Help Restore Blood To My Genitals

Rod11

I'm looking for someone who thinks they might have a backside like mine (dare I call it a bum buddy?), as I'm getting fed up with numbness in my junk due to the silly things we call saddles. I've tried various models from various brands: generic Giant saddle, Prologo Choice Pro and Nago Evo TTR, Specialized Avatar and Romin, Fizik Arione, Bontrager Paradigm, all with varying degrees of success but none of which I'm ultimately happy with. I've had my sit bones measured, so I'm on the right size, I've had a bike fit so saddle position isn't the issue (I would suspect), but I'm still searching for the holy grail.

So if you, like me, have tried some of the saddles above and haven't liked them either, I'd love to hear from you. Whether it be other saddles that you tried but haven't agreed with, or you've finally found the one that works, I just need help trying to narrow down the next one to try. I'm thinking an ISM Adamo Road (especially as you can try them for free) or perhaps a Selle Italia as I haven't tried any of their offerings. Much love will be sent to anyone who can impart any guidance my way.

napoleond

Have a look at this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=30005&t=12544013

Rod11

It's worrying how long I took to figure out what you meant

ai_1

I was suffering some numbness on longer rides and more severe discomfort and/or numbness when I spent time in a low position especially prolonged periods in the drops even on a half hour fast ride. I tried a few conventional saddles including 2 of the above (Prologo and the Arione) with no joy and decided a saddle with a flat top central surface just wasn't going to provide the pressure relief needed. So I tried the Cobb V-Flow Plus and the Adamo Breakaway. Both made a huge difference. The Cobb almost eliminated the problem. No numbness on relaxed rides and comparatively little discomfort in the drops. The Breakaway was superb with regards numbness and perfect for fast riding. Both felt a little wide when sitting more upright, especially on climbs. This wasn't a deal breaker though. I was getting used to it by thr the time I had to give the trial Breakaway back. I very nearly bought it. I tried one more saddle before deciding. That's the Specialised Romin Evo Expert Gel. It's a more conventional saddle somewhat similar to the Romin you've tried I think but it has a large cutout and a channel that goes all the way to the nose plus the nose curves downwards. I tried it in a 143mm or whatever the middle size is first and numbness was significantly improved but I wasn't overjoyed with general comfort but then tried a 155mm and it was far better for me. For normal cruising I find this he best of the lot. Any numbness on long mixed rides is rare and very minor and it's a generally comfortable place to sit. It's not perfect for fast rides in the drops or clip on extensions but much better than anything other than the Cobb and the Adamo Breakaway.
I've a new bike on the way which comes with a saddle expect to hate. I'm planning to try the new Adamo Attack to go on this if it works well as an all rounder. Otherwise I'll put the Specialised on it and put an Adamo Breakaway or Attack on my existing bike for when I do triathlons and such.

I managed to avoid buying and reselling any saddles in my search. Some people seem to spend a fortune on yje search for a saddle but if you search there are shops that will lend you a test saddle or accept saddles back within 30 days provided they're unmarked. Some electrical tape on the rails keeps them pristine.

PS
If you try an Adamo saddle I'd suggest waiting until you've done a few rides over a couple of weeks before judging it. They are quite different to conventional saddles so your existing adaptation to saddles doesn't fully carry over. It reminded me of when I started riding a few years ago but in different places and less severe. It took a couple of weeks but then I was delighted with the Breakaway once I'd given it a little time.

g00se

I've ridden predominantly flat saddles (toupe, arione, ponza etc) after too much pain on a curved saddle. They've been OK for short to mid distances, but for 100 milers, I start getting numb bits.

I've just started with a Charge Scoop and it's been great so far. I've yet to do a century on it (should get there this weekend) but it's been more comfortable than the others on the shorter rides.

Looking forward to the 'fabric' saddles if this is anything to go by: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/arti ... ins-40534/

housemunkey

+1 for the romin gel expert, just moved to this from a romin and although I wasn't overly uncomfortable the new saddle is a definite improvement. If you can try sigma sport, chap in the shop said I could return it within 30 days as long as I didn't muck the thing up and kept the original packaging. Obviously I've loved it so didn't need to take them up on their offer but seems very fair to me. Not sure if that offer was on all saddles or just the spesh ones though...

wishitwasallflat

SQ Lab might be worth considering, specifically designed for the issue you have.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... dle-31511/

borisface

Just get married and it won't matter that you don't have any blood in your genitals.

on-yer-bike

I cant see how a Romin would make you numb when there is nothing touching your perineum. They can be hard on the sit bones though. Are you sure your shorts are OK? Another brand to try is Selle SMP.

ai_1

on-yer-bike wrote:

I cant see how a Romin would make you numb when there is nothing touching your perineum.

