bike eagle

One of my frustrations with saddles and bike shorts is that they often seem to be working against each other.

The saddle manufacturers logically try to remove pressure from the crotch area through the use of cutouts and complex curves. On the other hand, the bike shorts manufacturers (who are often the same company) seem to be working against that by placing padding right back in those same areas. The result is pressure coming from the shorts padding instead of the seat padding. Different cause, same result.

It seems to me like shorts manufacturers should have padding under the sit bones only, and NONE in the crotch area, but I have yet to find a pair of shorts like that. Does anyone know of any?

DaveSSS 

If a saddle like those made by SMP is used, there is no saddle in the center and the pad in your shorts will work better.

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...nt=Selle%20SMP

tomato coupe

Locating the edge of a pad anywhere in the crotch/saddle region might cause more problems than it solves.

rumrunn6

I wear thin lined tri-shorts. no "padding". you might like them too

bike eagle

I respectfully disagree. I have tried several saddles with cutouts like the one you linked to, and if you are wearing typical cycling shorts with pads in the crotch area, the pad still rests on the sides of the cutout and presses up against your testicles (for those who have testicles, anyway).

I just think that padding in cycling shorts for male riders that presses up against any parts of the male anatomy is counter-productive to what's being attempted through the use of saddle cutouts (discounting saddle with no nose at all, of course).

bike eagle

I think that, with all of the complex shapes you see in modern pads, it should be possible to taper the sit bone pads in such a way as to avoid that problem.

bike eagle

Thanks. Link?

bike eagle

Honestly, I think the reason why guys like slim saddles and padded shorts is because the slim saddle looks fast and makes the rider look more "cool" and "tough," and the padded shorts make him look more "well endowed" than he really is. Human nature I guess.

Kontact 

it sounds like you're wearing your shorts incorrectly. The testicles should be up top, in front of your thighs, not underneath anywhere close to the saddle. Cut outs are for the perineum, which is further south.

terrymorse 

If your testicles are coming into contact with your saddle, you're wearing your shorts wrong.

Edit: @Kontact beat me to it. See Post #9.

tomato coupe

Yeah, that's it. Without a doubt.

bike eagle

When you're wearing cycling shorts, are you saying that you don't have any padding touching and/or around your testicles? The only way I could achieve that with any cycling shorts I've ever owned would be to pull them so far up behind me that the sit bone pads were up around my kidneys.

bike eagle

I'm not saying that my testicles are contacting my saddle. I'm saying that the padding between my testicles and the saddle is filling that gap to the point where the padding is pressing against my testicles. The saddle presses up against the padding, which in turn presses up against my testicles. No padding, no pressure. Yes padding, yes pressure.

Darth Lefty 

Bikeforums: Shouldn't bike saddles and shorts work together?
Specialized: Hmmm...




Specialized: Our new Body Geometry SHT system ensures you and your bike are one with the road. Note: BG-SHT saddles only compatible with BG-SHT shorts

DaveSSS 

SMP sells a variety of saddle widths base on the width between sit bones. That has nothing to do with looks. I got lucky and got the right width the first time. No comfort problems. SMP starts with the assumption that wider people are likely to have a wider distance between sit bones, so the larger your waist size, the wider the saddle. I have a 30 inch waist, so the narrower models are suggested.

I have to agree that testicles shouldn't be bearing against the saddle.

terrymorse 

You're still wearing your short wrong. Unless you're sitting on your abdomen (where you man parts should be), then you're riding wrong.

bike eagle

Man, I'm confused by your answers. Let's try this. If you were naked, and sitting on your bike in a normal riding position, would your testicles be contacting the saddle? Or are you saying that yours somehow stay up between your thighs instead of hanging down?

bike eagle

Maybe this thought process will help explain what I'm saying. Suppose you are riding in unpadded shorts, on an old-school saddle with no cutouts. You are unhappy because you feel pressure between the saddle and your testicles and/or perineum. You complain to your saddle maker, so he solves your problem but creating a cutout in your saddle to relieve the pressure.

Later, you complain to your shorts maker about pain in your sit bones. He starts by making you some shorts with padding under your sit bones, but instead of stopping there, he puts padding all over the whole crotch area, including the areas where your saddle maker put the cutout.

Now, your sit bone pain is gone, but you still have the pressure where the cutouts are, thanks to the shorts padding in that area.

terrymorse 

My man parts don't stay up and out of the way by themselves. They are held up snugly by the bib shorts, safely lifted out of harm's way.

This is arguably the best feature of bib shorts.

Edit: While I couldn't find a "how to wear bib shorts" explanation, I did find one for wearing a dance belt, which protects the genitals in the same way. From wikihow:

bike eagle

Ok, and when your riding like that, is there padding in the shorts between your man parts and the saddle? Or is it just the thin fabric of the shorts?

DaveSSS 

I tried sitting on my saddle, just in my underwear. My testicles do rest on the saddle, but the saddle isn't pushing up on them. My Stratos saddle does have an unusual shape to it, so saddle angle is important. You can't use it nose-up. I set a flat piece of metal on it, then set it nose down by 2.5 degrees with a digital level. The bike has to be sitting on a level floor. I like this shape better than saddles that are relatively flat across the top. SMP makes models with even more curvature and some that are nearly flat along the top.

terrymorse 

There is some thin padding in the front of the shorts, but that padding isn't "between your man parts and the saddle". That part of the shorts never comes in contact with the saddle.

(I assume that front padding is for modesty purposes. If that's what the designers are thinking, it ought to go higher. Just sayin'.)

79pmooney

Seats need to work for that rider. Shorts need to work for that same rider, on that seat. If they don't change them. I need narrow seats with cutouts (and not just any narrow seat with a cutout but a seat that works for me). I need shorts cut from patterns that keep my testicles in front and above the seat.. With that, the pad matters little for those guys but thick pads do not serve me well. (I have tested this to the extreme. On the WNB rides. No pad and yes, I would have benefited from support but lack of pad was simply not an issue.

I have found the seat and shorts that work well enough that I pay no attention to either. (Other than saddle sores can be an issue if I get behind on certain maintenance or don't use chamois lube when needed.) I do use suspenders always and much prefer them over bibs that have straps that stretch with age and are not easy to re-tighten.

For me, the seat that works is the Terry Fly. The shorts, Segoi. But don't copy me. Keep trying until you find the ones you don't even notice while riding.

tomato coupe

Just toss them over your left shoulder ... it helps offset the imbalance caused by the drivetrain being on the right side.

79pmooney

With a pair of clip on $19 suspenders all your shorts can fit like bibs. I know no one ever has to address bowel functions in bibs at events with just porta-potties and long lines (poor planning I'm told) but I love the ease those clips give me.