I'm usually willing to take a shot. Prices on Brooks saddles on the 'Bay are crazy to my eyes, but when I identified
this squished-looking saddle as a B17, I snapped it up for $15 + shipping. It definitely needed work. To begin with, it was a B17 AGED, which I had not encountered before. They feel thinner, though I have not applied calipers to them, and they come pre-drilled, and that was this saddle's downfall. A previous owner had laced it in such a way as to flatten it out rather than draw the skirts down and inward. It also had a broken steel rivet and one of the rails was bent. I replaced the damaged rivet with a nice copper one and left the others alone, moistened the saddle without soaking it or leaching out vital essences from it, and used a zip tie through the holes to draw it back into something resembling its correct shape. I've since bent the rail back into shape and tied one skirt down to the rail to help guide it as I ride it into shape. It seems to be working so far.