Cyclists Benefit From More Ergonomic Designs

For generations, bicycle saddles were more like medieval torture devices than comfortable seating.

Then medical researchers determined that bike saddles had caused some cases of erectile dysfunction, and things changed, says Reed Caster, owner of Caster's Bicycle Center.

"Women have been complaining about bike seats since the beginning of time," he says, "but it wasn't until a man's penis stopped working that we actually addressed the issue. Guys went, 'Whoa! We've got a serious problem here!' "

Not only did saddles for men and women change, but so did everything else in cycling design.

"About 10 years ago companies like Trek (www.trekbikes.com) and Specialized (www.specialized.com) began addressing the women's market in a meaningful way," says Caster. "The engineers they hired to design or oversee the different product groups -- bicycles, saddles and clothing -- were women. They were going to design the products they would be using as opposed to the old days ... where you'd have 60-year-old guys in suit jackets who'd be outside at lunchtime, smoking cigarettes."

The new designers and engineers changed the geometry of women's bikes to be proportionately correct, Caster says. Typically, a woman has a shorter torso and reach but longer legs than a man of the same height. Her shoulders may be narrower, too.