When was the last time a Brooks Team Pro Select cost $35?
 

I found this old receipt. Brooks Pro Select for $35. Two Ambrosio rims for $42.
No year on it. But I believe I used these parts to build up my 1983 Guerciotti.

I remember that Brooks saddle. It was the only Brooks Pro that never broke in.

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This Bike Warehouse catalog from 1980 shows $35 for a Brooks Team Pro.
Of course, there was a lot of inflation in that era, so it's probably at least equivalent to $70 or $100 now (sorry... too lazy to pull up an inflation calculator)


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Steve in Peoria (happy to still have a couple of Brooks Pro's in the spares box)

You happen to still have it? ;)

I paid $5 for a Brooks Pro that had been used for one week, until the first owner gave up on trying to break it in. It is tired and worn now, but I did get almost 50k miles out of it.

If you're talking about the Brooks...the answer is no. After riding it for a year or so, I put it aside. A few years after that, I soaked it in Neatsfoot oil. And when I say soaked, I mean soaked. It did nothing to soften it. Finally (with full disclosure) I sold it on eBay.

No worries, I have never had much trouble with any Brooks, old, new, Pro, team, B-17, Special, Imperial, etc, etc.

I have loosened the tension bolt on a couple to make them more comfortable, only a little bit and tighten it right back up when they improve. ;)

Dealer cost for a Team Pro in 1984: $25.99

That receipt is no older than 1983 , that is when the post office started busing zip + 4. zip code.

I'm still using the Brooks Pro that I bought in the mid 70's, currently installed on my Raleigh International...

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unfortunately, my time machine only goes forward. :(

Steve in Peoria
(and need to refurbish the Pioneer SX-880 receiver that I bought in 1979)

Maybe, Brooks cannot afford to be the premium priced saddles they are now, back then, because everyone was preferring the more modern lighter saddles that were flooding the market during the early 80's, Some of them eventually becoming almost cult-like popular in a way that challenged the long, well earned legacy that Brooks already had , like the Concor and the Turbo.
The weight of Brooks saddles also worked big time against them, in an era that was very obsessed with weight savings.
I still remember just feeling really puzzled back them, wondering why anyone in their right mind, would even consider mounting a Brooks saddle on any nice bike, when the things weighed double or even triple the weight of a then, "modern" padded plastic shelled saddle, plus, the often dreaded "break-in" period that is always a part of owning a new Brooks saddle, which was just unacceptable with us young riders back then that just wanted instant gratification.

The annual salary for my first real job, after graduation in 1978, was $14,407 (Canadian). Couldn’t buy many Gibsons with that, although I did buy a Pinarello SL frame for $525 (CDN) in 1981, having been modestly promoted in the interval. (Still have it.)

The 1980s represented progressive advancement for us — “Let the river run . . . the new Jerusalem!” and all that. No time machine for me, thanks. (Although the MVO2max of a 30-year-old, even mine, would be nice...)

FWIW, according to Google Maps, that address is now a Baptist church. Kind of makes sense: churches and high-end bike shops are both places of worship.

The '79 Raleigh Super Course that I bought used around 1986 from the original owner (also the owner of the bike shop where I worked) came with its original B.17, and I road that saddle for years on that bike. Eventually, I sold the bike but kept the saddle. However, I didn't keep track of its various movements from bike to bike, and now I have no idea which one of the fleet it's likely mounted to (or if I sold it).

I did spend pretty much all of my first paycheck from my first real job post-graduation on a Trek 412 from Palo Alto Bicycles. Still have the receipt. Don't remember what saddle it came with (and it was stolen about five years later).

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