Unsolicited testimonial

[pozorvlak]

For the last eighteen months or so, cycling has been causing me mysterious (and apparently untreatable) pain between the legs. This is very inconvenient, given that cycling is my main form of transport¹. It became especially inconvenient when I hurt my foot as well, and walking into town and back became something to be avoided. So, at my urologist's suggestion², I ordered a Moon Saddle:



... and it's been great. I can cycle again! Without pain! Every day!

Fitting it took about twenty minutes, but would probably take much less if you knew what you were doing. You'll need a spanner. Getting the angle right took a couple of goes (pitching it at 20 degrees from horizontal seems about right for me; take great care to get the yaw right, because it's difficult to judge by eye and getting it wrong is uncomfortable). And it took a couple of weeks to get used to riding on it - you feel quite insecure at first. Persevere. It's a bit expensive, at nearly sixty quid, but for me it's been worth it - I'll save the money in bus fares in a couple of months.

In summary: yay for Moon Saddles!

¹ It's definitely the best way to get around compact European cities, like, say, Edinburgh. Faster, cheaper and more reliable than the bus, and better for you. Not ideal in the wet, though - my next upgrade will be a pair of mudguards.
² Kinda. What he actually said was "I can't do anything for you, but I expect some cyclist has invented a special saddle that won't put pressure on the affected area. Have a look on the Internet and see if you find anything." The Moon Saddle recommendation actually came from, IIRC, nastyicydeath - thanks!

Comments

[johnckirk.livejournal.com]

Have you ever tried a recumbent? I've heard that they're more comfortable than "wedgie" saddles, so I'm considering getting one (eventually) as my next bike.

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

Lovely comfy things.

But they are lower. How safe you feel on city roads very much depends on how low a one you get. I would avoid one whose seat is lower than an average car seat, and even then you feel a bit perculiar on the busy roads with vans etc.

Frankly I think they're machines for out-of-town commuting or touring, not city use. The other trouble is they don't fit well in city bike racks, and even if they did you wouldn't really dare leave one out. Duncan never used either of his as a city bike.

(Also, for pretty country touring, they're often too low so you can't see the view over the hedges. This problem may bother Only Me)

[johnckirk.livejournal.com]

Thanks - that's useful. I'm leaning towards the Street Machine, which is apparently the same height as a car seat. For touring (and in general), I like to keep my head up so that I can look around, rather than using dropped handlebars, so it would be a shame if my view was blocked by hedges.

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

The Street Machine is precisely what Duncan has. It is a gorgeous thing of great joy, and he very happily commuted on it for a year. The feeling of power from able to push against your whole back (rather than simply using your weight as the counter force) is very exciting.

However, yes, you can't see over the hedges. Though of course it does depend on the hedges. And it is a bit unwieldy for town use - at least, I think so, but I don't ride it in town very frequently [Okay, I've ridden it across town once in the last few years and didn't enjoy the experience; I admit that isn't a great data point]. It's also rather heavy, which kicks in the moment you meet a hill.

Though on the other hand you can corner much better and faster and smoother when zooming down the hills.

Sorry, I really wasn't intending to pour cold water on getting one; recumbents are fantastic, more people should be aware of them and try them, yes. These are more the reasons why I continue not to bother getting one for myself, especially given I have access to one anyway.

There's a shop in London where you can try the street machine (or you could 7 years ago...) and they have various others, you should go and play. I don't know if you're London based, but if you are, and don't know the one, I could dig a little further into my memory.

[johnckirk.livejournal.com]

(pozorvlak, sorry for hijacking your post.)

Yup, I'm London based; I currently commute on a Brompton (going part of the way by train), but I wouldn't want to use that for the whole distance (about 17 miles each way). I have a vague plan to cycle LEJOG, so it would make sense to get a new bike that I could use for that and my daily commute (possibly alternating with the Brompton). Having three bikes would be a bit excessive, particularly while I live in a 1st floor flat, although in a few years it may seem completely reasonable to me.

The two recumbent bike shops that I know of are Bikefix and London Recumbents; is that who you were thinking of?

Still, probably best if I wait until next year to try one out. Based on the prices (£2000 for Street Machine, £2800 for WindCheetah) it will take me a while to save up for one!

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

Bikefix was the one. And iirc nicely positioned so you get the hang of the balance on a some side streets and then can turn onto a main road to see what you think of that concept.

Mind you, Duncan and I already both knew how to ride recumbents when we went there to play (having both learn on his PDQ. Way back when he taught me to ride that, it took about half an hour for me to get the balance, and then the rest of the afternoon for me to be certain I wouldn't crash into a hedge. So in fact, a good idea to go and play several times long before you can think of affording one and working out which one you'll think of feeling safe on a road with.

I think Duncan's commute he bought it for was about 10 miles, and it was perfect for that.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried an actual recumbent, but I have tried the recumbent bike machines at the gym. I found them very painful :-(

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

I have occasionally wondered how men's bits fit around conventional bike saddles. "Not very well" is a very convincing answer.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

The problem (getting TMIish here) isn't the bits per se, it's the upward pressure on the perineum. The bits are actually high enough that they don't really get in the way (on normal bikes - I did find this a problem on recumbent bike machines, as mentioned above).

Yes, there are people (including yourself) who do much more cycling than me, so why this problem happened to me and not everyone else is a bit of a mystery. To quote my other, less helpful, urologist: "some people are just unlucky".

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

What are recumbent bike machines like? The recumbents I know have seats like a lovely ergonomic chair - I really don't see how that would cause problems.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

On the recumbents, the problem wasn't perineal pressure, it was my knackers getting constantly banged by my legs going up and down. Did I mention that this is merely the latest episode in a long and complex history of urological problems, which have left me unusually prone to pain in various ways?

[johnckirk.livejournal.com]

Yup, I'd echo that - sitting on my Brompton just now in jeans, the bits are all lifted out of the way, and I assume that the same thing happens with cycle shorts. During the WNBR, the bits went either side of the saddle, so still no direct pressure.

I haven't noticed any trouble with my perineum, and I wonder whether it has anything to do with cycling posture. Do you lean forward a long way (a la Tour de France), so that you're putting more pressure on it?

As for the recumbent seats, they look pretty similar to the bucket seats you get at McDonalds, so I would have thought that your legs would be between your groin and the seat (i.e. no direct pressure). Do you have any trouble with rowing machines?

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

The problem with the recumbent machines was different - see above. Problems have been known with rowing machines, but not to the same degree.

[elvum.livejournal.com]

It looks like it would be hard to throw away (in the most literal sense, at least)...