The role that bicycle saddles might play in male impotence is destined to become a national fixation now that the New York Times has weighed in on the subject.
In the Tuesday article, “Serious Riders, Your Bicycle Seat May Affect Your Love Life,” the Times reports that a number of recent studies demonstrate that bicycle saddles — even ergonomic ones — do little to protect the sex organs.
“We make kids wear helmets and knee pads,” Dr. Irwin Goldstein told the Times. “But no one thinks about protecting the crotch.”
You're wrong, Dr. Goldstein. Most cyclists I know think about protecting their crotches at all times, on and off the bike. It's an obsession.
All the recent hubbub started with the September issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, which carried three articles dealing with bicycling and erectile dysfunction. In it, Dr. Steven Schrader, who studies cycling at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said past studies established the link between bicycle saddles and erectile dysfunction. One study found 5% of men suffered problems.
In fact, Schrader himself has researched the subject in regards to bike police. According to a press release from the the Journal's publisher, nighttime erections were of “poorer quality” in bike cops than other police. He concludes:
“The next steps are quite clear. Effective strategies based on sound ergonometrics and urogenital physiologic principles and testing are needed to reduce the risk of erectile dysfunction from bicycle riding.”
Schrader further concluded that “the health benefits from having unrestricted vascular flow to and from the penis are self-evident.”
The specialists tell the Times that the pressure on Alcock's canal in the perineum is the problem. The canal carries an artery and nerve to the penis; too much saddle pressure cuts off blood and sensation.
A cyclist on a typical-shaped saddle (like that 30-year-old bad boy at top left) puts 25% of his weight on the nose putting pressure on the perineum.
Even ergomonic saddles (like the one at top right with a cutout in the center) can cause problems, the researchers told the Times, as the perineum's arteries run laterally and come under pressure at the edge of the cutout.
The Times published a drawing of a better bicycle seat, suggested by Dr. Goldstein. It's much wider than the standard with almost no nose. The rider sits his two pelvis bones, just as he would normally.
Personal observations
Moving from science to my own impressions, I'm one of the lucky ones who has found a safe saddle. But I had to experiment.
The last bike I bought — a Lemond — came with a saddle that had a cushioned center area. I would go numb 30 minutes into a ride. No adjustments worked. I was surprised that the “cushion” seemed to make matters worse.
Going to the Performance catalog, I ordered a different style that was padded all over with the cut-out center. The Forte Classic, made in Italy. It worked. Two years ago when I rode the Seattle to Portland Ride and back, covering 400 miles in three days, I suffered no ill effects down there where it counts.
Recent Comments