Saturday I took a friend’s Coker out for a ride. After about 1.5 mile, I came upon the Germantown Mayor’s 5k about to start. I lolligagged around till the gun and started at the back of the pack.
Soon the glob of runners had stretched out giving me plenty of room to manouvre. I started picking them off one by one. Got somewhere in the middle of everyone. Fun. Whereas, I can see that a 36" Coker could win such a race, I’m not that used to it.
Anyway, after about 4 miles (the orig. 1.5 added to 2.5 of the race), my crotchal zone was feeling like a constant state of testicular vice-grippage. I tried to stand on the peddles and almost crashed on a little runner. I hopped off and walked about 50 yards, which let the boys spread out, thus relieving the pain. Got back on and finished the last 1.5 miles.
Statement: On my “little” Unicycles, I can stand up on the peddles. Also, the rides are shorter duration (sometimes only seconds). MUni cycling I’m up and down a lot.
Question: Commuting 5 or 10 or 26.2 miles, how does one handle this delicate tissue issue? Constant pressure = bad times.
Well, every one knows my answer…cornstarch! (or baby powder, samw results and cornstarch is basically free…get a bagfull from a bulk store for about $2)
Before your ride, if you have saddle time as a priority, throw some CS down the back of your shorts and the front. Don’t be shy, reach down past and thing dangling, and make sure there’s plenty of powder. Too much, and it clouds all over the place and makes a mess (but other than that, you can’t use too much)
Also, bring a baggie with some in it for the ride, and once you start becoming uncomfortable, through another load in (trying to be as private about the whole ordeal as possible)
I did this for the first season on my didtance rides, but then became accustomed to it. I don’t use any before the ride any more (or during0 but I always carry some with me , just in case. It would be the difference between riding, and walking cuzz I’m in pain.
(no one seems to use this advice, but to each their own, I suppose)
Ok… what else have you been stuffing down your shorts?
But seriously I guess I’ll try it because even with the comfiest seats after 2-3 miles you really start to feel it rubbing.
I too have a question what is your most common well uhh… ball injury. Mine is a wrong mount where all my weight just falls on’em. Thats what my face looks like when it happens according to the video i made.
I don’t think it was the rubbing. It was PRESSURE.
I just read a different post where the writer mentioned the front of the seat was UP higher than normal, thus REDUCING pressure on the genitals.
This sounds bass-ackwards but I think I see the logic. More weight is carried by the butt bones. This Coker’s seat is in a pretty “normal” position.
With these new seat posts, the angle of the seat is fixed. My 30 yr old Uni had an adjustable thingy like my kids’ b*cycle seats. So how does one adjust one’s seat angle?
I had thought that I should develop a “recouperation” technique where if the pressure becomes uncomfortable, I could pull into the slow lane, stand up while peddling for 60 seconds, then take off again. I tried this Saturday, but my legs were already tired and my lousy technique made them moreso.
On most seat posts, the position of the seat is NOT fixed. Look closely and you will see that the support is curved (concave upwards) and that the seat fixing bolts are threaded through elongated slots. This means that if you push the seat slightly forwards, the front tips up slightly, and if you slide the seat back, the front drops slightly. The difference is enough to matter.
Front up makes you less likely to lose the seat when you stand to climb a hill (I don’t use a handle); front down takes the pressure off the intertesticular region.
There are two physical problems, and it is easy to confuse the symptoms: one is direct pressure caused by your weight pushing down on the seat; the other is a feeling of pressure because of bits being trapped and pulled. As you get hot, the little goody bag expands a bit, and there is more opportunity for it to be uncomfortably positioned.
Wear cycle shorts without underwear. Don’t wear shorts over your cycle shorts, and don’t wear anything which has a seam or tight bit to ‘divide’ anything which shouldn’t be divided. use a powdery lubricant as described by other posters if you like. I’ve never tried it.
I find that shorter cranks and a higher cadence somehow conspire to make the seat a bit more comfortable. The other thing is to get loads of practice in. I read in this forum that some people find a Viscount seat desperately uncomfortable. So did I once, but now I comfortably ride for the best part of an hour at a time without getting off or UPDing. A Velo saddle will put less pressure on the intertesticular region, but I find it puts more pressure on the sit bones, and some people report chafing on the inner thighs.
