I want a better Bike Seat

I recently started cycling a lot and my body likes most of the experience. However my toes go numb after cycling for just a bit longer than 20 minutes, the seat cuts of the blood flow.

I’ve now bought a new bike, that came with a better seat, which has an opening in its center, which is supposed to help prevent the blood circulation issues. Indeed I can cycle for longer periods of time without going numb, but not much longer. After maybe 40 minutes my toes go numb again.

So I did a research looking for a better bike seat, results of which I’ve summarized in this article: Safe Bike Seats For Men and Women. The main discovery for me was the fact that this issue may lead to an erectile dysfunction (impotence). It also affects women just as well as men (different problems though, read the article for details).

As I wrote in the article I bought a “Spongy Wonder” bike seat, which is made of two halves, and it does seem to solve the blood circulation cut-off problem of the cut off circulation. The problem is that it’s very uncomfortable. Because it doesn’t have a nose, it’s much harder to stabilize the bicycle and I’ve noticed that I now put too much strain on my arms, gripping the handle bars. So one problem has been replaced with another.

Did you experience a similar issue and found a possible solution that doesn’t introduce other problems?

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One Response to “I want a better Bike Seat”

1. Mars Blackmon on May 8th, 2009 9:31 am

   The numb toe condition you describe may be caused by shoes that are too tight or an incorrect cleat position (clipless pedals). If you wear running shoes, you may want to switch to a proper cycling shoes and upgrade to clipless pedals. Numbness may also be caused be seat position – try adjusting your your seat’s fore/aft position.

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