I'm a fairly avid recreational cyclist (male, 42 years old, about 235 pounds) who finds saddle comfort to be one of my limiting factors in terms of longevity on the bike. I'm good for about 45-60 minutes of steady riding -- more if my mind is elsewhere (riding with friends, riding in a new area, etc.). And by "saddle comfort", I'm talking about numbness that sets in in my perineum/scrotum area. I often don't feel the tingle of numbness when on the bike, but after dismounting and walking around for a bit (and blood starts flowing to certain places again), I get a pretty moderate tingling and numbness that lasts for 4-5 minutes. I walk around some and it abates relatively quickly.
I've tried a few different saddles to try to combat this, to limited success. Most nosed saddles seem to be uncomfortable to me because they put pressure in the area that eventually becomes numb. The saddle I've had the most success with us an SQlab 604 saddle. For those who may not know, SQlab's claim to fame is their "step down" design where the sit bone area is elevated relative to the nose area, presumably to allow for more room for "stuff" without putting pressure there. It looks like the 604 is not on their website anymore, but the
602 is very similar to what I have (though the cutout relief area on that looks more accentuated than mine). SQlab have even more deeply contoured designs as well, such as the
621, though I haven't tried them. Though I have experienced perineum numbness with all saddles I've used, I've found I can cycle the longest on my SQlab saddle. As I might expect, softer saddles are worse for this, allowing my sit bones to sink in to the material, creating soft tissue pressure elsewhere.
I have not tried cycling specific clothing. I prefer cycling in street clothes, but there are things like padded base layers or underwear I could try. I'd prefer to do that as a last resort if I can find comfort with other means. In terms of saddle height, I have confidence that I'm at the correct height. My knees have a slight bend at full extension and my legs are straight out if I move my foot forward on the pedal to where only my heel is in contact. I have played with saddle angle some, but it's fairly level. With the SQlab design, the stepped-down nose is definitely below the sit bone area, but the horizontal surfaces of each area are level (as they recommend using it). My handlebar height is about 2" higher than my saddle, which is about as low as I feel that I can go with this. I have found that this has a pretty strong correlation with my saddle comfort. If I rotate my body further forward, I tend to get more numbness, and quicker, than if I sit more upright.
For others who have experienced the same type of struggle with saddle comfort, what do you recommend I try from here? Given that I've found the strongest correlation to be my body rotation (with more forward rotating producing more numbness), should I resign myself to the fact that I just need to sit up taller? Sit bone comfort is more of an issue then, but I can condition that area to longer rides. Would other saddle designs be worth trying? Many are fond of Brooks saddles and similar, though I feel that the convex shape of them, with the pronounced nose area, would be counterproductive to me. They're expensive enough that I haven't bought one just to try it, but would buy one if enough folks, formerly with perineum area numbness, recommend them.
I appreciate all constructive ideas! Thanks in advance.