The more confident you are riding, the smoother you will pedal, and the more comfortable you will find it. Keep plugging away, and if all else fails, ask the doctor for something to take away the pain and leave the swelling…
Feel free to change the amount of air in the sadle, or add foam (there is none) - or replace the sadle with your Miyata. I found the sadle chafed on the sides after 8 miles or so. The ViSSScount requires me to get off and walk every 8 miles or so.
While it is particulary hard with that ho’-made job, try to carry some weight through your link arm to the sadle. Dedicated distance folks fit their wheel with handles out front at a comfortable angle to lean on. This helps alot; just a bit less pressure and circulation can go on it’s merry way. There’s nothing like dismounting and not being able to feel your equipment.
After you take a few hills, you’ll have no trouble standing on the Coker’s pedals.
Loveliest Wife was rather concerned that “Little Buddy” might get hurt. We don’t want Loveliest Wife to be unhappy with our Unicycle Hobby. We want Little Buddy to be happy and healthy as well.
<<<front down takes the pressure off the intertesticular region.>>>
I think I disagree with this one. In my experiences, my crotch seems to slide down into the middle of my seat. ) < that but not sideways. i find that with the seat front up, my butt seems to take more of the weight of my body, whilst the boys are happy to not be crushed. ) <with the seat even like that, i seem to migrate towards the centre and the boys are invariably where my weight is concentrated, and most male human beings would agree that this is not the most pleasant feeling. (as in, “it freakin’ hurts”.)
>front down takes the pressure off the
>intertesticular region.
It has also been argued, conversely, that front UP takes the pressure
off the testicular region. (BTW, why bother about the INTERtesticular
region?) The reasoning goes like you get to sit more on the back of
the saddle taking pressure off the front side. Pondering somewhat more
on this issue, I came to the conclusion that tipping up or down of the
seat shouldn’t matter (for testicular pressure) provided:
The seat topside, when seen from the side, is a circle arc;
Both with tipped up and tipped down seat, you don’t stick out of
the seat.
Someone said that the Velo seat is better on the ball pressure issue.
My experience is different (I compare with a Semcycle Deluxe seat
which I think is similar to a Viscount). I find that the Velo is so
soft that you sink further into it with the parts that carry your
weight (sitbones). As a consequence, your testicles (which should not
carry your weight), also get pushed deeper into the seat, resulting in
discomfort.
I have asked this before but have never got an answer: why are
unicycle seats curved as much as they generally are? Do people tend to
loose the seat with certain mavoeuvres? Less curvature should relieve
pressure on your twins. My Velo seat is somewhat more curved than my
Semcycle seat and I think this contributes to the problem. (My
daughter’s unicycle of a brand that no-one knows is curved still a lot
more. For this male it is terrible to sit on (in!) it.)
Please comment!
Klaas Bil
"The first toilet ever seen on TV was on ““Leave it to Beaver.”” "
(1.) The width of the seat changes from front to back. Also, the lowest point of the arc may not be directly above the seatpost. Both of these will contribute to a perceived effect when tilting the seat.
(2.) I’m not clear on what you mean here by “stick out of the seat” which surprises me because your English is extremely good.
I think you’re right that less curvature keeps from squeezing one’s testicles. Other comfort (or discomfort) issues enter. If you had a convex saddle rather than a concave one, your testicles would be happy but I think you would experience alot of discomfort trying to control the unicycle. I wonder what a bench like seat (like a swing) slightly behind the seatpost would feel like. This is the limit in the problem you describe. There, your genitals would remain suspended and out of any pressure zone if you could maintain control without having the seat contact your pelvis.
I know for those who prefer to travel on two wheels, many seats have cut outs in them to relieve pressure in certain spots…
Call me crazy (you wouldnt be the first person), but might that work for a unicycle seat also?
Has anyone ever tried this?
I would, but I just bought my Muni and I’m very short on cash!
It is clear that the reason we yearn for so many Unicycles is because each Uni-discipline requires specialized equipment. With the exception of air cushioned seats, aren’t we just putting basically the same seat on different unis?
Since the Big Wheel Commuters are more for Long Rides and less for twirling, a specialized seat could make sense.
Wider at the butt bones. Split or nonexistent at the home of the twins. The prob is that in order to make a tight turn which comes up even in commuting, one needs at least some seat up front on which to apply twisting pressure.
If the seat is split, then it may take direct pressure off of the boys. But the part of the seat to left and right of the hole would place sharp pressure on the blood vessels which carry life to “Little Buddy”, strangling him to death. Bad.
