I’ve always liked narrow, firm saddles like, my all time fav, Selle Italia Flite. I did however, reasonably frequently, get numbness down there. That was with one of those Selle Italia saddles with the ‘wing’ design.

I’m not getting any younger and we want to expand our 1-child-family in the next few years so want a saddle that’s kind to my ‘man bits’.

Are all saddles with a cut-out along the perineum designed to keep blood flow unobstructed? Are some better than others? Is there anyone who’s had a particular seat recommended by someone in the medical profession?

I’ve also read that numbness can be caused by “poor technique”. What does this mean? The only info I can find says that seats should be pretty much horizontal; mine were. What else?

Thanks

Brooks B17 Imperial – perfect:

Cheers

Danny B

I’ve got through lots of saddles over the years…Selle Flites to more recently Charge Spoons…but I did suffer numbness/pins n needles of the ‘man bits’ so got on the Classifieds and tried a few saddles and I’ve settled on Spesh saddles with the cut out grove…Avatar and Phenom currently. Doesn’t seem a lack of padding makes much of a difference to ‘numbness’ as design/fit as my Spesh Phenom saddle has barely any padding but doesn’t leave me uncomfortably numb

tip your saddle forward more. Mines tips forward quite a bit, but it means I no longer get numb nuts!

FYI, rough idea of my saddle angle, really comfortable for me.

Nuke – I’ve always been a mile cruncher/ XC type and can sit on hard, narrow saddles all day long; I’ve got a narrow, bony arse. The numbness certainly wasn’t unpleasant! The Phenom does look good.

Sounds like you did some research. Can you shed any light on the “poor technique”?

seosamh77 – and if it gets uncomfortable, you spread the blanket over the seat!

Dannybgoode – doesn’t really fit the bike’s aesthetic 🙂

Thanks for the replies.

edit: that saddle’s broken and not mine – looking for a replacement.

I’ve always been a mile cruncher/ XC type and can sit on hard, narrow saddles all day long;

Me too really. It was coming up to doing the SDW that really got me to sort it out; I figures if it was numb after 50 miles it would have fallen off by 100 miles…like docking a sheep’s tail 😉

Nothing to add really on poor technique…trial and error I’m afraid in terms of the saddle choice and saddle angle/position. See if have my saddle up slightly at the front as I hate sliding forward…gives me back ache but that’s a whole other topic. Good luck!

I’d look for best fit rather than necessarily a cut out groove. Measure your sit bones and look up saddle widths.

I’ve also found (on the road bike more so as that’s where most of my miles are currently) that as I tire I tend to ‘slump’ forwards a bit, which puts pressure on my bits/peri-wotsit. If I concentrate and roll my hips back a bit I can feel the pressure move to my sit bones where it should be. This is probably more a core strength thing and maybe not so pronounced on MTB where you’re likely a bit more upright, but should still be considered IMO.

God knows.

I reckon any saddle can cause numbness if you don’t shift around a bit.

Doesn’t seem to matter if it’s got a cutout or not for me.

The Rolls I’ve currently got on the roadie is very flat and rounded – should be a nightmare and cause all sorts of pressure issues, but it’s fine.

Very minor adjustments in height and tilt seem to make massive differences, but I can usualy get on with most saddles.

I, er, tend to dress to the right.
I tend to ride the same way, to avoid inadvertantly sitting on/squashing my gentleman’s area.
I even resorted to twisting one saddle very slightly to the right, relative to the frame, to get comfy.

Currently own a Rolls, a B17 Narrow, Velo Ti, Spa Nidd and a Charge Spoon.
With a bit of adjustment (to the saddle 😀 ) I can get comfy and avoid numbness on all of them.

Thanks.

Guess I’ll have the wife get a tape measure out when she gets home from the pub and measure those sit bones.

I loved those ‘wing’ design saddles but was always afraid of

If you’re manly enough, you can sling your manparts over your shoulder to get them out of the way 🙂

On a more serious note, I have noticed is that what works in one case doesn’t in another.

