so is this new found addiction of mine (cycling) going to remove the lead from my pencil?

i've been reading these forums a lot and there is a lot of chat about numb junk. i know there are a lot of old wives tales babout cycling and future baby making. is any of it to be believed??

It depends a lot on the saddle, time in saddle and of course the pencil.
Numbness is an indication that pressure is being applied to the perineal
nerves and by implication there may be some pressure on the blood
vessels which are in the general area. Nerves stop working when placed
under pressure, but generally recover after hours or so. Sometimes, in
rare scenarios they don't recover. Blood vessels are harder to damage,
not impossible but harder. There is no easy way to anticipate this, other
than see what happens as your rides go beyond 3 hours or so in length.
A few episodes of numbness should not be ignored, but be a sign that at
least you need to look for a more benign saddle (good luck there!!), and
look at altered positioning, padding etc. Recumbents solve this problem
handily, but have their own foibles.

Incidently the hands are also at risk, particularly the median nerve at the
wrist, but also the ulnar nerve. Numbness or tingles in the index/middle
fingers indicates median nerve compression, tingles in the ring and small
fingers mean ulnar nerve compression. Gloves, padding under the handle
bar wrap, and most importantly frequent changes in hand positioning
help here. Straight bars make that harder to do.

Generally speaking the risk of significant functional deficits (hows that for
a quibble) is low, and much less than in the past. I had definite problems
back in the '70s when saddles were awful and post ride numbness was
routine. There was one report about deficits in heavy duty ATB riders
from Italy but that makes not so much sense as ATB riders spend a lot
more time out of the saddle than road riders. The urologist that made a
splash about this 10yrs ago or so later retracted his more overblown
statements. The main point is that it is possible and generally easy to
solve if it occurs. So HB leads should be a short term problem, and
restoration to 4H status straight forward.

Essentially just move around on the seat or get off the seat occasionally solves the problem. There was an article on the this several years ago in Bicycling Magazine. They said that same thing. Sch has the rest of it nailed.

The fizik saddle that came on my old giant road bike would make you go numb in under 1 minute. It was raised in the middle and looked like it was designed by some man hating feminist who hated erections and everything they stood for.

I junked that thing almost immediately

Ok, this is going to fall into the "too much information" category, so consider yourself warned.
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I get some "light" numbness (less if I'm wearing shorts that have contoured padding leaving a cutout in the perinum area). But it doesn't remove any lead from my pencil & I actually have some of my strongest O's ever about an hour after getting off the bike... just as the numbness is disappearing.

i ride about 10,000 miles a year commutin' and runnin' errands everyday and ridin' for fun all year long on all sortsa bikes (all with brooks saddles save one).

this is more'n you need to know, but i do the full-on wild thing on average about 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes more (i have a very sexy and skillful girlfriend--i'm lucky as hell and know it!).:beer::o your mileage may vary.

the whole impotence/cycling thing is overblown.

seriously, just make sure your saddle is adjusted right.

The fizik saddle that came on my old giant road bike would make you go numb in under 1 minute. It was raised in the middle and looked like it was designed by some man hating feminist who hated erections and everything they stood for.

I junked that thing almost immediately

Thread hijack, and if it's the same fizik saddle that came with my new bike, it was designed by a woman-hating misogynist who hated female anatomies and everything they stood for. But I have a (male) friend who has the same saddle and loves it.

Bodies are different.

Sorry guys. You can go back to the lead in the pencil now.

Thread hijack, and if it's the same fizik saddle that came with my new bike, it was designed by a woman-hating misogynist who hated female anatomies and everything they stood for. But I have a (male) friend who has the same saddle and loves it.

Bodies are different.

Sorry guys. You can go back to the lead in the pencil now.

ha ha ha

I see what you did there. : )

Since buying a Brooks B-17, I've had far fewer problems with numbness. Now, my only difficulties come from shorts with padding too thick in the center of the crotch, such that it bunches up. So I've taken to slitting the chamois and carefully removing the excess foam padding beneath to create a groove about 3/8 inch wide and two inches long, then ironing fabric adhesive with a reinforcing patch to hold the chamois together. Works great.

So HB leads should be a short term problem, and
restoration to 4H status straight forward.

hahaha... former draftsman? Or am I just too young to appreciate the days when pencils were made of yellow wood rather than black plastic?

Anyways, to reiterate, any problems down there with your utensil can be fixed with a saddle to fit your body shape as well as your riding style, provided the saddle is adjusted properly. If you're in the aerodynamic tuck position often, you'd need a different saddle than if you do more upright cruising. The proper saddle won't agitate either the lead or eraser ;) ends of your pencil even after hundreds of miles at once.

Being female, I can't talk about my own lead/pencil scenario. My BF used a Brooks, though, and he was just super until it broke in and formed a big ridge down the middle. That's the sort of thing that tensioning won't fix and it certainly took the lead out of his pencil. Of course, we discovered this after biking to a very cute hotel for a weekend and it was awful! He's happy with a Selle Italia with a cut-out, but everyone's butt is different and it can take trying several seats to figure it out. Ask around your biking buddies and see who has spare seats that you can try.

Being female, I can't talk about my own lead/pencil scenario. My BF used a Brooks, though, and he was just super until it broke in and formed a big ridge down the middle. That's the sort of thing that tensioning won't fix and it certainly took the lead out of his pencil.....
I have always found it interesting that the reason that aficionados claim that leather saddles are so great is that they conform to your rear end--but at the same time, they claim that gel saddles are bad, because they're "too soft".

I also like the wildly-different break-in periods people opine: some say a month, and I've seen some say two years or more--but for cowboy boots (which are also leather) the generally-accepted estimate is 10-14 days, if worn every other day. You won't likely hear anyone claim that leather boots take two years to break in.
.....
If you're really worried about it, you can get a recumbent bike. Much better comfort overall, and generally avoids the common saddle afflictions entirely. Plus, when you're on a long-distance ride in a group, you can sit comfortably on your bike at rest stops while everyone riding uprights gets off to "rest their legs". :rolleyes:
~

I have always found it interesting that the reason that aficionados claim that leather saddles are so great is that they conform to your rear end--but at the same time, they claim that gel saddles are bad, because they're "too soft".

I also like the wildly-different break-in periods people opine: some say a month, and I've seen some say two years or more--but for cowboy boots (which are also leather) the generally-accepted estimate is 10-14 days, if worn every other day. You won't likely hear anyone claim that leather boots take two years to break in.


Gel saddles deform and chafe.

Leather saddles take a long time to break in because unlike boots, you're not wearing them 10 hours a day, every day for two weeks. If you put that kind of saddle time in, any brooks would be broken in by the end of the two weeks.

Two bikes, 5 different saddles, not counting the originals. Nothing worked until I got a B17. Just finished a century today and the butt as well as all other equipment is fine.