riding the Pro Stealth on my road bike for a while from the Romin (not the Evo). I had the Power on my TT bike but, the nose was far too narrow. The Stealth with the wider nose and a touch more padding up front is way more comfortable for my style of riding and is a great replacement for the Romin. Fore/aft set up (as always) is critical...
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