# Do biking shorts cause sterility in men? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478 "2003-07-10T15:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chickendoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@chickendoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chickendoc)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/1 "2003-07-10T15:08:42Z")
Someone told me the other day that spandex biking shorts can cause sterility in men. Is there a shred of evidence that backs this up. It definitely doesn’t seem like a good idea to have your boys compacted like that. Just wondering. Also, why are bike seats so damn hard and small? You’d think that the’d make them a little more comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/2 "2003-07-10T15:30:11Z")
Well, my wife and I were seeing a fertility specialist a few years back, and he said that there were only two things a man can do that would seriously affect his fertility: smoking and hot tubs. As far as that one expert was concerned, any man worried about sterility should quit smoking and stay out of hot tubs. Other than that, he said there was no compelling evidence that men should worry about tight pants or underwear (not matter how many testimonials you see in Dear Abby or Ann Landers columns). ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/3 "2003-07-10T16:14:38Z")
It won’t cause sterility but in might cause infertility. Tight underwear/shorts will interfere with the body’s natural ability to regulate testicular temperature via “letting em hang” away from the body to maintain a lower temperature (4-7 degrees). Inhibiting this process will result in lower quantity and quality sperm. The effects are temporary though. You should let em hang for six months before attempting to have a kid though. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/4 "2003-07-10T16:22:34Z")
It won’t cause sterility but in might cause infertility. Tight underwear/shorts will interfere with the body’s natural ability to regulate testicular temperature via “letting em hang” away from the body to maintain a lower temperature (4-7 degrees). Inhibiting this process will result in lower quantity and quality sperm. The effects are temporary though. You should let em hang for six months before attempting to have a kid though. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/5 "2003-07-10T16:25:27Z")
I’ve had a look round and it seems there may be some mechanical (as opposed to simply overheating) effects too. This link [here](http://www.sciencenews.org/20021207/fob2.asp) believes there is a problem based on [this](http://shows.rsna.org/rsna2002/V40/conference/session.cvn?eID=3103101) report. It doesn’t really seem worth worrying about for most of us who aren’t _really_ serious bikers > [@](#): > > Conclusion: Significant changes are present in the semen parameters of extreme mountain bikers compared with nonbikers. Reduced semen volume and decreased motility in mountain bikers was significantly correlated with sonographic findings. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/6 "2003-07-10T16:27:43Z")
I posted once for each testicle. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/7 "2003-07-10T16:34:15Z")
If you ride a lot, the bike seats get to be comfortable. If you don’t, there are plenty of wide bike saddles that you can buy. I think you’re more likely to experience “performance issues” becuase of the bike saddle, not the shorts. I don’t recall the details, but there’s a nerve or vein/artery in your crotch that gets too much pressure from the saddle sometimes and can inhibit erection. I’ve experienced this myself (temporarily, thank God) after some really long races. But that was back when I was a lot younger and used to race… Not an issue anymore! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/8 "2003-07-10T16:37:39Z")
I forgot to add that the reason saddles are so small is to save weight. Big saddles weigh more. And a lot of the new ones have a cut-out or a soft gell patch in the place where the pressure point I described above is. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/9 "2003-07-10T19:05:54Z")
If you want to have children the first thing the doctor suggests is wearing boxers to let the bad boys breathe and keep at a lower temperature. I once saw a special on inventions and one of the inventions were new bike seats. One was a double cheek one and we were told that it didn’t look attractive and thats why it didn’t sell. Another seat was bigger but it weighed too much and people didn’t like that. ---
**Author:** ![bubba\_jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@bubba\_jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubba_jr)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-biking-shorts-cause-sterility-in-men/187478/10 "2003-07-11T04:01:04Z")
IF your wearing actual biking shorts they are padded, so it looks like you have a load in your pants. Also it is HIGHLY recomended that you do not wear underwear with them, the seams will kill you. I actually find the shorts less restrictive than the normal underwear that I wear. As far as the seat goes, its just normal soreness that goes away quickly. If your talking about spandex, like fat chix wear with big sweaters, I do believe those are made for girls and due to one drunken college adventure do put excess pressure on the nether regions.