Hectus

Hi

I used to ride my bike 1-2 hours everyday, then 1 1/2 years ago i got terrible pain in my crotch region, could hardly pooh or wee for a few months, went to see a specialist and he told me i had perineum damage/injury. Now finally im pretty much symptomless, but i gotten a bit scared of this happening again, so im looking for a diffrent seat that hopefully will avoid this kinda problem. I always used regular narrow seats, usually the one that came with the bike, but i always been carefull trying to adjust everything to fit me.

So anyway, i wonder if any of you have had simular problems and/or know of any "special" seats that comes with good recomandations to avoid perineum injury, price doesnt really matter (unless its several 1000 bucks). I dont really wanna have to go thru a bunch of diffrent seats to test whats good or not, so if theres some seats out there that is known to be good, thats the ones i will try.

Any tips or suggestions is greatly appriciated.

Cyril 

A saddle with a cut out may help.
I'm partial to Brooks saddles myself.
What may be of more value to you is getting a good professional fit.
This will take a few hours of hours and cost you around $300 american.

It is worth every penny.

Or...ride a recumbent.


Cyril

erig007

Noseless saddles like mine the prohub x2 will avoid any contact with the perineum. Since the seat area is flat sit bone width doesn't matter. The only requirements are that your handlebar must be higher than your saddle and you must be below 250lbs. Weight impact how long the saddle will last.

fietsbob

the 2 separate sit pad, noseless ones , is what I will suggest as well ..

ColaJacket

I had an issue with numbness in my perineum riding on the stock saddle. A Selle SMP (Pro) with the large cut-outs got rid of the issue.

Of course, real horse saddle are going to cost a lot more than bike saddles.

GH

PaulRivers

I tried a lot of different saddles, some were better than others but none of them were perfect.

The thing that really fixed my problem was ironically injuring my leg, which caused me to seek out ways to fix it without surgery, which led me to taking Pilates and paying for one-on-one sessions with a physical therapists. I found core muscles that never used to activate because I never used them, and once they were working got their strength up. I just went biking yesterday on a saddle I always used to have problems with, no pain or numbness whatsoever.

That's what I would recommend if money is no object. I'm not sure how much it cost total, I'd say between $500-$1500 altogether though.

ultraman6970

Just to start I would check the saddle height, would not surprise me if you are riding with the saddle too high. Secondly, get a saddle with a cut out.

uprightbent

OMG this sounds awful. Hectus, I wish you good health and please see my thread further down about serious discussions regarding saddle blood flow.

Your desire to get back in the saddle, after such a daunting scare, is part of what I discussed, namely the extreme risks some cyclists will take just to ride a bike, even during or after having medical issues. Not judging of course, but not being able to poo or pee would keep me off a traditional saddle for the rest of my life. That's just too darned scary.

I love road bikes, but you might consider a recumbent. No doubt it's gonna be suggested.

oldgrowth45

A few questions. What saddle did you ride with before the injury? Did your doctor definitely connect your bike saddle to your perineum injury? What type of bike do you ride, what kind of riding do you do? The reason I ask is because a noseless saddle works in an upright position, but sucks if you ride with drop bars. Something to consider.

Hectus

Hiya Folks

Thanks for all your answers.

Getting a custom saddle is definitly something i will look into, but i assume i actually will have to go to a shop where they can measure me and stuff? or can i measure myself and get them to build them? reason i wonder is i think im far away from any shop that could custom build my saddle.

My seat height might have been a bit too tall, or rather when i have measure it, it should be pretty much perfect for me considering the angles on my knees etc, but as an afterthought, it prolly been better having the saddle a bit lower than too high.

A physical therapist might be or become an option, the specialist i went to said it can be hit and miss with a PT, it could get worse instead of better, wich is why i havent done that from the start, but if this problem keeps on, i might just have to try it. The specialist told me to walk and swim to loosen up the nerve again and its what i been doing instead of riding, but progress been slow. Seems im nearly at the end of this injury tho.

I have two bikes i switch with riding, one is a mix between a roadbike and a mountainbike (hybrid?) but u sit in the same position as mountain bike, that bike saddle has a small cutout in the middle, but i never really liked that saddle otherwise, and im pretty sure this is the prime suspect for my injury. The other bike i have is a oldskool (early 80's) mountain bike, with a wider seat with no cutouts, i had this bike for many years and this seat didnt use to give me problems before, but i dont think i will risk using that saddle anymore anyhow. I do not ride in heavy terrain tho, dirt roads, some "offroad" riding on old forrest trails and such, but mostly im on some form of a road.

