
Beyond saddle type however, there are a slew of other variables you should be asking about - predominantly related to fit - when doing your homework. There are many ways to find a bike saddle, but rest assured none of them involve squeezing the saddle with your thumb and saying, “hmm, soft.” The right place to start is a shop that gives you the opportunity to demo saddles till you’re blue in the - well, happy with how it fits when you ride it. “You can, however, look at things like cutouts, shorter saddle lengths, no-nose saddles, and different foam densities to help, all of which we’ve seen make a big difference in saddle pressure for men and women.” “Not every rider will have the benefit of doing a tissue scan of their pelvis,” he says, talking about the extent to which his work strives to create pressure-free designs for all types of riders. Having spent years working for the leading bike fit system in cycling, Getter says trying different saddles with alternative foam shapes, cutouts, lengths, and contours is critical to solving sensation problems. If the fit is correct, sized for your sit bone width and suited for the kind of riding your doing, it should give way to the experience of riding a bike altogether, says Garrett Getter, an exercise physiologist and current product manager for saddles at the aforementioned California-based bike maker, Specialized. Sitting in the saddle should give you the same enveloping feeling you get when you sink into your Eames chair - the comfy lounge and ottaman, not his hard plastic designs. “That forced a change in modern saddle design, led by people and companies who sought to relieve pressure from the pudendal and penile arteries and veins to prevent scarring - the cause of numbness and dysfunction and ultimately diminished sensation in men in the first place.” Why Does My Taint Hurt? “Numbness in the groin and incidences of erectile dysfunction got real 20 years ago when these studies were released,” says Pruitt from his home in Colorado (coincidentally home to one of the top ranked cities in the US for cycling).

When Specialized started focusing on limiting damage to the pudendal nerve - the main nerve of the perineum that carries sensation from the penis to the anus (in other words, your taint, grundle, fleshy fun bridge) - Pruitt says it changed the dynamic between saddles and penises forever.

(Interesting and obvious though seldom talked about factoid: women, too, get sensation issues from riding by way of numbness around the clitoris, vulva, and edema in the labia). A similar German study - one that’s still cited by bike fit experts - noted a 50 percent increase in reported cases of erectile dysfunction amongst cyclists versus guys who didn’t ride - certainly not the best endorsement for a bike-riding commute.Īndy Pruitt, EdD, athletic trainer and author of “ Andy Pruitt's Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists” is an expert on bike fit and cycling injuries and explains men (and women) who ride have bike companies like Specialized to thank for decreased taint troubles. This Norwegian study looked at 160 riders and found 33 of the respondents experienced penile numbness and 21 reported impotence lasting more than one week. Taint Troubles Broken-DownĬycling and numb taints go together like peanut butter and jelly and you can thank two decades-old studies that coupled groin pressure with dated saddle designs for that. Why overthink it, right? But, could riding your bike be causing or contributing to a numb taint and worse, long-term sexual health problems? It depends entirely on the fit of your seat. It’s good for getting around, low carbon emitting, and best of all, helps keep you fit. These include "guiche," "geesh," "gooch," "chode," "swabble," "bonch," "nifkin," "runway," "fleshy fun-bridge," "million dollar pressure point," "durf," and "grundle."and in Britain its known as the "barse" as its between the bollocks and the arse.Most guys hop on a bike without giving it a second thought. There are various other slang terms associated with this region of the human body. "Well, t'ain't part of the penis and t'aint part of the asshole." Originated when medical professionals were trying to find a suitable alternative to the term perineum, after a man complained of having sesame seeds on his taint.

It's called a taint because t'aint your balls and t'aint your ass.

This term has no basis in medical terminology and is most often considered lewd and obscene. Taint is a term used to refer to the perineum (the region of the human body between the genitalia and the anus). This article needs to be more elaborate and truthy. This Article Doesn't Contain Enough Truthiness
