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Numbness and Tingling due to perineum issues: Saddle help

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Numbness and Tingling due to perineum issues: Saddle help

Old 02-15-21, 08:35 AM
  #26  
Dirk de Chablis
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When you set up short nosed saddles, there's a few thing you need to do. In an ideal world a saddle fit helps

1: measure your old saddle when it's on the bike, to where the width is 7cm and mark with a piece of tape. This is the centre of all saddles
2: measure from the tape to the centre of your bars or top cap and take a note of the measurement
3: measure to the centre of your short nosed saddle
4: set up your new saddle to the same measurment form the bars/top cap

I hope that makes sense

Also get a good pair of shorts
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Old 02-15-21, 10:26 AM
  #27  
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Since many in US are entirely allergic to metric measurements— OP weighs 120-130kg, which is 264 to 286 pounds.

OP is attempting to ride on a 145mm saddle. That just won’t work. The saddle is made for young racers. Again have to guess that most here have no idea what 145mm looks like. Myself I ride old school leather saddles that are 138mm to 152mm. I am just under Clydesdale weight, exceed it occasionally in winter. Whichever saddle I ride, pretty much every time I ride with a group there will be multiple expressions of amazement that I can sit on something so tiny. It is possible for me because my hips are narrow and I have over 50years with no break from riding these saddles. Most who would wish to test ride any of my bikes quickly surrender from inability to ride one minute on a narrow saddle.
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Old 02-16-21, 04:14 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by masi61
arizkohli - don't give up on learning high rpm cadence drills. I can't say anything more about it now since I am at work.

I do have a question for you and it has to do with pedals and shoes - which ones are you using?
I'm new to cycling; been barely 3 months. Fat, unfit (though a former athlete) and a very heavy smoker. I'm cycling for fitness and because I absolutely fell in love with it. Can't maintain high cadence at the moment for more than a couple of minutes but can grind pretty hard when required for short bursts. I'm getting better each day though and trying to improve cadence and sustain it.

I am on flat platform pedals which have spd cleats on the reverse side. I tried XC showes with cleats for a couple of days but due to poor set up and adjustment it caused me a lot of problems so ditched them and back to flat shoes for now. New shoes are on the way and I will set them up once I lay my hands on them.
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Old 02-16-21, 06:38 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Dirk de Chablis
When you set up short nosed saddles, there's a few thing you need to do. In an ideal world a saddle fit helps

1: measure your old saddle when it's on the bike, to where the width is 7cm and mark with a piece of tape. This is the centre of all saddles
2: measure from the tape to the centre of your bars or top cap and take a note of the measurement
3: measure to the centre of your short nosed saddle
4: set up your new saddle to the same measurment form the bars/top cap

I hope that makes sense

Also get a good pair of shorts

Great Tips!!! Also, check out these comfortable bike seats which helped me a lot and may work for others as well
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Old 02-17-21, 06:56 AM
  #30  
arizkohli
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Originally Posted by 63rickert
Since many in US are entirely allergic to metric measurements— OP weighs 120-130kg, which is 264 to 286 pounds.

OP is attempting to ride on a 145mm saddle. That just won’t work. The saddle is made for young racers. Again have to guess that most here have no idea what 145mm looks like. Myself I ride old school leather saddles that are 138mm to 152mm. I am just under Clydesdale weight, exceed it occasionally in winter. Whichever saddle I ride, pretty much every time I ride with a group there will be multiple expressions of amazement that I can sit on something so tiny. It is possible for me because my hips are narrow and I have over 50years with no break from riding these saddles. Most who would wish to test ride any of my bikes quickly surrender from inability to ride one minute on a narrow saddle.
The adamo island reef saddle I got isn't all that narrow and according to them it changes the way one sits on the bike; so you're not really on your sit bones but the bones further ahead; not sure what they are called.
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Old 02-18-21, 06:10 PM
  #31  
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Modern saddle designs don't work the same way that old school traditional saddles work. They interact differently "down there". I'm 6'5" and when I was clocking up frequent 60-100km rides was in the 120kg/260lb region, and the most comfortable saddle I had was the zero padding Selle SMP Composit. Now traditionalists would say that that skinny little 129mm wide piece of composite covered in a thin skin of leather had no place being under my big butt, but the shape just worked for me 100% and was so damn comfortable to ride on! Selle SMP have some great explanations about how their saddles interact with the body and why sitbones are not the measure anymore. The same sorts of concepts relate to the Adamo saddles and many other brands.
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Old 02-18-21, 10:09 PM
  #32  
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I've been researching a bit and I've heard good things about SMP saddle. I also read that the SQlab range of saddles may be a cut above the SMP.

Check out SQlab saddles here.
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Old 02-18-21, 10:17 PM
  #33  
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Wow--I feel like I just read a post written by my brain. I'm 31, 6'5 and 190lbs with a Schwinn Paramount and Brooks B17 saddle. I've been riding about 120 miles a week casually for close to 6 years and am having the same issues. A couple years ago I started getting sporadic tingling when sitting down at work and thought nothing of it. Now it tingles all the time: sitting, laying down, even sometimes when I'm walking. Now that I'm bored and stuck at home due to covid, I started thinking I had cancer or something. I've seen multiple doctors and had lab tests including an MRI and a VERY unpleasant prostate exam. Everything has turned out normal.