How do you know? Have you taken a very close look at his perineum?
The forward portion of most saddles have little or no cut-out. I believe the Romin has a shallow channel. I haven't tried it but I don't think it would be enough for me. The Romin EVO however has a dropped nose which largely solves my problem. If a saddle like the Romin was sufficient to solve the problem for everyone then there would be no more extreme cut-out saddles. It's not so there are.

littledove44

I tried Selle SMP, Romin Evo expert and half a dozen others.

I settled on Specialized Toupe RBX sport. Hard to find now, but I got three off ebay.

I solved the numbness problem with varying the saddle tilt until I found the sweet spot. For me it is 3degrees nose down. At one degree it's horrible. At five I feel like I am going to fall off, but still three it's perfect. Longest ride on it was nearly six hours. No after affects at all.

cycleclinic

My suggestion is to stop guessing visit a Selle Italia dealer and try there saddle fiting kit. It should suggest the best saddle for you. I think it will be one of the flow saddle but which one will depend on the width of you hip and tigh diameter.

ugo.santalucia

The vast majority of saddle related problems have nothing to do with the saddle. The position on the saddle is what makes the difference. The more weight you put on the saddle, the more you will become numb... show a photo of your set up, that might help

DM222

on-yer-bike wrote:

Another brand to try is Selle SMP.

+1

arlowood

Specialized appear to have adopted the empirical scientific route by measuring penile blood flow. Evidenced in this YouTube video. Competitor's saddle reduced blood flow by more then 50% within 1min and it was down to zero I think after 3 mins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X39e4V-BZjE

Swapping to one of the BG saddles (Romin I think) the rider maintain more than 50% blood flow throughout the test. Presenter claims that they design their saddles to ensure >50% of resting blood flow is retained during prolonged exposure to their saddles.

Just don't dwell too long on how they hooked up the test guy to their equipment to measure his penile blood flow. My eyes are still watering!!!!!

Rod11

Cheers for all the help guys, much food for thought.

With regard to my position, I appreciate this can be a factor but I was fitted by a Trek dealer and they recommended the Bontrager Paradigm, which ultimately was probably the most comfortable, but still not great. So I am more inclined to think I've just not found the right saddle for me yet, rather that having poor fit on my bike.

cycleclinic

Generally the dealers that have the saddle fitting kit will also have bike fitting experience. Ugo suggestion may the answer but there are saddles I just cannot sit on for long and other that anything more than 50 miles starts to cause discomfort - my bike are perfectly set up. As soon I tried the selle italia fitting kit I popped the suggested saddles on my bike and suddenly 100+ mile ride cause no discomfort anymore. You will find your nearest dealer on the chickens cycles website.

meanredspider

littledove44 wrote:

I settled on Specialized Toupe RBX sport. Hard to find now, but I got three off ebay.

Well done - I wish I had as my Toupe RBX is my most comfortable saddle - frustrating that they stopped them. Even the Pro Gel doesn't match it for comfort.

I tried one of the Adiamo saddles on the turbo where I find I have the most comfort issues (I guess because you're not naturally shifting your weight or position) and, whilst I should probably tried it for more session, after an hour I was in purgatory so it went back.

northpole

I'm still playing around with Spesh saddles - toupe and romin evo - however, the following link is to a saddle I've read good things about - just haven't yet tried one. May be worth reading up on these if you are still struggling?

http://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycle-sad ... tAodGUEAsg

Peter

neeb

Toupe has always worked for me. Haven't had any problems whatsoever since I started riding toupes, but my position and general riding skills have vastly improved in that 7 year period so it's difficult to know how much the saddle has to do with it.

