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Saddle question about fitment

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Saddle question about fitment

Old 02-11-20, 06:37 PM
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billmc40
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Saddle question about fitment

/My saddle on my road bike broke, so I order a Brooks Pro Team, leather had been stretched. SO I love my B17 on my Trek FX 7.3. So I bought a B17 for road bike a 2.1 Trek. Seems like to matter how I adjust it I am sitting on my taint. Any advice on how to adjust? Help me please. Older male overweight
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Old 02-11-20, 06:59 PM
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I've always ridden a road bike, and never could ride a Brooks for more than about an hour. I'm not overweight. OTOH, you could ignore the pain and numbness and just keep on riding, Sooner or later, everything goes completely numb, However then your equipment won't work anymore, so there's that. There have been big improvements made in saddles, especially in the last 20 years.
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Old 02-11-20, 07:23 PM
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I've been partial to WTB saddles until a couple of years ago, when I tried an ISM short nose saddle. I now have three of them, and they are just as great for a road bike as a mountain or gravel bike. I have the PR 2.0 and the PR 3.0.

The WTB Touring and WTB Speed are almost as good for me, and my fiancee likes them better (narrow nose) than the ISM, which are just a little wider in the front than the WTB.

I had a leather saddle decades ago. As I remember, it was uncomfortable for the first 500 miles, until it was finally broken in.
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Old 02-12-20, 12:01 PM
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Originally Posted by billmc40
/My saddle on my road bike broke, so I order a Brooks Pro Team, leather had been stretched. SO I love my B17 on my Trek FX 7.3. So I bought a B17 for road bike a 2.1 Trek. Seems like to matter how I adjust it I am sitting on my taint. Any advice on how to adjust? Help me please. Older male overweight
Your saddle is most likely slightly too high. I had issues with my B17 until I got my saddle height correct. I took Steve Hogg's advice and got it where it should be, now I have zero issues even on a 70 mile day on tour. I was fine all day, and ready to ride again each day.

The other potential issue on a road bike would be the saddle to handlebar drop. The B17 is more for bikes with the saddle about the same height as the handlebars. Excessive drop will cause issues, but between the two there won't be a lot of difference since the Team Pro is based on the B17. The Team Pro is 15mm narrower, 2mm shorter, and 2mm higher, so not a lot of difference.

Last edited by phughes; 02-12-20 at 12:13 PM.
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Old 02-12-20, 12:06 PM
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Originally Posted by phughes
Your saddle is most likely slightly too high.
do you mean from the crank? Seat height? Or saddle has to much tilt? Not level?
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Old 02-12-20, 05:29 PM
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Originally Posted by billmc40
do you mean from the crank? Seat height? Or saddle has to much tilt? Not level?
Seat height, not tilt or how level it is. Seat height from the crank or pedal. Dropping it about 5mm or even 10mm will probably help. I had to drop mine from what a fitter put me, since he went with formulae instead of looking at how I interact with the bike. Once I got my seat down where it should be, I was much more stable, and comfortable on the bike.

This site helped me considerably. https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com...ard-can-it-be/
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Old 03-01-20, 01:34 PM
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I ride all my training rides (60-150 klm) on the Brooks pro. It has taken my sit bone form, and feels comfortable. The leather has a few wrinkles near the studs even though I used the Brooks leather cream. For races and Brevets I use a Fizik Aliante which is not as comfortable as the Brooks.
The problem with the Brooks saddles is they are heavy.
A saddles is very personal, someone's great saddle is another one's torture.
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Old 03-25-20, 11:57 AM
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Try the Selle Anatomica, looks like the Brooks without break in period. Great reviews and they are locally made in San Diego. Founder was an avid cyclist too.
I am NOT affiliated with this company
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Old 04-03-20, 06:54 PM
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Any time you fit a new Brooks saddle, or a saddle broken in by someone else, or a new one which has been stretched, you will need to break it in. A new Brooks is like a torture device over the first few rides, it takes time for it to break in. And no two Brooks saddles are alike, leather varies from animal to animal, so the initial feel and break-in time varies for a leather saddle. I scoffed at Brooks saddles for decades, thinking that they were only for old farts and cycle tourists, but I eventually saw the light. All of my bikes are now fitted with Brooks saddles, and in time they become comfortable enough that I can ride fairly long distances without needing cycling shorts.
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Old 04-08-20, 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
I've always ridden a road bike, and never could ride a Brooks for more than about an hour. I'm not overweight. OTOH, you could ignore the pain and numbness and just keep on riding, Sooner or later, everything goes completely numb, However then your equipment won't work anymore, so there's that. There have been big improvements made in saddles, especially in the last 20 years.
Did you try Brooks longer?
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Old 04-08-20, 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by billmc40
/My saddle on my road bike broke, so I order a Brooks Pro Team, leather had been stretched. SO I love my B17 on my Trek FX 7.3. So I bought a B17 for road bike a 2.1 Trek. Seems like to matter how I adjust it I am sitting on my taint. Any advice on how to adjust? Help me please. Older male overweight
How is the saddle now is it better?
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Old 04-08-20, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by KonaDew
Did you try Brooks longer?
Brooks enthusiasts, oy. It's not a saddle, it's a movement. No, no long rides on a Brooks. I don't like it when my privates go numb, neither does my wife. I did long rides on a leather Italia when I was a teenager and didn't realize that numb could be permanent. I just thought it meant no more pain, which I suppose in a way would be true . . . But all that came a lot later.
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Old 04-13-20, 02:47 AM
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Actually it is getting better. due to the crazy weather here I have spent most of my time on the trainer. The saddle is breaking in. . Thereal test will be road ride.
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Old 04-13-20, 03:35 PM
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Have you thought if switching your B17 from the FX 7.3 to the 2.1? It won't be absolutely probative, but if you like it better than the new one, you can have some confidence that it's a break-in issue.

Are your bars lower than your saddle on the 2.1? If so, you may never get comfortable on the B17, although many people get good results from tipping the nose up slightly, though that's counter-intuitive. Or just get a Selle SMP.
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