So I started thinking it might be due to the saddle. The confusing thing is that I feel comfortable when riding, no tingling at all. Even more frustrating is that for the past 6 months I put the bike away and started lifting, stretching and walking instead, yet the problems persist. So, I guess I'm screwed.

Has it gotten better or gone away for anyone else?
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Old 02-22-21, 05:21 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by gjgarcia41
Wow--I feel like I just read a post written by my brain. I'm 31, 6'5 and 190lbs with a Schwinn Paramount and Brooks B17 saddle. I've been riding about 120 miles a week casually for close to 6 years and am having the same issues. A couple years ago I started getting sporadic tingling when sitting down at work and thought nothing of it. Now it tingles all the time: sitting, laying down, even sometimes when I'm walking. Now that I'm bored and stuck at home due to covid, I started thinking I had cancer or something. I've seen multiple doctors and had lab tests including an MRI and a VERY unpleasant prostate exam. Everything has turned out normal.

So I started thinking it might be due to the saddle. The confusing thing is that I feel comfortable when riding, no tingling at all. Even more frustrating is that for the past 6 months I put the bike away and started lifting, stretching and walking instead, yet the problems persist. So, I guess I'm screwed.

Has it gotten better or gone away for anyone else?
Mine did get a lot better; almost 80-90% back to normal with a short nosed cut out saddle.But if you haven't been on a saddle for the last 6 months and still have that feeling then there's something else going on there.
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Old 02-27-21, 08:18 AM
  #35  
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Not sure how helpful this is at this point in the thread, but for what it's worth, I switched from my previously beloved B17 to a Spongy Wonder saddle about 7 or 8 years ago due to this issue and have never looked back. Learning to use a noseless saddle took a week or two to get used to it but it's really not a big deal in my opinion.
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Old 02-28-21, 08:45 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by 400E
Not sure how helpful this is at this point in the thread, but for what it's worth, I switched from my previously beloved B17 to a Spongy Wonder saddle about 7 or 8 years ago due to this issue and have never looked back. Learning to use a noseless saddle took a week or two to get used to it but it's really not a big deal in my opinion.
6'5" 260lbs and have used a Spongy Wonder seat for two years before trading it out. I found that the Spongy Wonder gave me saddle sores where my sitz bones sat on the seat. This became a recurring problem with no real solution over time. I then tried the Spiderflex saddle and that saddle solved two issues that the Spongy Wonder and Hobson seats had. First the rectangular cutouts in each seat pad where the sitz bones are centered made the seat feel very much like a regular bike seat with a nose. Second the rectangular cutouts spread the pressure load around the sitz area and all my problems with saddle sores disappeared. Having come from Brooks B17 and 67 saddles I know that seats are so individualistic. It is so expensive and time consuming to sift through the seats trying to find the "right" one. The only bicycle seats that I never had to change out were on a Rans Gliss recumbent and a Ryan Vanguard recumbent. They both worked very well after appropriate adjustments were made.
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Old 04-06-21, 06:25 PM
  #37  
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I’m running an SQ Ergowave 610

My new Zinn Clydesdale promotes fairly upright riding position....totally different compared to my Serotta. I’m 6’6” and 285 lbs with a 37” inseam...40” from bottom of pedal stroke (at seat tube angle) to seat top. The SQ 610 on my Zinn is 160mm and I have it moved forward about 5mm from being centered. It’s a wave saddle, so SQ recommended the forward position.. This saddle has the elastomer insert, which I could probably do without, but the ride is very comfortable with your sit bones on the Step between the rear and the nose....Check SQ out.....I originally had the 612 in a 140mm and it was too hard and not wide enough for the more upright position......the 610 at 160mm is great! I was measured at 135mm sit bone width......
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Old 04-07-21, 01:46 AM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by 55tele
My new Zinn Clydesdale promotes fairly upright riding position....totally different compared to my Serotta. I’m 6’6” and 285 lbs with a 37” inseam...40” from bottom of pedal stroke (at seat tube angle) to seat top. The SQ 610 on my Zinn is 160mm and I have it moved forward about 5mm from being centered. It’s a wave saddle, so SQ recommended the forward position.. This saddle has the elastomer insert, which I could probably do without, but the ride is very comfortable with your sit bones on the Step between the rear and the nose....Check SQ out.....I originally had the 612 in a 140mm and it was too hard and not wide enough for the more upright position......the 610 at 160mm is great! I was measured at 135mm sit bone width......
Thank you. I've heard some great things about SQ Labs. As of now all my problems have disappeared. What I learnt from trying different saddles is that a generous cut out and tilting the nose down on most of the saddles I experimented with worked. A prologo, an ISM and a selle smp stratos. All these worked well for me and I have no numbness nor tingling now. When I look for a new saddle I will definitely give SQ labs a shot.

