bike saddles

conormccarthy92

i was just wondering are the rumours about spending too long sitting on a bike saddle leads to impotence. is this true ? also i heard that some saddles have kinda holes in them to help prevent this . true? and if it is true , how many hour a week do you reckon it would take to actually happen?
i was just a little scared

thanks

tomasrojo

I think you'd have to be doing very long cycles (several hours) virtually every day. It's not something that affects commuters or casual cyclists anyway.

conormccarthy92

thanks for the reply. i just needed to make sure:)

triv88

Get one of those gel pads and your balls will thank you for it

blorg

triv88 wrote: »

Get one of those gel pads and your balls will thank you for it

This is actually a very bad idea and is MORE likely to cause problems in that area- your sit bones sink down into the gel and the gel puts more pressure on your bits. A saddle ideally should support your sit bones...

quigley

Get yourself an ADAMO saddle - a real solution for numb nuts

DirkVoodoo

Stand up every so often if you are worried about it to keep the blood flowing. I'd say sitting here with a notebook on my lap is probably potentially more damaging than the cycling I do.

triv88

What about those tight shorts,they were in the press for causing the same
problem but that may have been a slow news week

As long as you are not feeling distressful discomfort and have the saddle properly alligned,not too tilted up or down you should be ok i reckon/hope

-Trek-

Even with padded shorts the stock saddle on my my trek 1.2 used kill me:eek:. Went away and got an allay 2.1 sport saddle (the one with the air cushion) in the end from chain reaction (oh what comfort!):).

blorg

Trekmad wrote: »

Even with padded shorts the stock saddle on my my trek 1.2 used kill me:eek:. Went away and got an allay 2.1 sport saddle (the one with the air cushion) in the end from chain reaction (oh what comfort!):).

Worth bearing in mind that saddles are a personal thing, what is comfortable for one person may be an absolute ass hatchet to another.

triv88

blorg wrote: »

This is actually a very bad idea and is MORE likely to cause problems in that area- your sit bones sink down into the gel and the gel puts more pressure on your bits. A saddle ideally should support your sit bones...

My bad

Gel pad for the win though if cycling to collect your car less then 2km away day after a hangover

blorg

triv88 wrote: »

My bad

Gel pad for the win though if cycling to collect your car less then 2km away day after a hangover

Yes absolutely, for short distances ("around town") they are fine and can be more comfortable, it is only for longer distances they really become a problem.

FrankGrimes

I went through several saddles before coming to the conclusion that the position of the saddle and your overall bike fit has more of an impact on comfort than the actual saddle selection does.

If you're not in the right position on the bike, too much weight is going through the sit bones and it'll be harder to get comfortable on any saddle. Likewise, one of the interesting things I noticed when I rented a power meter was that periods of discomfort on the saddle generally came at times of doing relatively little work - i.e. when I wasn't putting much weight through pedals and everything was going through the saddle. Pushing harder made me more comfortable.

Though blorg is spot on in saying each person may have different experiences with the same saddle, I gotta say that the ones with the hole cut out down the middle do take a lot of pressure off where it counts. I settled on the Selle Italia Max Flite Gel Team Edition and love it. Some shorts have same thickness of padding throughout and that can also cause problems, what you want is shorts with thinner padding at the front than the back to put less pressure on the front end.

nak

Spending long days on the bike obviously didn't do Jens Voigt any harm, 5 kids!

cdaly_

Of course you know how they say prevention is better than cure.

A quick "discreet massage" every time you get off the bike should go a long way towards prevention...

gman2k

conormccarthy92 wrote: »

i was just wondering are the rumours about spending too long sitting on a bike saddle leads to impotence. is this true ? also i heard that some saddles have kinda holes in them to help prevent this . true? and if it is true , how many hour a week do you reckon it would take to actually happen?
i was just a little scared

thanks

I've heard a rumour (unsubstantiated) that one or more male professional cyclists have actually fathered children.
As this is just a wild rumour, I would say to you (as a part time cyclist) don't risk it if you plan to have a family.

topazkk

cdaly_ wrote: »

Of course you know how they say prevention is better than cure.

A quick "discreet massage" every time you get off the bike should go a long way towards prevention...

One time cycling enthusiast Billy Connolly (don't know if he still does or not) used to make reference to post cycle discreet massaging in his show, going on to point the finger at several individuals he suspected of being discreet massagers.