Mountain bike riders exhibit the most “scrotal abnormalities”, explains the study’s author Vinod Nargund of St Bartholomew’s and Homerton Hospitals, London, while long-distance riders suffer the most numbness and erectile problems. Bicycle seats make contact with male riders right behind the scrotum and put pressure on the areas nerves and blood vessels. Riders can mitigate the damage by paying close attention to the fit of their bike, making sure they are fully padded, and taking lots of breaks, says Nargund. Luckily the bruises are usually only skin-deep—no direct link has ever been made between bikes and infertility, the study contends.
