Bicycle Seats – Leather, Padding, Virility
If there was ever a topic ripe for a big fat non-conclusion, bicycle seats is the one.
1) What’s good for the racer may not be good for the touring cyclist.
2) What’s good for the hen may not be good for the rooster.
3) What’s good for the young may not be good for the old.
Bicycle Seat Discussions May Lead To Nowhere
A couple of years ago I witnessed an exchange between the old and the young regarding bicycle seats while attending the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California.
A couple of young dudes began showing off their carbon fiber saddles (and I mean carbon fiber, with nothing else betwixt seat and chamois) to one another.
Several pretty old, bold guys, of about my age, felt invited to the ‘comment party’ and proclaimed the saddles to be appropriate for only the young, and by the tone of their voice- the foolish. The dudes took their comments to be complimentary, suggesting that the current usage of the word ‘foolish’ may have changed substantially.
At first blush, my reaction was to be incredulous that young fellers could subject their ‘down unders’ to something so hard. Then I blushed again and realized that the diaper-like chamois protruding out from beneath my butt crack was substantially padded. So a bike seat with absolutely no ‘pillow top’ benefits by the amount of padding we carry with us.
Now in light of this, it almost seems foolish to put up with all that obstruction between the legs, only to think we need more on top of the saddle. But then again, to be a modern-day fool may be a good thing. I’m not sure, I’ll have to ask some young dudes.
Different Bicycle Seat Shapes For Different Purposes
Seasoned cyclists don’t like the nomenclature ‘bicycle seats’. They prefer saddle.
I think that jockeys riding very fast horses are atop ’saddles’. Obese tourists are definitely riding on a type of ’seat’ when on a horse (or donkey).
While the comparison isn’t perfect, a bike racer who’s spending a lot of time unweighting them self from the saddle while really working the pedals doesn’t need as much saddle/seat under them. A more casual rider, who achieves their riding goal sitting more upright on the bike seat while moving svelte legs does need good seat support.
Cutaway Saddles To Maintain Virility
What’s a virile guy to think? Are the pudendal nerves traveling toward the penis damaged by traditional saddles?
In the Journal of Sexual Medicine, September 2005, the esteemed professor of urology at the Boston University School of Medicine, Irwin Goldstein, had some very negative things to say about the cyclist’s pudendal nerves. He explained that the cyclist’s saddle presses on this nerve, preventing messages from traveling along the nerves.
As an aside, the esteemed writer of this article notes that a measurable reduction in IQ would be recorded in young male riders should messages not travel freely between their two brains. I’ve seen no such research.
And all of this because of the nasty, traditional cycling saddle!
The PeePee professor, Dr. Irwin Goldstein, comes off as being very intolerant in the following quote, “men should never ride bicycles. Riding should be banned and outlawed. It’s the most irrational form of exercise I could ever bring to discussion.”
But no one talks to Irwin at cocktail parties…
It’s OK to be perturbed at being named Irwin, but to level such venom at our sport… Surely some of our avowed enemies across the Atlantic would be more appropriate targets.
Brooks Makes A Comeback
My old Raleigh 3-speed had a Brooks saddle on it. Hey, it’s easier to say ’saddle’ rather than ’seat’ when the item is absolutely, completely, and almost solely made of thick leather. These Brooks saddles of old would slowly shape themselves to our ‘netherland’
dimensions and riding comfort improved. It was a slow process and by the time it happened, a few lads were off to college.
Other, irresponsible boys left their bikes out in the rain and those misshaped , grisly leather saddles weren’t good for much more than dog chews.
But Brooks is all the rage now. In an effort to save the planet, many greenies have taken to parking their cars (or selling them entirely).
Their fender-clad bikes are often sporting a leather Brooks saddle. despite the fact that other greenies have pointed out that the methane farting cattle who contributed the leather have a significant impact on the greenhouse effect.
But what’s a well meaning greenie to do? Make a saddle from the skin of a potato?
Coming full circle, that’s my non-conclusion. And a good one, at that.
