spikedog123

Just wondering if anyone experiences crotch numbness with a properly broken in Brooks saddle. Most every post about Brooks extols its virtues, no one every talks about crotch numbness. Is it really that great? I have my B-17 on order and hope it doesn't have any undesireable side effects- like impotence.

I love to ride but I like other things even better!

bwgride

I ride a B67 and find that I must stand on my pedals every 30 or 40 minutes for a few seconds to allow for proper circulation, but other than than the B67 works well for me.

mycoatl

I don't have numbness w/ a B-17 like I've had with other saddles. I do have a little "discomfort" after a while, though, but it's pretty minor and seems to be a symptom of sliding a little forward without realizing it. When I notice it, I stand for a few seconds like bwgride, and when I get back on the saddle I consciously make sure I'm all the way back on it where I'm supposed to be. After that, the discomfort goes away.

jamawani 

Have you considered touring with Monica Lewinsky?

acantor

Maybe there are people who can ride in the saddle for hours at a time, but not me. I either get off my bike every 30 to 60 minutes for a couple of minutes, or coast while standing on the pedals for a minute or two to relieve pressure. A little rest and a lot of postural variety go a long way to increasing seating comfort.

One way I find that helps to "impose" mini breaks is to stop and get off the bike to drink or eat.

OP: Check the position of your saddle and make sure you are using it correctly. It is usually easier if someone else does the observing, especially if the person understands bike fit.

late

pics

baldman

The other posters are right. Every once in a while, stand up and get some blood flowing.
I make a point to stand up, put my feet in the 3/9 position at least once every half an hour, then drop the heel of my front foot, giving myself a really nice calf/hamstring stretch, then repeating with the other foot. This also gives the *boys* a break.

Speedo

+1 on the occasional standing breaks. Once you've got your Brooks broken in, and its position on the bike dialed in, you shouldn't have any numbness problems.

Speedo

Bacciagalupe

Sounds to me like numbness is not a common problem with B17's. My guess is that the B17 supports most people's sit bones very well compared to the narrower saddles that are in common use, and is much firmer than gel saddles. Those aspects likely keep the leather saddles from cutting off pressure and blood flow in vital spots, thus avoiding numbness.

Even so, I concur that with any saddle, it's a good idea to stand every now and then.

Re: impotence, I agree that numbness is a Bad Thing; if your saddle makes you numb but is otherwise comfortable, try to adjust it first. If you can't adjust it right, get a different saddle.

However, fears of impotence are IMO greatly exaggerated. If you're riding 200+ miles a week and regularly feeling numb, then you have cause for concern. Less than that, and it's unlikely to be a problem. Remember, a lot of the "omg cycling will kill the family jewels!" is based on research on competitive pros, who are clocking tremendous numbers of hours on ass-hatchet saddles and are training themselves to ignore any and all pain and discomfort....

c_m_shooter

If you have numbness problems, your bars are probably too low.

milnerpt

I keep the nose of the seat down a little... if I am level, my crotch goes numb also. i guess you could also raise the bars, figure that would do something similar

robmcl

Very interesting timing with this thread. I just posted another thread describing my experience with this last weekend.

brucewiley

The frustration is when you get a bit of numbness & also have chronic trouble with numb hands and then stop to pee. Well, you get the picture.

scumglob

i had bad numbness... very bad in fact

then i realized my sit bones were almost wider than the seat itself.

so i got a B192

it's very nice, just a little loose

BrooklynRider

The Brooks B-17 wasn't a match for me. I broke it in and it's exceedingly comfortable to my sit-bones, but on a drop-bar bike, it's an ass hatchet for me. It's now on my commuter which is a flatbar bike and it has found it's home. I tried a few saddles and now have the Koobi Enduro AU on my road bike. I wanted the Brooks to work, but somehow, and sadly it was not to be for me on the drops...

+1 on getting you ass off the saddle even more often than every hour! Stand on your peddles fairly often and you shouldn't have issues. If you do the saddle is not a match. Good saddles are easy to swap and that is a good thing to try. Try lots of saddles, including other Brooks, if you can.

mtnroads

I gave up on Brooks for that very reason - numbness. I would slide forward and end up on the softer tissues. If I set it slightly nose up like many do, I don't slide forward.. but still get numb. My old B17N was well broken in and as my sit bones sank into the leather, guess what part I ended up on? Yep - the soft parts. Too much hassle for me. I mostly ride on Terry saddles now - the Fly Ti is on my carbon bike and the Liberator is fitted to my T2000 and Trek 970. They are leather and well made. I still have a no-name on my singlespeed but am thinking of trying a Body Geometry.

quester

Count me as another guy who has had numbness problems w/ every other saddle I've used, but none at all w/ the B17, and I've put in a lot of miles.

oldride

I have a new B17 on my city/tour bike and a Terry Liberator on my road bike. The B17 has less than 4 hours on it so its not broke in and it does cause numbness. I stand and adjust my sit position often so its not too bad. I'm expecting it will get better when broke in. The Liberator is much better but I still need to stand occasionally.

hockeyteeth

I had problems going numb with the B-17. I have yet to find a saddle that doesn't make me numb, however. I'm even currently taking a month off the bike entirely to allow things to recover. It sucks big time. I have to go see a physician about it tomorrow, in fact.

jpmartineau

+1

The Brooks works well for me, but fact remains that it's a bike saddle, not some sort of magical object that you can sit on for 8 hours straight without any adverse effect. I stand on my pedals after 10-15 miles, and all is good. The occasional break also helps.

If you get regular numbness, after just a couple of miles, well that's another thing. Either your saddle isn't well adjusted (its tilt), or you're sitting on it wrong, or you're leaning too much (some people have reported problems with "triathlon bars").

theranman

I now have a bit over 100 miles on my B17, and I'm still having pain in my "taint"/perineum/soft tissue. Yeah, it feels better when I stand (duh), but when I sit back down, it starts burning again after a while. Will give it some more time, and if it doesn't get better, will consider getting rid of it or cutting a Selle Anatomica type slot into the leather. As for the sit bones area, it's just fine.

If I was forced to get a new seat, I'd probably get a Koobi of some kind.

climbhoser

No numbness, but some discomfort.

Check out the Brooks Imperial thread in the Classic & Vintage forum. It's a new Brooks, probably coming to market this fall, with a cutout. I'm testing one and it is a SIGNIFICANT improvement. Honestly, I knew I had some pressure in the perineal area with the Champion Standard, but it felt normal, like any other saddle until I tried the Imperial. I've ridden the Imperial 700 miles, and I got back on the CS yesterday and it was like some evil little gnome was prodding me in the perineal area all day!

buddhawarrior

hi, I've always had problems with numbness. I ride centuries and tours mostly.

I like long rides, but usually during a long haul, i become numb.

I wanted to try a brooks because every one I talk to swears by it. But after trying it out for an hour, I decided that it wasn't going to work. Here's why...


I have ridden a salle Italia Flight Saddle for 10 years now. Every half hour or so I would have to get up and let the blood flow. But sometimes i get lazy, especially after 70 miles on the road. I get tired and lazy and just want to sit and peddle. But that would usually lead to pretty bad numbness.

I bought a Brooks Swift, hoping it would solve my problems, I love the way the brooks look and thought the idea of a custom fitted saddle to be ideal. But after an hour of moving this thing around and trying all different positions, and trust me, I tried hard, I didn't just spend $150 bucks to have this thing fail on me. AND I a bike frame builder, I know my body mechanics and riding positions and proper fitting of saddles. Here's my list of reasons I finally came up with that UNsold me on the brooks.

== The metal ledge on the back of the saddle. ==
I am use to scouting way back on my flight saddle. This allows my sit bones to be really high up, relieving the pressure on my frontal soft portions. The metal ledge on the brooks doesn't allow me to do this. I have to sit forward on the brooks to have my sit bones on the comfortable leather portion. BUT this soft leather part sags and flexes, putting my soft good smack on the hard nose of the brooks. This nose section probably will not soften as fast as the sit bone flange. Which means it will only apply more pressure on my chode as the saddle breaks in.

== The short surface of the saddle ==
My flight is slightly longer than the brooks. And is padded front to back. The brooks has unridable portions in the front and in the back. The metal ledge creates a huge problem for me. This metal ledge will never soften which reduces the already shorter brooks saddle by an additional 2 inches.

I am quite sad that I can't use this beautiful brooks. It is so nice and hip, and expensive. but I will have to go back to saddle searching.

tomn

I had numb dick often with my Brooks Flyer. I sent it to Sella Anatomica and had them cut their LD slot into it. No more numb dick. It really is comfy. I have about 1700 miles on the saddle with slot.



Tom

Sixty Fiver

The B17 Imperial is a great saddle as it relieves that perineal pressure and one can take a more aggressive position on the bike...

When they go into full production I expect the demand to exceed supply.