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Title: TAKE A (SAFER) SEAT ,  By: Koeppel, Dan, Sports Afield, 00388149, Winter99/2000, Vol. 223, Issue 1

Section: MOUNTAIN BIKING

LAST YEAR, A UROLOGIST made headlines when he warned men that bikes were so dangerousthey should be banned. Panic resulted. Bikers flocked to doctors because of “numbness down there.” Companies made saddles advertised as friendly to the funny fellow. Man-tastic saddles are now the bike world’s hottest accessory.

“Why take chances?” asks saddle designer Dr. Roger Minkow, citing a study of Norwegian long-distance bike racers. “About forty percent of riders experienced numbness,” he says. “Afterward, eleven percent were temporarily impotent.” But does numbness lead to permanent damage? Should casual riders worry? Can certain saddles prevent problems? Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Bike-related impotence may happen because of the way you sit. Your weight can crush the artery that brings blood to your precious friend. If there’s permanent damage to the artery, less blood flows into the area. Another theory is that bike seats damage the region’s sensitive nerves: no feeling, no frolic. Although permanent harm is harder to prove, “There’s no reason not to try a safer saddle,” argues Minkow.

I’ll confess: Sometimes I get numb. My biking buddies report similar nonsensations. So I got a bunch of the fella-friendly seats and tried each for a few weeks. The saddles generally fall into three categories: ones with cutouts–daylight where your buddy can rest without excessive pressure; ones with padded inserts; and the Minkow-designed saddles, sold by Specialized, which have a Y-shaped rear cutout that tapers along the length of the saddle and is effective since the artery mentioned above winds its way around from the back.

Which saddle will work for you? Well, lots of things contribute to comfort-rider position, anatomy, weight and style. Men and their parts come in all shapes and sizes. These are the saddles that I favored, in order of preference. Your results may vary, which is why you should ask your bike dealer if you can exchange one if it isn’t to your liking after a few test rides.

Koobi Splitfit: These saddles are fork-shaped, with a bisected nose and a cutout running halfway back, turning into a divot along the way. It looks weird, but the Split-fit was my favorite. The workmanship was great, the padding perfect–plush, but not mushy. Koobi’s Splitfit Au (877/KOOBI-NOW) is $69.95; the more heavily padded Si is $49.95 (bonus points for a 90-day money-back guarantee).

Specialized Body Geometry: Last year, Specialized offered two versions of this seat: a light, narrow one for racing and a more padded version. The Minkow-designed product was such a hit that eight versions are available in 2000. Yes, this is overkill, but the mountain bike-specific ones, in various weights and widths, have a major improvement: The rear cutout now has a sort of plastic fender, which keeps mud from shooting up your back end. Applause/And like the Koobi, it eliminated numbness. As for comfort, if you buy Minkow’s argument that the rear wedge is essential, then it shouldn’t matter that these seats aren’t terribly plush, at least by my taillights. Specialized Body Geometry (408/779-6229) saddles cost from $49 to $129.99.

Bontrager Race Day: This is a narrow saddle with trimmed sides for easy rider movement; the shape makes it excellent for technical riding. A soft-center insert-basically a gel-filled divot–provides protection. This saddle felt the most like a “normal” saddle, in both the good and the bad sense: It reduced, but didn’t eliminate, numbness. Bontrager’s Race (920/478-4670) can be found in several color combinations and two models-steel rails ($90) and titanium ($140).

Georgena Terry Liberator: This company spent years making bike products for women, but in 1999, it introduced a male version of its Liberator saddle, with a huge center opening. “It’s ironic that it took a man’s product to make this company healthy,” says Georgena Terry marketing vice president Paula Dyba. “But we’re thrilled. We love men.” The Liberator saddle is popular (mostly because it’s sold in those catalogs in the seat-back pockets on airplanes), but does it work? It’s a comfy saddle, but numbness reduction was less than total. The Liberator (800/289-8379) is available in the $45 original and a $70 titanium-railed race version. New models, narrower and seamless around the divot, are due out in early 2000.

RUBBED THE WRONG WAY: Saddle sores and chafing quickly appear with a lot of riding-especially if you don’t wear padded shorts. And keep your shorts clean-riding in the same pair that you sweated a bucket in is a guaranteed chafe. If you get sores anyway, clean the area and use a diaper rash ointment, like Carbolated Vaseline or A&D, or smear it into the pad of your shorts. A Swiss companymakes Assos Chamois Creme, a lubricating cream especially for cyclists. Your bike dealer can order it, or you can check out assos.com.

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By Dan Koeppel

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Source: Sports Afield, Winter99/2000, Vol. 223 Issue 1, p41, 1p

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