Dutch men adversely affected by cycling, study says
In an American study entitled ‘Effect of Oscillation on Perineal Pressure in Cyclists: Implications for Micro-Trauma’, the all-male authors report that “genital numbness and erectile dysfunction in [male] cyclists may result from repeated perineal impacts on the bicycle saddle (micro-trauma) that occur during routine cycling. And if there’s a country we know that has men who into routine cycling, it’s definitely the Netherlands. Slots two and three are taken up by Denmark and Germany, with Sweden, Norway, Finland, Japan, Switzerland, Belgium and China rounding out the Top 10.
The study’s authors concluded that there was a strong linear relationship between oscillation magnitude and perineal pressure during cycling and that using shock absorption in bicycle design may reduce this perineal micro-trauma while possibly improving cycling-associated perineal numbness and erectile dysfunction.
(Link: improbable.com)
It seems unlikely that this study says anything meaningful about Dutch men (or men in general). Although the authors don’t mention who they tested and where, all the authors are attached to an American west coast university. They tested 39 subjects, none older than 44 years – Dutch men cycle until well into twice that age.
The subjects were all tested on the same stretch of highway, unidentified but likely in California, and on the same bicycle, a Tuano by Vilano. If you look up pictures of this bike, you see the steer is below saddle. On regular bikes, the ones that Dutch men ride, the steer is above the saddle.
Subjects were tested with a torso angle of approximately 60 degrees from the horizontal plane; Dutch men (and women) use an angle of almost 90 degrees, i.e. we sit upright. Dutch people ride using the same posture as they walk.
Now that I am sleuthing, I believe I can say even more about the extremely limited scope of the study. Although the study doesn’t mention it, do you think you can infer something about the status of the subjects in Apartheid USA? Here is a photo of an undocumented worker riding a bike in California.
In short, Anglos are weird and because their bicycle culture differs from practically any other in the world you cannot infer anything meaningful about cycling by studying the way anglos cycle, unless you are specifically trying to say something about WASPs.