momoman

I bought a barely used honey Professional from Craigslist earlier this year. I don’t know when and where I’m going to use it but want to have one bike with a honey colored seat and bar tape. I have a green 70’s Raleigh frameset and it may end up on that frame.

merziac

I have at least a dozen, many different, old, new Pro, open nose, Team, Eroica, big and small rivet, Cambium, B17 Specials, Imperial, B17 Standards.

Love them all, especially the look and aesthetic, they all ride well and for me always elevate the cool factor having been the pinnacle, hallmark of the top of the line for so many bikes for such a long period time of the heyday of C+V.

polymorphself 

Such a bummer. A very iconic saddle and I wouldn’t have expected it to go anywhere.

The 650b randonneur renaissance is in full swing right now and the brooks pro is usually the Go to saddle for those builds, followed by GB and Ideale.

Ive got one from the 70s that it looks like I’ll be holding onto.

daka

I have a C17 on the DaHon folder that lives in the bow of my sailboat - I didn't think the damp marine environment was a good place for a leather saddle. It's comfortable enough but I was disappointed when one of the "rivets" went missing. The rivet is actually a flush screw/nut assembly (that requires a Torx driver) and I was able to order a spare part but I've never had an English leather Brooks fall apart in any way.

balto charlie

Sniff, the only saddle I use. I have a few but one was just retired. Time to search for another.

mikemowbz

That does sound pretty definitive, doesn't it?
This was what I had understood from your original post - confirming a worrying suspicion I'd had after seeing them drop out of sight with multiple North American distributors.
They must have a business case for the move, but it does feel like the end of an era.
At least I've got three or four of 'em I can keep riding for the next few decades...

nlerner

For decades I rode Brooks leather saddles, and was usually comfy with just about any model right out of the box. Then, probably five years or so ago, I got curious and tried a Cambium C17. Once I found the ideal position (more level than a leather saddle for me), I liked it a lot. Then, right before our Last Winter Tour of the Willamette Valley, I got an excellent deal on an all-weather C.15, and rode that right out of the box on a three-day tour. Then, I got a carved C.15 and have put thousands of miles on that one. This year, my arse just isn’t happy on leather saddles for anything other than short rides. This includes saddles that used to be quite comfortable for me. A few weeks ago, just 45 miles on a B.17 left me feeling sore and bruised. In addition to the Cambiums, I’m really liking the Ergon SP. Plastic, foam, Ti rails: It’s working for me.

merziac

The B17 Special also has the big rivets and is still being made, I actually like them better but they have copper rails so....

The big rivet Pro was also the special with the small rivet version being offered too.

BFisher

The Pro is right on the cusp of narrowness/roundedness for me that limits it to shorter rides. Sure is handsome, though. Guess it wasn't selling?

merziac

I can imagine someone in a meeting saying "we don't see many people putting a Brooks, let alone a Pro on a new carbon, disc, all road, road rocket, blah, blah and they're so heavy".

This is the luxury that the world global economy affords companies to eliminate the competition from in house and determine it is a good marketing move, history and tradition be damned.

merziac

So I had ordered a plain Pro classic off efbay, couple of days went by and seller canceled the order.

Found another in UK, ordered it, we'll see.

3speedslow

Relieved to know I have 3 of these for my herd.

sewupnut

Got one on my old 1985 Trek 950. Finally got broken in at about 10K in 1986. Don't think I'd take 1K for it.

daka

Here is someone else that thinks like you ........

https://www.ebay.com/itm/vtg-1975-br...oAAOSwTzhfKaHY

styggno1

If this would happen to be (in a alternative universe) realistic... I can retire some years earlier. I am rich!!!!!

Post #19 for reference...

daka

Yeah, perhaps the seller told their spouse that he/she would sell some of the accumulated bike stuff in the house and priced it according to how much they actually wanted it gone. On the same visit to eBay I found an as-new small-rivet Brooks Pro for $85 that someone tried on their bike for less than 20 miles and decided they didn't like. It is on its way to me now.

Your collection of Brooks saddles left me green with envy - Beautiful!

momoman

The listed weight for the Team Pro with steel rails is 810 grams. The B17 with steel rails is 520 grams. I never considered any Brooks saddle in my younger weight weenie days but now I ride for comfort and enjoyment. I put a Brooks on all my C&V bikes and don’t worry about the weight of the bikes.

I’m guessing it’s hard to sell a heavy leather saddle to the younger crowd and even casual riders are aware of how much their bike weighs. The “Team Pro” name may also imply it’s a racing saddle which may also be a turnoff for the more casual riders looking for comfort.

polymorphself 

I've never looked up or considered the weight of either, but never would have thought the pro was the heavier saddle of the two.

Chombi1 

Many of my racing college friends used Brooks Team Pro saddles on the race bikes back in the early 80's. They did not even bother with then, newest and popular saddles of that time like the Turbo or the Concor. It was like having a Brooks Team Pro on your race bike give you that special racing cachet, and was considered as a sign of a real serious racer amongst the crowd.
the Team Pros did fade away from the amature racing scene in our area after the mid 80's though.

merziac

It's always been reported to be thicker and heavier, therefore harder to break in so many like them less including myself.

That being said after breaking in my backside by sourcing several used ones they work just fine 99% of the time now, new, old, broken in or not.

So all that coupled with how cool they are for me, I have them on all my riders and almost all else well.

clubman 

Really interesting. This is an NOS 70's Pro. My only Team Pro is on a 2 bolt post so I can't weigh it but I wonder when the Pro got so fat?

daka

I'll wager that the 810 gram figure has its origins in a mis-print somewhere. I really doubt that the hand-pounded rivets can add more than half a pound to the saddle's weight. My Team Pro is also positioned perfectly on a two-bolt post, so I'm not taking it off to weigh it either .

merziac

Well they are heavy but I don't get the numbers Brooks lists.

Checked with 2 different scales,

open nose Pro chrome rail big rivet = 575 grams

newer Pro chrome rail big rivet = 544 grams

B17 special big rivet = 547 grams

So they seem to be lighter than advertised and they advertise 5mm thick leather for both.

These are all older so maybe not representative of new ones but I can't imagine any being as heavy as advertised.

Obviously they are heavy, they hold up, wear like iron, old school when it matters, looking the business all along the way.

BFisher

My chrome steel railed "Pre-softened" model:

merziac

It didn't, I just weighed an open nose like this and a newer Pro and came up with numbers close so.....