Interesting how the toupe is often described as a "flat" saddle these days. It's actually fairly contoured and higher at the back, and when it first came out (about 10 years ago now??) most other saddles were completely flat. My experience is that you want to have the saddle contoured just enough and set at an angle (flat or just a couple of degrees forward, depending on which section of the saddle you are treating as the "top") such that your sit bones are supported and your perineum is just touching the middle of the saddle, but without any significant pressure on it. Not enough contouring and there is pressure on the perineal area, too much and you either slip forward (again putting pressure on that area), or else you need to prevent yourself doing so by pressure on the bars, which leads to back problems..

Saddle position is critical, and I suspect also core strength and general cycling fitness. You shouldn't be hanging off the saddle and pedalling with your legs detached from your butt, you should have your weight distributed between the front and back of the bike and be pushing yourself backwards and upwards on the saddle with your pedalling motion so that your butt is almost floating in the saddle... hard to describe...

DM222

Jack93 wrote:

With regard to my position, I appreciate this can be a factor but I was fitted by a Trek dealer and they recommended the Bontrager Paradigm.

Was this just sitting on a bike in a shop or a proper bike fitting - these are usually at least an hour long and make a massive difference to your comfort on a bike!
A Trek dealer is also bound to recommend Bontrager - it's their own kit!

Rod11

Yeah this was a full bike fit. I do appreciate he would only recommend Bontrager, but my point was that this isn't a position problem (or at least not solely) as one would imagine that if it was then the bike fit would've corrected that.

ugo.santalucia

Jack93 wrote:

Yeah this was a full bike fit. I do appreciate he would only recommend Bontrager, but my point was that this isn't a position problem (or at least not solely) as one would imagine that if it was then the bike fit would've corrected that.

If you say so...
Then nobody can help you, as your ass is unique and needs to find its saddle-match... somebody else's advice is likely not to work for you.
I could tell you get a Brooks or get a San Marco Zoncolan, they've been wonderful for me, but I am not you. I, for one, hate wholeheartedly the saddles with a cut in the middle, so they are not a solution that works for all, the worst saddle I have ever owned was a Specialized BG

DM222

ugo.santalucia wrote:

the worst saddle I have ever owned was a Specialized BG

Me too!

Rod11

ugo.santalucia wrote:

If you say so...
Then nobody can help you, as your ass is unique and needs to find its saddle-match... somebody else's advice is likely not to work for you.
I could tell you get a Brooks or get a San Marco Zoncolan, they've been wonderful for me, but I am not you. I, for one, hate wholeheartedly the saddles with a cut in the middle, so they are not a solution that works for all, the worst saddle I have ever owned was a Specialized BG

I know I do appreciate it's very rider specific, I was just looking for people who had similar saddle preferences to me to perhaps help me narrow the search.

Thanks again for all the suggestions folks.

paul_smith_srcc

The problem with saddle recommendations is that one rider may swear by a saddle and another justifiably swear because of it!

As rule of thumb a saddle width should match your sit bones width in your riding general riding position, a plastic based saddle will often be positioned slightly nose down from the horizontal. As men get older often the channel in the middle of a saddle will help alleviate pressure to help reduce and in my case eliminate numbness.

As an example until my mid forties I used Brooks saddles with no channel, loved them, but when I started to notice that over time I was indeed getting a numbness over a variety of bikes I tried a saddle with a channel, numbness no longer a problem.

ai_1

As above, recommendations for saddles are largely of little more use than another to add to the list. At best, if you know the person making the recommendation has had similar experiences to you with other specific saddles you may be able to extrapolate that their suggestions offer a better probability of a good outcome. However you only know when you try.
One possible exception is the Adamo type saddles. Purely because they unload that entire area and so numbness relief is almost guaranteed regardless of your specifics. Unfortunately though, some people find these uncomfortable for other reasons (some find them too wide, some find they chaff) so they are still not a universal solution. Well worth a try though, especially if perenial pressure and/or numbness is your main problem. BUt as I mentioned previously, you must give them some time before making a decision. They'll almost certainly be uncomfortable for the first few rides but after that it can be a revelation.

cswitch

Selle SMP composit (though this one does take the sit bones some time to get used to)
Selle Italia Superflow
Romin
Toupe

All great saddles (for me at least) and often highly rated by others. However any saddle however good is not going to function as intended with a poor position on the bike.

passout

Selle SMP for me. To get the right model you need to look on their website really as they are different widths. Then buy on CRC or planet x.