None of the bikes have drop bars, they both have wide mountainbike handlebars. I dont think the handlebars are much higher than the seat, probably just about same high. This brings me to another question. The handlebar stems going into the fork are adjusted to max at both bikes, maybe i can get a hold of longer stems to get the handlebars higher up? i been thinking about this in the past, but im unsure if thats a safe thing to do.

Noseless seats sounds like what i will try, right now i prolly weight right around 250lbs so my weight might be an issue with the prohub? any other recomendations that weight wouldnt be an issue?

Another question, my bikes doesnt have damping on the frame, since many of the dirtroads i ride on is very bumpy, im thinking that makes the crotch area getting some extra jolts too, what do you guys think about that?

A recumbent, never tried it, but not sure if it will give me the same feeling as my existing bikes when it comes to ride enjoyment, but if it turns out i cant ever get used to a regular bike saddle again, then that is definitly something to consider.

The doctor never linked my injury down to the seat specificly, but it was linked to my bikeriding. Before this happened to me i didnt even know such a injury could happen, but the doctor said it was pretty common amongst bikeriders.

Anyhow, thanks for all ur help and suggestions, if you got more tips, thoughts and/or help, i greatly Appriciate it.

Thanks again, Tom

travbikeman

I'm picking this up later today. Hoping this will be a good saddle.

Specialized Bicycle Components

erig007

I'm riding an hydrid and we've the same weight. What happen to the prohubx2 is that it lost padding after about a year and the plastic sheet that is inside the 2 small noses broke. No big deal since it was 5 years ago and i'm still riding on this saddle. The only difference is for long distance rides during which discomfort comes earlier than before.

Anyway, you should try the spiderflex it has a wider cutout, slightly more padding and comes with a suspension system. (you can adjust the width of the cutout on the prohubx2 but only up to about 1 inch wide)
The Bird Wheel | Noseless Saddles: tested & updated

Whatever the noseless saddle you choose i will advice you to get stem raisers and some suspension seatpost.
I use those 2 types together.
https://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/3...-handlebar.jpg
https://media.rei.com/media/700227Lrg.jpg

For the suspension seatpost, you could go for a suntour ncx.

Hectus

Hi again folks

Been a while since i started this thread, but not its summertime here, or spring rather, and i figured i would give my bike a go (still with the old stock seat).

i rode standing and took it easy for about one hour, i notice the nerv(s) aint completely happy now either, but i did some exercise/stretch after and im hoping it will settle down and be fine. If so, a new saddle will be bought soon.

Anyhow, while i was standing there riding, a thought came to my mind. I dont really mind ride standing, cept i feel i cant stretch my back out completely, simply cuz i cant get the handlebars/stem any higher. My bike is a 58cm frame, wich should be around 23 inches (wich is kinda odd cuz i seen 28" bikes thats smaller) but since this is an 80s bike, maybe the measured the frames diffrent? idk but my thoughts were, wouldnt getting a bigger framed bike, allow me to stretch out more?

Another thought is to get a longer handlebar stem wich would allow me to raise the stem even more, but idk if this is safe, or if the fork, where the stem enters, is made to tolerate more than the original stem lenght?

I had an accident many years ago where i raised the stem up the max level, and it still broke off while riding downhill, so im a bit vary messing with the stems, but if its safe, im in for it for added comfort.

Thanks again for help, tips and thoughts.

Tom

NYMXer

OP, I hear you on the past injury concerns (I used to race motocross and have had many injuries over the years) and while I had past injuries, the love for the sport was stronger than my fears. Each injury brought me back stronger and wiser and I wish the same to you.

With that said, I offer you some basic but valuable advice. First, take you and your bike to a good fitter and get fit. The fitter will recommend a saddle and probably a stem, etc so that you ca ride without hurting yourself and more safely too. Once your confidence is restored, you will spend more time on the bike, get healthier and hence, faster too.

Good luck, post back what worked for you so that others can learn from your experience.

Hot Potato

Adjust the saddle so that there is only pressure on your ischeal tuberosities (sit bones), always use your feet to bear weight especially when coasting, and bear weight on your arms when under power. This way only a fraction of your weight is on the saddle and is on your sit bones. If you can't achieve a fit that does that, I sure hope a saddle change makes it possible. Start with a level saddle, avoid nose up. Nose down can be hard to sit stable as well.

Flip Flop Rider

moonsaddle