Originally Posted by Joe Minton

dwmckee:

I’ll be 73 next Saturday (B-day = 28 Dec 41); of course my prostate is enlarged.

However:
That only worsens problems I’ve had since I was a club racer 50 years ago. Back then I had pain in my perineum and hamstrings. The perineum pain was simply due to my sitting on it for hours at a time (Brooks 17 & 15). There were no alternative saddle designs I knew of and, being young & ignorant, I simple accepted pain as a part of racing bicycles. The Brooks B15 (Swallow) saddle took care of the hamstring problem but left me with the perineum discomfort.

Fast Forward:
I no longer accept that a bicycle rider should put up with sitting on the equivalent of an Axe handle; why should we deliberately apply pressure to an area that was never intended to suffer such insult (medical term ;o).
I currently ride on Adamo Prologue saddles which completely, completely eliminated pressure on my perineum. I have no pain, none at all in the part of my body that used to limit how far I could ride at one time; 100+ mile training rides were more about withstanding pain than, well, any other consideration --- it was stupid what I did in the pursuit of racing.

Consider:
You do not have to suffer with perineum pain. Get a saddle that has no nose, especially those designed by John Cobb (Adamo &, better yet, Cobb cycles’ JOF series). It is the nose of a, of instance, Brooks that presses on your perineum.
Many traditional saddle makers are now bowing to the idea of eliminating perineum pressure. Look for this trend to become, perhaps, dominant as time passes.

Finally:
You do not have to suffer --- at all --- with perineum pressure! Just find a saddle that doesn’t press on it!

Joe