****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is a review for non-expert bike riders.I'm a male in my mid-30s who has had occasional prostate inflammations over the years (prostatitis). Not surprisingly, bike seats, with all the pressure they put on your perineum (aka your "taint"), have caused prostate soreness for me. Most recently, I bought a comfort bike (more like a mountain bike than a cruiser) that came with a stock Avenir seat. The seat was *very* well padded, with springs Avenir Men's Comfy Soft Top Saddle (Black). Comfortable to sit on, but too wide and mushy for active biking -- not to mention that it put pressure on my perineum.I did lots of research on bike seats for men, and the research that has been done suggested I either stop biking or get a noseless bike seat. I was sad to think that biking with a saddle that has a nose could lead to permanent prostate pain, not to mention nerve damage, and impotence... I don't want to give up biking, and I'll be honest about the noseless bike seat: not only does it clearly give you less control of the bike, you end of having to explain to everyone why you need such an unusual seat... I'm a little vain, I admit it, but I'm not stupid -- I would use the noseless seat a last resort after exhausting the other alternatives. The Planet Bike ARS Standard 5020 is one of the alternatives I wanted to try first.Put simply, the seat is awesome! no pressure AT ALL on the perineum for me. The seat doesn't have a ton of gel padding, so it's a lot firmer than the over-the-top plush Avenir seat. I think that's actually going to be better for longer bike rides. I plan on putting lots of mileage on it in the next few weeks, and I'll post an update on how it holds up on long rides.The seat looks nice, and I'm really psyched about getting on my bike more to commute to work and to explore all the awesome bike paths around my city. So happy with it that it made me write my first Amazon product review ever. And I've bought LOTS of stuff on Amazon.Planet bike has other ARS seats for men. I wondered, how is this seat different from the (currently) cheaper "Planet Bike A.R.S. Anatomic Relief Bicycle Saddle" also listed on Amazon? Planet Bike Men's A.R.S. Anatomic Relief Bicycle Saddle That one is model # 5000, which you can look at also on the Planet Bike website. That seat is slightly narrower (6.5" vs. 7.0" for model 5020), and not quite as long (10.5" vs. 11"). The 7" width on the 5020 model makes for decent placement of my sit bones on the saddle (I'm about 5'10" and weigh about 150), for my biking style. That is, I sit semi-upright with comfort/mountain bike handlebars. You can go narrower (6" wide) with the ARS Competition: Planet Bike 5022 Men's ARS Competition Anatomic Relief Saddle with Gel. Or you can go to 8" width, with springs: Planet Bike 5019 Men's ARS Spring Anatomic Relief Saddle with Gel and Elastomer Springs.To sum up, if your "taint" is feeling numb or sore after biking, DON'T IGNORE IT. First make sure your seat is positioned properly, which people at the local bike store can help with. But if that doesn't solve the problem, look into these seats. Your mileage may vary, but these are definitely worth a shot.*************** 1 year update 6/9/2011 ********************Hi everyone, after a long delay, I have an update. The bike seat now has hundreds of miles on it, and I'm still quite happy with it. Over that period of time, I've also become more serious about cycling and I purchased a road bike with drop handlebars. I've been using the same seat on the newer bike and despite the change in riding position, I'm still liking it. Here is the main observation I've made since using the seat:- The gel pads are a bit raised, which means that the back part of the seat is a little higher than the nose. much like if you were to mount your seat with the nose tilted down, this can make you lean a touch forward and end up supporting more of your weight on the handlebars (if your hands hurt when you ride, this could be the reason). What I end up doing is tilting the nose up ever so slightly. When I do this everything seems in order. Just don't tilt the nose up too far or you begin to put pressure on your taint again...So, I remain happy, and I hope you enjoy the seat should you choose to purchase it. I'm thinking of trying out the narrower ARS Competition 5022 model for my road bike (Planet Bike 5022 Men's ARS Competition Anatomic Relief Saddle with Gel), and if I do, I'll post a review on that one. Happy riding!
