I went out for a ride on my local bike path today and rode a little under 2 miles. When I got back in my car, umm…, how shall I put this…, my penis went numb! Seriously, it started having that “pins and needles” feeling and then went completely numb for about a minute! That’s the first time I ever experienced that sensation! I don’t want to experience it again.
Any of you guys had that happen? 
no, and i hope i never do…
laughs sadistically
Happened to me all the time on my road bike until I bought one of those saddles that has a cut-out in the middle of it to relieve the pressure. That pretty much stopped the problem. The feeling always came back pretty quickly but I don’t know if the nerve damage can eventually become permanent. That would suck 
I haven’t ever sat on my unicycle long enough to experience it. I have a very well padded saddle (Torker DX) that seems to be very comfortable. Maybe you could peel the cover off and cut some of the foam out of the middle part of the saddle for a little relief area.
My brother used to suffer from numb hands due to poor circulation, he would shake them about to get the blood flowing again.
Hope this helps.
Dave:D
careful because i read an article that said that cycling for many years causes impotence, hopefully thats just due to thos really pointy seets.
Raise or lower your seat, change the way that you sit. Penile numbness is a recognised problem for bicyclsits who ride serious distances - hours at a time.
Half the problem is psychological. Half the problem is experience.
Please do not post photographs.
Were you wearing jeans or similar pants that have a big thick seam right under your crotch?
It’s mostly due to the need to sell newspaper and magazine articles. 
I used to road bike a lot. I even did a cross-country ride. I never had anything even resembling numbness and that was back before saddles had cutouts and channels. Part of the problem is people riding on a saddle that doesn’t really fit them. Saddle shape and saddle width makes a difference. Saddle adjustment also makes a difference. Some people have the nose of the saddle angled up too high cause it’s more comfortable that way for lazy casual riding, but it’s not a good thing if you’re going to be riding a lot.
All that said, I got a WTB Laser V for my MTB. Not really because of the channel, but because the shape suits me.
I hate to be the one to break the happy dream we’re all in, but the recent article didn’t specify that impotence happens to cyclists who ride all the time for miles and miles. It specified that ‘erectile dysfunction’ can happen after even one bad cycling experience. Certainly it’s the case that more frequent riding can exacerbate things, but the article mentioned that even one bad squish can cause permanent damage.
Going numb from a short ride strongly suggests that you have placed too great a value on public image (viz., not moving your goonies around to a comfy position). I have three kids and have been riding for 25 years with very few non-riding days over that time, so clearly my jewels were working fine at least three times in the past decade, but since I want to continue enjoying a normal sex life for my remaining decades, I’m always careful to shift things around so that I’m not going to do damage (or at least I’ll minimize it). I try to do this discreetly, but erectile function trumps public image.
I should mention that I’ve had my share of bad cycle/seating experiences. Twice I rode for many hours and later experienced painful peeing for several days. I’ve also had that same numbness you mention, tho usually only after an hour of riding.
Definitely do SOMETHING before you cause yourself numbness again. Good luck.
Also the set up of the bike or rather how the geometry of the bike works for you and your form on the bike have a lot to do with it.
Wheeliemaster. Try positioning your saddle at different angles and see if that helps.Also a good padded cycling short can help a bunch. Try lowering your saddle as well.This will allow you to sort of stand off the saddle and recirculate periodically. Also converting your saddle with an air conversion kit may be of some help.
I’ve gotten that before…its a very uncomfortable feeling. I only get it after riding constantly for like an hour or more though.
I get that very often on a KH seat. It usually starts after about 3-4 miles.
After a while I just get used to it.
It happened on the MS150 ride I did.
After the first day, having had that problem for over 60 miles, I cut out a section of the foam to allow my testicles to sit further in the seat without being squashed. It helped a lot with the loss of circulasion, but the cutout tended to pinch the scrotum and gave me blisters. I think it just needs a little fine-tuning on the cutout, but even so I’d say it was an improvement–though on my usual short (less than 10 mile) rides, it never really bothered me enough to do much about it. After it got bad, I’d dismount and do a few squats, and back on again.
Hope this helps and isn’t TMI.
Wow, only a few wisecracks, but alot of good info. too. I probably should get a better seat. Maybe I’ll try that Torker seat. I have been playing with the angle of the seat to see what works best, it is pretty much in the middle now. My seat is pretty high but it is not so high that I can’t stand up periodically while riding to relieve pressure. I don’t think it is too high because my leg is not completely straight on the downstroke. I am also going to look into some good bike shorts as well. I usually wear jeans while riding but today I was wearing Dickies work pants, they are sort of thin.
Thanks for the replies, I am going to go try that “shaking” thing suggested by Ottowa Dave now and see if that improves circulation! 
hey, just wondering does that Qu-ax 20" trials for $299 on UDC have a comfortable seat? I might get that for christmas and i was wondering ahead of time…
thnx
i’ve gotten that. the kh seat has too much curvature. you don’t really think to move around and get comfortable when you’re numb.
You can do some surgery on the KH Fusion seat to lessen the curvature. It will make the seat more comfortable and give you more room up front so you don’t get squished as much. There’s a picture of the surgery I did on my modified Fusion Coker seat in my Airseat gallery (scroll down to the bottom).
I haven’t done enough riding with the modified Fusion seat to pass judgment on it for long distance (long time in the saddle) rides yet. My Coker wheel is getting rebuilt so it will be a few days or maybe a week before I can get back on it again. I’ll ride it as it is for at least a month. Then I’ll consider some changes. Maybe cutting out more of a scoop in front or a channel in the middle up front or some way of flattening it out even more. It’s still an experiment. But it looks like I’m moving away from the air saddle idea for the Coker. Air saddles have too much squish and that squish puts pressure on the wrong places.
Re: Scary thing happened today.
On Wed, 9 Nov 2005 18:35:01 -0600, David_Stone wrote:
>erectile function trumps public image.
Time for a new sig line.
“erectile function trumps public image - David Stone, commenting on the importance of seat comfort”
I think there is too much emphasis on keeping the average speed up. In my experience, frequent breaks when you get off and maybe walk for some paces and take some solid food in, or even better beer & chips, are a very good thing and greatly enhance the enjoyment factor in my long-distance riding. You aren’t going to break any speed records by not taking breaks - if you want to go faster, get a bike !!
Also I frequently ride whilst pushing down on the seat handle to relieve much of the saddle pressure, without putting too much strain on the leg muscles. Speed can be maintained while doing this. However, I have snapped a KH seat base while leaning relatively lightly on the handle on a moderate downhill section
Look after your jewels, they are the only ones you are going to get, and no one else is going to look after them for you.
Chris
Frequent beer and chip stops are good for your health? Fantastic!
Phil
Errrm, I don’t think I said that, but perhaps good for the long-distance unicyclist’s nadgers and, to put it delicately, bedroom-performance -
YAY ! FREQUENT BEER & CHIPS MAKES YOU GOOD IN BED !!!