Riding after urethroplasty
 

In mid February I had a freak biking accident that resulted in a torn urethra. After 6 weeks with a catheter it had not healed correctly so I had surgery to repair the tear, followed by another 3 weeks with a catheter, then 3 weeks with limited activity and finally all is back to normal, except for cycling. I should be I to return to cycling in June. I am glad that everything had healed and I would like to keep it that way. I am somewhat worried about urethral strictures, or other problems happening at the repair site. I have been looking into noseless saddles to try and relieve pressure in this area. If there is anyone who has experience with a situation similar to this I would appreciate any insight you could offer.

If this post would be better located somewhere else, let me know or feel free to move it.

Thank you

:eek: that must have hurt! This is a difficult predicament for riding a bicycle. I don’t have any suggestions but I can offer encouragement.

If it's of any help ...
Following prostatectomy 2 years ago I was fitted with a penile prosthesis to deal with ED. (And it certainly does - but that's another story.) The additional plumbing made the use of normal saddles - Brookes, Specialized - from uncomfortable to impossible. An ISM PN1.1 saddle has been just the thing for the road bike: many thousands of pain-free miles since getting it.
I imagine that whether it would be right for you may depend on how deep your tear is. The ISM takes all the pressure off everything from the scrotum forward. If the tear is in the area behind the scrotum and before the urethra reenters the body it may not be the answer.
Good luck!

If all else fails, recumbent

ABSOLUTELY!!!
Even if its for just a few months... Remember that it takes about six months to repair, that is grow in, the multilayered complex tissues in the pelvic floor. Things need to heal and kinda scar in without becoming the type of scar that is not flexible.

Yep Buddy... Its time for the recumbent!

Follow up from the OP just in case someone in the future is looking for a solution to this problem:


I would like to thank you for the support and advise received, and apologize for not replying sooner. I did try a recumbent, but did not particularly like it, so I just abandoned all things bikes for 6 months. After getting clearance from my doctor to resume riding as long I was using a seat with some sort of prostate relief; I tried several different seats with a cutout, slit, grove... all of them resulted in discomfort after several miles of riding. I suspect that some of this problem was also mental - the thought of a saddle nose re injuring things or causing other problems. So I researched nose-less saddles and despite the mixed reviews decided to give one a try. I went with the type that is two individual pads - one under each sit bone, there are several of these on the market all of them seem to put all of your weight on sit bones and none on your perineal area.


It works - I can ride for miles without any discomfort down below. It did take a while to adjust, I ended up raising my handle bars up slightly (6 degree stem to a 15 degree stem - equivalent reach), I would consider my position mildly aggressive with my bars about level with my saddle. Having a seatpost that is able to micro adjust is useful - the angle of the seat makes a big difference and it took me a lot of little adjustments to get it comfortable. I am still getting used to not having a nose on the saddle - while I would not say that I don't feel safe, I don't feel as in control as I used to. With that being said - I am using this on my commuting bike (Salsa Vaya), I am not racing, I live in the flat lands of south jersey so I am not descending anything technical. On my rides which are mostly flat and straight it works fine, your mileage may vary. Even with raising my handlebars, there is definitely more weight on my hands and arms - I have been working on my core strength and it seems to be helping. While I don't think that this type of saddle is for everybody it has allowed me to get back on a bike and enjoy riding again. If you are racing or doing technical riding this might not be the saddle for you, but for touring, commuting, cruising ... if you are in the same position I was it might be worth trying out.

Good to read that you found a seat that works. What manufacturer/saddle did you finally decide to buy?

I had it narrowed down to the spongy wonder and the spiderflex. I went with the spongy wonder because of the ability to adjust the width between the pads. After getting it set up it didn't seem to be much of a factor so I think that either seat would work.
I tried the Hobson easy seat - and didn't really like the fact it rocked - it was comfortable it just felt weird. I also used The Seat for a bit, which seemed to apply more pressure where I did not want it.

Road cycling after penile implant
 

So I'm considering an implant and I spend a lot of time on my road bike. I really appreciate your post and I wanted to follow up to see if you have found the ISM saddle is still working for you with the implant? Thanks

A shade under 20,000 km later, yes, certainly.
I will say that if I ride long - say over 100km - the general area of inserted plumbing does get slightly irritated, but feels fine by the next day. (And don't know about you, but the love-making capacity is slightly reduced after a long day in the saddle in any event)
If in doubt, you could probably pick up a fake Adamo saddle on the well-known auction site to try before taking the plunge on the real thing. I've one on the track bike and it's fine for that purpose. Importantly, the split nose dimensions are exactly the same as ISM use.
No question - I cannot ride anything else.
And my original PN1.1 is still on the bike, 17000+ km later. Probably got another 3-5K in it. Ye cover is gradually wearing out on the nose.
Hope this helps.

This post has been really helpful and thank you all for posting....Just had urethroplasty surgery this past January and looking to start back riding in April of this year. The ISM PN 1 is the leading candidate but I do have a S Works power saddle with Mirror on my current road bike. Anyone following this thread with soft tissue issue have experience with the S Work Mirror saddle ?

This thread has been really helpful to me as well, thanks a lot! It's reassuring not to be alone with these issues. I had urethroplasty surgery last December and a look forward to ride my road bike anytime soon. Biking is one of my passion so I don't want to leave it aside, but at the same time I really don't want to go through this kind of surgery again ... My road bike is equipped with Specialized "Romin EVO Comp Gel" saddle, I felt good on it before surgery but now I feel a bit of pressure on soft tissue, just tried today for few km. I was considering the Mirror version (S Works Power Mirror or S Works Romin EVO Mirror) but have no experience on these yet. I also want to give a try to the ISM one, especially the PN4.0, might be the best candidate, but may not fit to my wide sit bone width.