For example I can use an SDG I-Fly with when I ride a 24 hour mtb race on my singlespeed and have no discomfort even though I don’t wear any padding in my shorts.

Yet if I go for a long road ride with that saddle it gets uncomfortable if I have an easy gear (singlespeed).

My theory is that on the mtb there’s less time spent in the saddle so your bits have a chance to recover.

I agree with the above, MTB’ing tends to get you out of the saddle a bit more and i tend to shift about a bit any way, i always stand up for the free speed just to get set up right and save the sitting down for when its absolutely neccesary “Hangin Out” fitness wise i mean not in the case of our fury friend above
😯
When cresting a hill try and stand more often to get a few pedal strokes in as its often a case of sat in the saddle spinning it out for too long which will cause the numb feeling, aleiviating the pressure often enough will definately help,

It may sound like i’m teaching you to suck eggs but when your doing all the other things required to stay upright an moving the time elapses so quickly you could have been sat on the nerves for a good half hour without releiving the pressure,
some saddles will certainly help but at the end of the day if you sit on anything long enough its going to get sore,

Specialized Toupe on 2 road bikes and now on mtb

agree with most of the comments and add: I suffer a bit if I am lazy on my commute. sitting spinning = less pressure on feet + more pressure on saddle. I am building a singlespeed atm and in preparation have banned myself from from using the lowest gears on my bike (bottom 3). more pedal pressure when seated + more standing = happier man bits.

As has already been suggested, get your sit bones measured & start with a saddle that actually fits you. Small adjustments will get you sitting on the sit bones & relieve pressure elsewhere & one with a Channel/cut-out will help if you also tend to slump forwards when tired.

I always thought this was pointless but after some surgery down there & spending quite some time with a consultant I’m convinced it has made a huge difference to my comfort on bikes – both road & mtb.

I had the numbness problem on my road bike but never on the mountain bike. You don’t get off the saddle so much on the road and with a 12cm saddle to bar drop everything would go numb after about half an hour.

I bought a Selle SMP Dynamic with the big central cut out which has sorted the problem completely. Can’t say as it will work for you though as it’s a personal thing.

By the way, note that ‘sit bone’ width varies depending on the angle of your torso on the bike, and the extent to which you roll your hips forward. The ‘right’ saddle width will therefore depend to some extent on your bike set up and posture.

I always thought this was pointless but after some surgery down there & spending quite some time with a consultant I’m convinced it has made a huge difference to my comfort on bikes – both road & mtb.

You had surgery ‘down there’ to stop going numb on long rides? 😯

Nope, not to prevent numbness but post-surgery I was advises on how to protect it all.

I use winged saddles with a cut-out on all bikes.
I also find minimal cushioning/ gel helps – padding seems to make my bum ache.
my road saddle has virtually no padding on, with a bit more for MTB as your sit bones can take a bit of a pounding.
never had any numbness – but I think this can depend on your physiology as much as anything else so is very individual.
you should also think about rails as well and how much give there is.
I have one saddle with chromo rails and one with some sort of titanium alloy and the former is more comfortable.
this is my current fave – I have two versions of this one with more of a tilt at the back.

also make use of loan saddles from likes of specialized fizik selle italia etc so you can proper test and see what you like before buying

Thanks everyone.

There’s a Specialized shop close-ish and I think they do saddle ‘fittings’.

What’s that saddle Brakes?

That’s not a cut out. this is a cut out I have on mine

awesome saddle on the road bike. Very comfy

That’s not a cut out.

isn’t it? ok. it’s a different type of cut out then?

it’s a Selle San Marco SKN. not sure they do it anymore but there are lots of similar variations from Selle San Marco and Selle Italia.

isn’t it? ok. it’s a different type of cut out then?

I meant it in a Mick dundee “that’s not a knife stylee

I like Flite saddles, but now use an SLR out of preference as I’ve found it more comfortable. Not sure if that helps at all as I don’t think I’ve ever had numbness problems (or difficulty with conceiving), but it is worth having a try of something which looks like it ought to be less comfortable (it is the proverbial “saddle like a razor blade”). Have never really felt the need of a cutout, but clearly it helps some.