Last edited by arizkohli; 04-07-21 at 01:46 AM. Reason: added another line
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Old 07-09-21, 02:25 AM
  #39  
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I changed to a Brooks B17 saddle. It's by far the most comfortable saddle I've ever ridden. BTW, I'm 6'6" and 245# so I'm not a petite guy.
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Old 07-18-21, 03:44 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by Dirk de Chablis
When you set up short nosed saddles, there's a few thing you need to do. In an ideal world a saddle fit helps

1: measure your old saddle when it's on the bike, to where the width is 7cm and mark with a piece of tape. This is the centre of all saddles
2: measure from the tape to the centre of your bars or top cap and take a note of the measurement
3: measure to the centre of your short nosed saddle
4: set up your new saddle to the same measurment form the bars/top cap

I hope that makes sense

Also get a good pair of shorts
What is a "short nosed saddle"? When you say "measure to where the width is 7cm, this is the center of all saddles" do you mean all "short nosed saddles"? I'm having trouble with your language because there are all kinds of saddles out there and specific directions like you outline ... I simply can't see them holding true for and ISM saddle AND a Moon saddle to use two examples. Long ago, bikefitters learned to stop relying on component dimensions though they can work in a pinch. But if you sit correctly on a saddle, you can measure from the front of your kneecap straight down (plumb) to the pedal axle and see whether your knee is over the pedal spindle/on it/ behind it. The goal is to have it right over it. That's the theory anyway.
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Old 08-01-21, 09:36 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by arizkohli
The prologo I got is wide-ish (143mm), short and has a cut out but it isn't the magic formula I was hoping for. It cost me over 200 dollars. We don't have the opportunity to try on different saddles here nor any professional sit bone measuring service, I will have to just take recommendations and buy one saddle hoping it works.

143mm isn't really that wide, and it is possible it is too narrow to support your sit bones. I looked up a picture of your saddle, and the way it sways back in at the rear you have to be pretty careful about where you place your sit bones to be fully supported. I would start by measuring your sitbone width. You can take two pieces of corrugated cardboard and lay them on top of a hard surface and sit down on it. You should be able to make indents with your sit bones and you can then measure the distance between them. 143mm to me (from a large person's perspective) sounds like a pretty narrow saddle and it could be possible that it is not supporting your sit bones at all, thus putting a lot of pressure in between. For comparison, I use a 182mm wide Ergon saddle which is their medium/large model. Their small version of the same saddle is still 172mm wide. The width has to be wider than the distance between your sit bones to fully support them. You can also feel this when you are sitting on the saddle. If you feel pressure on anything else but the area around your sitbones there is something wrong. Other things to experiment with would be the tilt of your saddle, sometimes just a slight tilt can make a difference. Also, the type and shape of the chamois can have a big impact. Personally, I am uncomfortable with shorts that have too much padding up front. I don't really understand the purpose of adding padding there as I really only need it around my sitbones. By having too much padding in the wrong areas you could be putting additional pressure where you don't want it.


Finally, I would be careful about doing too much riding until you figure this out. If it causes you this much pain and discomfort it really isn't a good sign in my non-medical opinion.
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Old 08-02-21, 03:33 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by SpecK
143mm isn't really that wide, and it is possible it is too narrow to support your sit bones. I looked up a picture of your saddle, and the way it sways back in at the rear you have to be pretty careful about where you place your sit bones to be fully supported. I would start by measuring your sitbone width. You can take two pieces of corrugated cardboard and lay them on top of a hard surface and sit down on it. You should be able to make indents with your sit bones and you can then measure the distance between them. 143mm to me (from a large person's perspective) sounds like a pretty narrow saddle and it could be possible that it is not supporting your sit bones at all, thus putting a lot of pressure in between. For comparison, I use a 182mm wide Ergon saddle which is their medium/large model. Their small version of the same saddle is still 172mm wide. The width has to be wider than the distance between your sit bones to fully support them. You can also feel this when you are sitting on the saddle. If you feel pressure on anything else but the area around your sitbones there is something wrong. Other things to experiment with would be the tilt of your saddle, sometimes just a slight tilt can make a difference. Also, the type and shape of the chamois can have a big impact. Personally, I am uncomfortable with shorts that have too much padding up front. I don't really understand the purpose of adding padding there as I really only need it around my sitbones. By having too much padding in the wrong areas you could be putting additional pressure where you don't want it.


Finally, I would be careful about doing too much riding until you figure this out. If it causes you this much pain and discomfort it really isn't a good sign in my non-medical opinion.
I'm finding it difficult to get a wider saddle here. But my issues are resolved for now. The cut out and tilt helped a lot.

Turns out that the dealer had installed a women's syncros saddle when I bought the bike and that was causing me all sorts of issues which took a long time to resolve even after I stopped using that saddle. At the moment I'm using a prologo and a selle smp stratos on 2 different bikes and I have no issues. I need to try a wider one for better long distance comfort. I've also got an adamo island reef saddle which I used for a while but I found the nose a bit too wide causing me some chaffing.

Thanks for your help and advice.I am just being lazy not doing that sit bone test you suggested, need to get that done ASAP.
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