So, how about a seat that has butt pads then drops out of the way but comes back up out front for twistability.
(I drew a crummy picture but have no idea how to include it. So, I’ll e-mail Lewis and maybe he can include it later.)
for anyone working on freemounting the giraffe, sliding the front of the seat ‘front up’ (as described in an earlier post by mikefule) gives u a touch more clearance in getting onto the thing
and when u land your first freemount, u normally dont care what happens to the twins
for about half a second
i find the chamois in cycling shorts to be very handy in keeping the whole installation pointing up and out of the danger zone
they tell me the prince albert piercing was originally used to tie everything down the one leg for horseriding as i recall
maybe we can use comparable technology and clip it into our belly-rings?
do we have uni-historians who can share with us a pictorial history showing the development of the uni seat?
bearing in mind that the original unis didn’t even have seats
Carry on at this rate and this thread will be getting hits from the dirty mac brigade.
I have a ‘vintage’ uni with a traditional (Brooks style) leather bicycle saddle. With this seat, only the simplest of riding is possible. I have to tip the front up otherwise the saddle ‘wet soaps’ out the the back.
On a normal uni seat, I have never found trapping ‘the twins’ (what a slightly revolting expression) a problem except when mounting. I have found pressure on the intertesticular reasona problem. On long rides, I do develop numbness. I remember this being a problem in my bicycling days, and the cycle mags were full of articles about ‘penile numbness’.
I tend to tip the nose of my Viscount saddle upwards as it aids saddle retention on short steep climbs. I’m not sure it really makes much difference to the comfort. I do find the Velo is a bit more comfortable, but it gets the sit bones more than the forward bits.
What we need here is a poll. Can I suggest we do a survey including length and girth of ‘the little fellow’ and diameter of ‘the twins’, calibrated agains seat angle and ride duration?
Memphis Mud wanted me to post this pic for him since he was unfamiliar with the interface. Apparently it is some kind of idea of a seat to alleviate pain, though when I look at it, it makes me uncomfortable. You know, the old “round peg + square hole + speed bump ==> Pain” axiom. I can’t tell if thats a seat with a hole in it for “luggage” or if its supposed to be some kind of handle.
>Memphis Mud wanted me to post this pic for him since he was unfamiliar
>with the interface. Apparently it is some kind of idea of a seat to
>alleviate pain, though when I look at it, it makes me uncomfortable.
I think this seat might work if the depression for your “luggage”
would be shallower. Gosh, I don’t know if Mikefule has already
harvested some data in his survey but judging from that drawing my
dangling bits could swim in that hole (although OTOH the “Nothing
here” caption is offensive :-)).
And, I would be in for some pain in a UPD, I’m afraid.
Klaas Bil
"Napoleon suffered from ailurophobia, the fear of cats. "
>Klaas Bil wrote:
>> *Pondering somewhat more on this issue, I came to the conclusion that
>> tipping up or down of the seat shouldn’t matter (for testicular
>> pressure), provided:
>> 1. The seat topside, when seen from the side, is a circle arc;
>> 2. Both with tipped up and tipped down seat, you don’t stick out of
>> the seat.
<snip>
>(2.) I’m not clear on what you mean here by “stick out of the seat”
>which surprises me because your English is extremely good.
It is a Dutchism. I meant to say that none of the body parts that
usually are supported by the seat, extend beyond it either to the
front or to the rear. If they indeed don’t extend, the support for the
body is unchanged (except for wider/narrower). I hope that is clearer
now.
I still maintain that a somewhat less curved seat might be desirable,
or at least I’d want to give it a try.
Thank you Animation for getting my drawing up. You’ll have to walk me through the steps sometime.
In order to illustrate what is needed, I’ve exagerated the “nothing here” area. I think a simple depression would suffice.
(I’ll save yall the trouble by including: “Yes, there would be more than merely a simple depression if there truly was nothing there…”)
Anyway, with all the science that’s been involved with crank length, wheel weight, diameter, etc, etc, etc…I can’t believe more effort hasn’t been focused on this very sensitive area!!!
I just tried that today and it really worked. After 3 1/2 hours of hardcore trials/Muni w/out stops I wasn’t feeling like i was just kicked in the nuts (<----see how bad off they would be) and it almost felt like that I was only riding for about 15mins. My little buddies were very happy and so was I:D :D(<—see how happy they are). All three of us thank you.
Thats what my face looks like when it happens according to the video i made.
