Numbness down below

giftgrub

I'm back cycling to work after a long break.

I have about a 25K round trip and up til the other day I was using my old mountain bike, heavy as hell, a real b***h on the hills.

Anyway i got a new Giant Escape this weekend under the bike to work scheme and used it for the first time tonight.

The ride in was grand but at the end of the home stretch i noticed little numbness in the crotch!!

It kind of worked itself out after a few minutes but was a little weird to say the least.

Anyone got any advice on this?

Cee-Jay-Cee

It's very common and happens me too. I changed my saddle to one with a cut out but still get it depending on where I'm sitting on the saddle. I've ordered a new saddle (ProLogo Kappa Evo PAS) as the other USA cheap eBay job

djfattony2000

Angle of saddle can cause this too. Move it a degree or two pointing down.

seamus

This is caused by pressure on the perineal nerve. It's not a serious issue, but as you've found it's weird and uncomfortable and over the long term can lead to dysfunction down there. So you'll want to sort it.

It's all down to the angle and height of the saddle, but in some cases it might just be down to you and your saddle not being compatible. Seeing as you're going to be spending a lot of time on the bike, it would be worth getting a bike fit done.

outfox

+1 on the bike fit. Makes a big difference.
Before trying the bike fit though, I'd play with the saddle tilt. I found even 1 degree can make a difference.

Beasty

Are you wearing proper (padded) cycling shorts?

bazermc

Happens to me a lot, but I already have two kids so not worried at all

giftgrub

bazermc wrote: »

Happens to me a lot, but I already have two kids so not worried at all

I know all about it.....

adjusted the saddle this morning, tilted it downward. seemed ok for the ride in anyway

kumate_champ07

seamus wrote: »

This is caused by pressure on the perineal nerve. It's not a serious issue, but as you've found it's weird and uncomfortable and over the long term can lead to dysfunction down there. So you'll want to sort it.

It's all down to the angle and height of the saddle, but in some cases it might just be down to you and your saddle not being compatible. Seeing as you're going to be spending a lot of time on the bike, it would be worth getting a bike fit done.

yes it is. I know from personal experience..

everything working fine now

some of the non cutout saddles that say they have relief in that area dont work too well if your heavy as the padding is inadequate. I use a spirit level to set my saddle, got a Specialized Riva for my commuter, Romin for my race bikes. cheap saddles dont give problems when your on them for 15min journeys but once your sitting down for more than 30mins, and especially for a couple of hours, you will need to make sure youre not causing damage down below and get a proper fitting saddle

seamus

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

yes it is. I know from personal experience..

As you can see from the rest of the sentence, what I said is that in isolation a single occurrence of numb nuts is not a serious issue, but it is a serious issue over the long term

I'm glad you got it sorted.

kumate_champ07

seamus wrote: »

As you can see from the rest of the sentence, what I said is that in isolation a single occurrence of numb nuts is not a serious issue, but it is a serious issue over the long term

I'm glad you got it sorted.

sorry about the premature reply, that never happens to me!

bazermc

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

sorry about the premature reply, that never happens to me!

Ah here lads premature and numbness..................:D Which comes first