Delicate Biking Isuue/Question...

This is gonna be a great thread...and I'm hitting your reputation button just because you're a brave man...!

I am a intermediate biker. Pedal variety. I have a Gary Fisher 'Tarpon' with 2" 'Slicks' on the frame for pavements. I go at it fairly hard for about 15-25 miles a clip 3 days a week. I wear padded Mountain Biking shorts, not spandex that seroius racers wear. My problem, being a guy, is that my 'personal area':funn:goes 'numb' quite easily, like a foot falling asleep. Why is this? And how might I prevent it from occurring? Thanks. All serious responses appreciated. But I do realize I left myself open for some classic one or two liners. Have at it!

Perhaps a seat change??? Contoured for a better fit.....anyone with thoughts on what something like that would like???

I think they make special seats (w/ gel, cutouts) to prevent that, but I don't have the correct equipment to best answer this question ;-).

Your seat might be the wrong height too.

The guidance above it correct. Especially on a road bike, the prostrate gets too much pressure on the standard road bike seats. Some reports indicate that it could lead to reproductive problems for the men. I, too, notice similar experiences on extended rides, and I also have a similar numbness in my arms and hands when riding for long distances, from what I think is carpel tunnel. The answer to the saddle is to get a different saddle.



Here a saddle, similar to the one I have, and it really does help the problem. Looks a little uncomfortable to those people who like the extra-cushiony furry seats, but it feels good to someone who has broken in their bike butt. photo above is a link to the saddle on www.bikenashbar.com -- my favorite cycling internet shop.

I agree it's time to switch around the saddles. Unfortunately, shapes vary in that region, so you may have to try a couple different ones and see if one of them feels better than the others.

I've had good luck with Terry:

http://www.terrybicycles.com/saddles/index.html

Also try switching the shorts out to something with different padding.

Well-padded bike shorts are worth their weight in gold, but the numbness is most likely stemming from too much pressure.

This is gonna be a great thread...and I'm hitting your reputation button just because you're a brave man...!

ditto this comment!....no guts, no glory!

I'm still waiting for someone to post a haiku/song rhyming OMB/numb! :rofl:

I'm still waiting for someone to post a haiku/song rhyming OMB/numb! :rofl:

I love a good haiku

Ouch! Saddle numbness
Padded bike shorts found lacking
Must save O. M. B.

Ok, I think this rates as funny. It is called the Spongy Wonder and has a website under the same name.
I won't even begin to wonder what that metal loop is gonna start on this thread. LOL!!!

Ash, are those armrests or a seat cushion?

Q-What do you call a pack of those guys peddling around 30A decked out like Lance Armstrong?

A-Numbnuts!

I remember my first real long bike trip ... the 50 mile Apple Cider Century Bicycle Tour in Michigan. We were probably about 25 miles into the ride when I had to stop and pee. Ooh Wee! I though I was gonna die. It hurt, or burned so bad that for days I was afraid to pee. I bought a new seat!

I think it has to do with circulation being cutoff for an extended period of time. So now I stop and fluff every so often!

I am a intermediate biker. Pedal variety. I have a Gary Fisher 'Tarpon' with 2" 'Slicks' on the frame for pavements. I go at it fairly hard for about 15-25 miles a clip 3 days a week. I wear padded Mountain Biking shorts, not spandex that seroius racers wear. My problem, being a guy, is that my 'personal area':funn:goes 'numb' quite easily, like a foot falling asleep. Why is this? And how might I prevent it from occurring? Thanks. All serious responses appreciated. But I do realize I left myself open for some classic one or two liners. Have at it!

You fluff your scrotum?

You fluff your scrotum?

just checking to see if they are still there

OMG. This thread has been our dinner discussion. Will just asked for one of these seats so "I don't have prostate problems later in life." I told him that Bdarg and I are more concerned with getting him out of braces first.

Oh, and inquiring minds want to know. How does one "fluff" when packed in those bike pants,?

Perhaps you should consider what I'm sure will soon be dubbed "the clooney"

George Clooney, from an interview in Esquire magazine discussing whether he had plastic surgery on his eyes: "I did get my balls done, though. I got them unwrinkled. It's the new thing in Hollywood -- ball ironing."
http://www.esquire.com/features/george-clooney-0408-2


Leave it to Hollywood to take all the fun out of OMB's. Well, *fun* might be the wrong word...

About your bike seat, I really can't help you there, never had that problem...

Where did my "boys" go?
Prostate takes a bike beating
Thank God! There they are!

Poor numb OMB's
Is that my own hand they sense?
Need a new seat bad!

On a serious note...
Try angling the front of your seat down just a touch. It will feel like you are sliding forward until you get used to the new angle. Helped me...

Ash, are those armrests or a seat cushion?

Yes, those are the seat itself. One for each cheek and everything else apparently just flaps in the breeze. :funn:

I suggest your not sitting far enough back on your seat. Rather it seems your not sitting on you Sit Bone. I think getting properly fit for your bike is really underestimated and under used. A hollow center seat might help but if your position is bad a new seat may not help. Do your clips have cants to align your knees? Try getting fit I'm sure that'll fix you and your boys. Numbing the Boys is not good.

OMG. This thread has been our dinner discussion. Will just asked for one of these seats so "I don't have prostate problems later in life." I told him that Bdarg and I are more concerned with getting him out of braces first.

Oh, and inquiring minds want to know. How does one "fluff" when packed in those bike pants,?

At least he is thinking ahead, as in the future. He is mindful that he needs to carry on the Darg name.

If Squirt sees this thread, he will likely stop riding any bike, immediately.

Guys are wusses anyway.

I here that there are two types of male riders. Impotent and ones that will be impotent. Don't confuse that for important.:shock:

OMG. This thread has been our dinner discussion. Will just asked for one of these seats so "I don't have prostate problems later in life." I told him that Bdarg and I are more concerned with getting him out of braces first.

Oh, and inquiring minds want to know. How does one "fluff" when packed in those bike pants,?

I once heard of people that get paid as professional fluffers!

I once heard of people that get paid as professional fluffers!

Yeah, that's what former Gov. Spitzer said he had hired the prostitute to do- "fluff" him after bike rides.:roll: