Hi - I'll start out by stating that I've never tried a spongy wonder seat. I'm 61 years old and have been riding since I was 4. I've been a luke-warm randonneur which means I've done half a dozen 300 km rides and many 100 km rides. There may be exceptions, but my own experience and my observations of many hard core (male) randonneurs I've met and ridden with tells me that traditional seats (which is all i've had the opportunity to observe), even when properly adjusted, cause a considerable degree of discomfort over the course of a long ride. Those who quarrel with this are either rare physical marvels or in severe denial. This is not to say that my health has been damaged by such seats, but the discomfort and numbness caused by a long ride on a tongued seat is a reality for most bike riders. There is scientific evidence that, for example, 100% of dedicated mountain bikers (classified as training for 2 hours per day, 6 days per week) suffer lowered sperm counts. An Austrian study published at "Frauscher F, Klauser A, Stenzl A et al. US findings in the scrotum of extreme mountain bikers. Radiology 2001; 219: 427–31, PubMed" says,


"mountain bikers have a higher incidence of abnormal scrotal findings than those not cycling." Abnormal findings in this study included scrotal calculi in 69 men (81%), epididymal cysts in 39 (46%), epididymal calcifications in 34 (40%), testicular calcifications in 27 (32%), hydroceles in 24 (28%), varicoceles in nine (11%), and testicular microlithiasis in one (1%).


Aside from lower sperm counts I don't know what most of these things are, but I suspect that most of these findings will be found to be applicable to any serious cyclist and the reason for all of them is due to the pressure applied by the tongue of the seat to the area between the anterior of the anus to the base of the penis. Perhaps a seat alternative that does not apply pressure to areas that tongued seats, no matter how well adjusted, undeniably do apply pressure to, might be worth considering.


As for the issue of tongue control (in the bike seat context) while proceeding rapidly down-hill at speeds in excess of 35 miles/hour, I would not be tucking in my legs and placing the majority of my weight or even a substantial portion of my weight on the saddle. In the event of a sudden blow-out, it would take more than tongue control to save me if that's how my weight was distributed. At high, down-hill speeds, your weight should be primarily on your pedals with your weight evenly balanced on each pedal. Of course, if you're not coasting but pedaling vigorously to attain ever higher speeds on your downhill run, your odds of a wipe-out if you blow-out increase dramatically.


I've gone down hills in Banff on my antique Raleigh Pro at speeds closer to 50 than 35 mph. Nasty, negative thoughts about my abilities to survive a blow-out have crossed my mind at times like that (but it is a rush!). Nevertheless, I doubt if the finer points of tongue control and falling off the seat will ever be a practical issue for most casual bike riders or even commuters.


I did notice that most of this thread's critics of tongueless seats, like me, have never tried them and are relying on theory and tradition for their opinions. Interesting!