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Cycling's Silent Epidemic: Labial swelling and pain in women

bicycling.com

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Re: Cycling's Silent Epidemic: Labial swelling and pain in women

#31

Post by drh »

jmclnx wrote: post #19

I cannot comment on women issues, but for men, unless you are a pro racer, buy a brooks saddle. After break-in I never had issues and it was like riding on a cloud. I expect the same would be true for women too. Also for break-in, follow brooks recommendations closely, not all the crazy suggestions on the WEB. After a season of riding almost every day, you will be sitting on a cloud. You do not want a soft saddle, bu…

Which Brooks saddle do you recommend? I see there are a few variations available.

Re: Cycling's Silent Epidemic: Labial swelling and pain in women

#32

Post by endisneigh »

drh wrote: post #31
jmclnx wrote: post #19

I cannot comment on women issues, but for men, unless you are a pro racer, buy a brooks saddle. After break-in I never had issues and it was like riding on a cloud. I expect the same would be true for women too. Also for break-in, follow brooks recommendations closely, not all the crazy suggestions on the WEB. After a season of riding almost every day, you will be sitting on a cloud. You do not want a soft saddle, bu…

Which Brooks saddle do you recommend? I see there are a few variations available.

Get the original leather classic

Re: Cycling's Silent Epidemic: Labial swelling and pain in women

#35

Post by loeg »

nowandlater wrote: post #28

I have an absolute treasure trove of saddles; it's hard to state just how personal they are to each person's physiology. What works for one may not work for another. It can be a long frustrating (and expensive) experience.

Some bike shops run programs called saddle libraries that allow you to try many before buying.

Re: Cycling's Silent Epidemic: Labial swelling and pain in women

#36

Post by loeg »

idunnoman1222 wrote: post #26

“after she’d progressed to regular 50- to 60-mile rides, she began to notice pain” … this is not typical. But for anyone reading, there are men and women’s bike seats, and for anyone innovating in this space women ride bicycles too.

> there are men and women’s bike seats

Typically bike saddles are not gendered, to my knowledge. They come in a range of sizes and more typically the wider sizes work better for women, but it's very individual and some men need wider saddles and some women need narrower ones.

The article touches on this:

> Specialized has since advanced the Mimic technology with its Mirror saddles, which use 3D-printed polyurethane to fine-tune the densities in each area of the saddle and further reduce pressure on the sit bones. The company no longer markets its saddles according to gender, as men also love the Mimic and Mirror models.

Re: Cycling's Silent Epidemic: Labial swelling and pain in women

#37

Post by msrenee »

kazinator wrote: post #21
addicted wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first 2 comments on HN on this article about women in cycling are talking about men in cycling instead. It’s fascinating. I can’t tell if it’s a sign of HN commenters never talking about the topic itself, about HN being predominantly male, or the fact that women issues are constantly ignored in society and men tend to make things about themselves instead.

Balls and shafts stick out more than labia, so in this situation, it's entirely fair to suspect that the remedies for male cycling problems are of (even more) benefit to women. You know, like split saddles that don't poke at the crotch region, but support the "sit bones". Which are unlike the garbage saddles that come most cheap, bicycle-shaped objects.

The cutout saddles actually cause similar injury in women. That's a big point in the article. Women need specialized support in that region, not a complete cutout.

Re: Cycling's Silent Epidemic: Labial swelling and pain in women

#38

Post by klyrs »

jmclnx wrote: post #19

I cannot comment on women issues, but for men, unless you are a pro racer, buy a brooks saddle. After break-in I never had issues and it was like riding on a cloud. I expect the same would be true for women too. Also for break-in, follow brooks recommendations closely, not all the crazy suggestions on the WEB. After a season of riding almost every day, you will be sitting on a cloud. You do not want a soft saddle, bu…

My mom and I swear by our Brooks saddles, and we both ride thousands (not tens of thousands) of miles a year. Brooks does offer some saddles with cutouts, but I'm unsure that it's necessary (according to the article, those cutouts may in fact increase pressure on labia). Once the saddle is broken in, it fits like a glove.

Another point raised in the article is getting a proper fit. Whenever I shop for bikes, I add about $800 to the price tag: for a new saddle, and a professional fitting. I am too old to fuck about with a bike that's gonna hurt me.

Re: Cycling's Silent Epidemic: Labial swelling and pain in women

#39

Post by JKCalhoun »

luqtas wrote: post #23

i cycled thousands of kilometers on this: https://mantasaddle.co.uk/ and i used Brooks and other good stuff before, for thousands of kilometers... the former doesn't even compare! no need for cycling shorts (tho i never used shorts with the Brooks too) and maybe isn't the most aerodynamic saddle out there but who f* cares :P edit: and i use exclusively the MS5 version, which has less room to distribute pressure

Looks interesting. You are a male though?
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