Bicycle nose, that is.

This may be the science-of-the-obvious, but that title in the latest edition of The Journal of Sexual Medicine is just too irresistible.

Here’s the punch line: Using a nose-less bicycle seat greatly reduces the penile numbness and erectile dysfunction that has been a complaint among many male riders since the bicycle was invented. I didn’t even know there was such a seat until I read this study, but apparently they are readily available. Here is a sampling of styles.

Not exactly the coolest looking things around.

In biking, erectile dysfunction is caused by pressure on the perineum, the area between the anus and scrotum that house the nerves and arteries that go to the penis. The pressure, which comes from sitting on a bicycle seat with a nose extension, restricts blood flow to the penis. Bike long enough, and in some men the damage can be permanent.

In this study, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health studied 90 bike-riding police officers from five different metropolitan areas. The number of officers who said they had no numbness while cycling rose from 27 percent to 82 percent after they started using the no-nose saddles. The best part is they also experienced a significant improvement in erectile function. The officers liked the seats so much better that virtually all of them made the switch permanently.

“Different saddle designs may require some re-learning of ‘how to ride a bicycle,’ ” the researchers said. “But the health benefits to having unrestricted vascular flow to and from the penis and less penile numbness is self-evident.”

Indeed.

Most bike seats these days come with some kind of anatomical design to reduce pressure in that sensitive, and most of them work pretty well, said Bill Kempton, parts manager for Freewheel Bike in Minneapolis. Still, a fifth of the saddles they sell are returned or exchanged.

He said the store has two nose-less seats in stock, a C-shaped style made by Issimo. The down side of no-nose seats, he said, is that it you may not have as good a grip on the bike. “You’re sort of perched on them,” he said. “If you move a quarter inch the wrong way, you could slide off the seat.”

Are you convinced enough to be seen on such a seat in public? And is there any reason why this wouldn’t work for women, too?

First there was swim team — until the day my then eight-year-old daughter pointed out to me that the really fast kids float on top of the water, and the slower ones sink.  She was a sinker, she said. Then there was soccer, a sport where the most successful were fast and aggressive. Then there was basketball, a sport that came with a group of friends that took her through highschool. Today my young adult daughter plays friendly soccer and broomball, and sometimes pick-up basketball. What she loves most of all is running distances by herself in the early mornings.

When she was young I worried whether I was doing the right thing by insisting she participate in some kind of physical  activity.  “Whatever you want,” I’d say. “But something.”   Today, I’m glad I pushed her. If I hadn’t, I think she might have avoided sports or regular exercise altogether until it was too late. Parental attitude and involvement is one of the most important reasons why girls do and don’t do sports and other physical activity, according to a new report by the University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sports.

 Do you guide your daughter’s choices about exercise? Do you struggle with finding a balance?