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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

#41

Post by davisoneee »

loeg wrote: post #36
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 t…

There are _indeed_ female-specific bike saddles, which you could confirm by challenging your knowledge with a quick google. They generally have a changed cutout segment to accomodate pressure on different anatomy.

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

#42

Post by idunnoman1222 »

loeg wrote: post #36
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 t…

Do you mean they’re ungendered on AliExpress “women’s men’s comfortable wide bike seat” or do you mean that they’re ungendered if you go to a bike shop and ask?

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

#43

Post by klyrs »

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

Yeah, if your butt isn't in the saddle, you're standing to race up a hill. I've always considered aerodynamics to be a weird consideration for saddles. But that manta saddle looks wrong to me; like it's gonna end up putting a lot of pressure on the perenium and groin through the raised ridge. What am I missing?

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

#44

Post by loeg »

idunnoman1222 wrote: post #42
loeg wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 t…

Do you mean they’re ungendered on AliExpress “women’s men’s comfortable wide bike seat” or do you mean that they’re ungendered if you go to a bike shop and ask?

I mean Specialized and Fizik do not market them as Men's or Women's saddles. They're just another saddle offering in their lineup which may or may not work for any individual.

> 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

#45

Post by davisoneee »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #40

Have two women in my life I wish found cycling as enjoyable as I (a man) do. Can anyone confer that the "Mimic" mentioned in the article solves the issue for women? (I'm assuming it is fitted correctly, of course.)

I don't think it's a service around me, as cycling isn't particularly popular in Scotland given the weather...however it may be worth phoning up and checking if any of the bike shops in your area do 'saddle trials'...where you can take the saddle home for a week or so and actually try it out to see if it suits.

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

#46

Post by blacksmith_tb »

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…

I have ridden centuries on a few different Brooks saddles, and I personally had a lot more numbness problems with them (male genital version), but I have had better luck with Terry saddles (with a central cutout). They were developed for women riders, but also include a few men's models. I would say people will have to experiment, not just with the type of saddle but also positioning on the bike, getting a taller stem could help shift your weight back on the saddle, onto your ischials, for example; or raising or lowering your saddle (knees permitting).

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

#47

Post by loeg »

davisoneee wrote: post #41
loeg wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 t…

There are _indeed_ female-specific bike saddles, which you could confirm by challenging your knowledge with a quick google. They generally have a changed cutout segment to accomodate pressure on different anatomy.

There are saddles which work better for some women, but they do not work for all women and are not exclusively for women.

> 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

#48

Post by davisoneee »

loeg wrote: post #44
idunnoman1222 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean they’re ungendered on AliExpress “women’s men’s comfortable wide bike seat” or do you mean that they’re ungendered if you go to a bike shop and ask?

I mean Specialized and Fizik do not market them as Men's or Women's saddles. They're just another saddle offering in their lineup which may or may not work for any individual. > 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 i…

If you go on the Fizik website, their saddle filter includes gender.

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

#49

Post by loeg »

davisoneee wrote: post #48
loeg wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean Specialized and Fizik do not market them as Men's or Women's saddles. They're just another saddle offering in their lineup which may or may not work for any individual. > 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 i…

If you go on the Fizik website, their saddle filter includes gender.

Try using it. It just shows their entire range of saddles no matter which filter you select.

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

#50

Post by davisoneee »

loeg wrote: post #47
davisoneee wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are _indeed_ female-specific bike saddles, which you could confirm by challenging your knowledge with a quick google. They generally have a changed cutout segment to accomodate pressure on different anatomy.

There are saddles which work better for some women, but they do not work for all women and are not exclusively for women. > 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 M…

There's never going to be a universal "you are male, so you CANNOT use this saddle", or vice versa... but there _are_ saddles which are marketed and designed to _more likely_ better suit men or women.

There is no saddle that is universal for anyone...so it seems like you're arguing a case no-one actually claimed?

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