Numb Bits

[JasD]

Hi all

Bit of a delicate matter, does anyone experience numb (male) private parts on longer rides? I dunno if it is my saddle or something but it's a bit disconcerting. The numbness seems to last a few hours after the ride.

Does anyone else experience similar symptoms?

 

[welsh dragon]

It could be a combination of whatever you are wearing, your saddle, and whether it is the right height, too far forward or back.

Do you wear padded shorts? What kind of saddle do you have? Did you have it fitted or is it the saddle that came with your bike? A lot of different things it could be. Work through what it could be one thing at a time.

 

[fossyant]

Saddle might not suit. Are you getting pressure on the undercarriage - might be worth looking at a flatter saddle.

 

[DCLane]

Shorts - sometimes there's too much frontal padding for the saddle angle. Had the same issue on PBP with no-reoccurrence once I swapped shorts.

Does the saddle have a cut-out? That may help.

 

[JasD]

Thanks for the replies.

The saddle is a Fabric Scoop Shallow Race, Ti Rail. It came with the bike. I believe the height and position of the saddle are okay as i experience no other aches or pains. Like i say it's only on longer rides, today's was 125 miles, but it is a fairly typical problem from about 60 miles up. I think there is a fair bit of pressure down there when riding. I use Endura FS260 shorts which are the best i have tried so far.

I'm curious about your cut out saddle suggestion @DCLane. Do you have any experience with these? Can you (or anyone else) make any recommendations as to where to start to look with them?

A lot of different things it could be.

I had to read this a couple of times before realising you weren't doing a Yoda impression, made me smile before i realised though

 

[welsh dragon]

Thanks for the replies.

The saddle is a Fabric Scoop Shallow Race, Ti Rail. It came with the bike. I believe the height and position of the saddle are okay as i experience no other aches or pains. Like i say it's only on longer rides, today's was 125 miles, but it is a fairly typical problem from about 60 miles up. I think there is a fair bit of pressure down there when riding. I use Endura FS260 shorts which are the best i have tried so far.

I'm curious about your cut out saddle suggestion @DCLane. Do you have any experience with these? Can you (or anyone else) make any recommendations as to where to start to look with them?



I had to read this a couple of times before realising you weren't doing a Yoda impression, made me smile before i realised though

Oops. Got things mixed up a bit.

 

[Daddy Pig]

Thanks for the replies.

The saddle is a Fabric Scoop Shallow Race, Ti Rail. It came with the bike. I believe the height and position of the saddle are okay as i experience no other aches or pains. Like i say it's only on longer rides, today's was 125 miles, but it is a fairly typical problem from about 60 miles up. I think there is a fair bit of pressure down there when riding. I use Endura FS260 shorts which are the best i have tried so far.

I'm curious about your cut out saddle suggestion @DCLane. Do you have any experience with these? Can you (or anyone else) make any recommendations as to where to start to look with them?



I had to read this a couple of times before realising you weren't doing a Yoda impression, made me smile before i realised though

Cut out for me these days, I used to use flite titanium saddles and it just caused so many problems. I now use a saddle with a cut out and it makes a huge difference. It definitely relieves the pressure/knob grind that my old saddles used to give...

 

[kingrollo]

Make sure the nose of saddle is at best level - or maybe a very slight downward tilt.
I use a brooks with a cut out - mostly ok - shorts can make a difference as can the terrain 60 miles seated in the saddle - I got numbness - 60 hills miles no numbness ! probably because I was out of the saddle on those damn hills ! - somehow my saddle nose had raised slightly upwards (perhaps it seen a female brooks saddle) - anyway flattened it down no numbness at all now.

 

[mjr]

If you want to search, I think I've seen it called "numb willy syndrome"

 

[classic33]

Numbness......ladies need not read

 

[CXRAndy]

I went to Adamo ISM saddles a few years ago. They take a few weeks to become comfy-this is because you're riding on your sit bones and nothing soft and delicate in between. I have done 10 hour rides and to be honest my backside is the least of my concerns. I now have them on all my bikes and are so comfortable.

 

[Alan O]

I believe the height and position of the saddle are okay as i experience no other aches or pains.

In my experience, finding the best saddle position can be far more subtle than that - quite recently an adjustment of my saddle angle by a single click on my micro-adjust seat post took it from "Feels OK, but there's something not quite right" to "Ooh, yes, that's perfect".

Replacing your saddle or shorts might well be the answer - but before you spend money, I'd really suggest you try very small adjustments to saddle position and angle and see if they make any difference.

 

[JasD]

Lots of great info here, thank you all for your replies. I'll make a few adjustments to the saddle and see if that helps, and if not i'll maybe see if i can get a go on a couple of "try before you buy" cut out saddles to see if that makes a difference.

 

[Alan O]

I should add that before my final saddle adjustment, I was getting a bit of soreness in the perineum (or, as one well-known cycling blogger calls it, the scranus), and tilting the nose of the saddle up one click up fixed it. It will be different for different people, but do try the non-obvious.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I find that, personally, Lusso shorts have too much padding & can feel a bit odd
Giordana, are fine, as thinner insert