Sexual Dysfunction from Bikeseats Articles Give Wrong Message

Recent articles about bicycle seats causing sexual dysfunction are about as appropriate as saying “Don’t drink water because some people drown from water”, says Peter Clutton, Australian product designer launching a new style of ’pain free’ bicycle onto the US market during the Interbike Show in Las Vegas, Sept 27-29.

Clutton is angered by inclusions in a ’guest editorial’in the September issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, ’Bicycle Riding and Erectile Dysfunction:An Increase in Interest (and Concern)’

“Excerpts from the editorial”, he says, “are already being used in follow-up stories,carrying headlines like ’Sexual Dysfunction from Cycling”, but with little or no explanation of the true picture on this issue".

Clutton states a similar situation occurred when the editor of this journal, Dr Irwin Goldstein, in 1997,
issued an all-sweeping statement that ’men shouldn’t ride bicycles’, failing to clarify that the prospect of any sexual dysfunction from riding a bicycle is confined to an extremely miniscule percentage of cyclists who are competitors or enthusiasts, riding for hours on end on a regular basis,using a style of bicycle ’saddle’ that places pressure on their perineum".

“People reading only the headlines or abbreviated excerpts on this topic, will relate it to the universal ’seat-soreness’problems suffered by bicycle riders, which is quite a different issue”, says Clutton, “with that misconception making it even more diffcult for many groups who are working to get more people riding bikes to assist the environment, avoid traffic meltdown and improve levels of national fitness”.

“Certainly, we have a vested interest here”, says Clutton, “as we try to get the message across to people that the seat-soreness era is over, but selective reporting like this by a professional journal is irresponsible to say the least and makes it that much harder for everyone who is working to get more people onto bikes”.

Contact Information

Peter Clutton

Managing Director

Stylyx Marketing Limited

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