Flaneur

People whose asses are bullet proof aren't reading this post. They can buy and use whatever modish design they please and their bank manager approves. For the rest of us I suppose comfort is an issue, especially if your riding duration is measured in large numbers.

I am amused at the idea that a comfortable saddle might be such an optional extra that it might not look cool enough for a race bike. Like anyone can see the saddle with your butt on it! Much more "humiliating" would be suffering along at 10 mph on your Lance replica because you are in so much pain every time you sit down!

I have raced road, time trial and XC mountain bike using Brooks saddles. Nowadays I ride randonnees which sometimes amount to a weekend sleep-deprivation exercise (don't ask why........). Nobody cares why I use an old-school saddle and they all have a good idea why I do. In a race the fastest guy wins, not the guy with the lightest/coolest seat. In a long race, you'd better take care of comfort issues before they take care of you.

eric

supcom

I have no problems with untoward pressure with my Brooks. The indentations are not so deep to cause pressure problems. They just seem to help spreading the load around the sit bones better.

danr

I tried a Brooks for the first time last week. It was someone elses, so obviously it was conformed to their shape. However, that was, by far, the most comfortable seat I have ever ridden on. I am seriously contemplating getting one myself. I'm not a racer, so I'm not too concerned about the weight.

Rowan

There's a little secret to Brooks. When pressure is applied to the sitbone area of the saddle, the leather deforms slightly, and the wings at the bottom splay outwards. It's a bit like have an inbuilt suspension in the seat itself. The thing is, though, you don't subside into a squishiness like with other gel and foam saddles. And it's different from the leather-over-plastic base saddles which have no give.

As to hardness, think of the pro-cyclists, the distances they ride, and the shape, size and hardness of the saddles. At least firm is better (isn't it always!). I came from a Serfas-type of saddle (original equipment on the Fuji) with a hole in the middle. After about 200km, my backside started to feel uncomfortable with the squishiness.

Another benefit I believe with leather saddles generally is that they *absorb* sweat, rather than deflect it back -- as plastics do -- into the chamois to accumulate and cause on-going chafe problems.

Having said that, I am still trying to wear in a Team Pro after about 1000km. Despite it's "Pre-Softened" words across the top of the saddle, it's been quite hard up to now. The indentations are coming, though. I think bottom and saddle are working in unison on the this one. I just hope the saddle feels the same as my backside!

R

greywolf

The Brookes I had on my old Dawes Waaay back,could have the left & right side laced together undeneath at the front , I never had mine laced , though some people did !!

Terry PL

Just installed a new Brooks Swift saddle on my bike and used it the first time on my 14 mi commute to work. Initially, it was strange to feel the leather flex under my weight--but the overall ride was quite comfortable (had to do a little fiddling with the tilt during the ride).

So far I'm quite happy. Just one question, how and when does one use the tension adjustment screw? I've seen in other posts that this should never be changed. The instructions with the saddle were unclear.

kewlrunningz

What's so special about Brooks?

Because it's my first name!

Louis

Terry PL: Congratulations on your new Swift.

Yes, most Brooks users, including myself end up with a slight nose up setting for best comfort.

Regarding the tension adjustment: People have actually ruined their saddles by over tightening the nut. Consequently the best all around advice seems to be "leave the bloody adjustment nut alone".
Many Brooks users have put thousands of miles and many years on their saddles without ever adjusting the tension.

My feeling is: If you're inclined to adjust - do it very carefully , never exceeding one turn at a time.

Raedeke

Rev. What you smoking... or better yet, what's your friend smoking.

Even at an average of 25miles and hour - 300 miles would take him 12 hours...

How many hours do you claim are in an afternoon...
Afternoon to me is 12pm to 5pm... otherwise it's evening...

Hell, you can't even drive a car legally and make 300 miles in 4 hours???

:confused:

Rowan

The good Rev got your attention, eh? I think he was using dramatic effect to make his point, but randonneurs/randoneuses are pretty tough customers.

Randonneurs must average 15km/h for all ride distances up to 600km/h. The average drops slightly for longer distances (up to 1500km). Now that might seem pretty slow and achievable by just about everyone, but that is elapsed time average, which means the clock still ticks by while you eat, sleep, pee, fix the bike and check into control points.

In order to make the time limits, a good randon speed is between 20 and 22 km/h which will enable you to build up a just-in-case buffer and to allow you to sleep, etc.

The grand-daddy of them all (not in distance but in aura and history) is the 1200km Paris-Brest-Paris, which is run every four years... and the next one, the 15th, begins on 18 August 2003. You must complete the distance within 90 hours to qualify as a finisher. The record is something like 43 hours, but 98% of the field couldn't care less about that. With PBP this year I am expecting to spend 60 hours in the saddle, and to finish with a time between 85 and 89 hours 59 minutes.

Which gets me back to the thread... 60 hours over 3-3/4 days is a long time, and comfort is paramount. I fitted a Brooks Pro quite a few months ago. It did take a long time to mould to my backside (and I has the cheek to have the words "Pre-Softened" tooled into the leather!). The final adjustment was lifting the nose up quite a bit further than you'd think for normal seat. Combined with high-quality shorts, I expect to have few backside problems in France. I'll be fitting Brooks saddles to my other bikes as I can afford them.

By the way, leather moulded over plastic is not the same deal as a Brooks in terms of "suspension" because the leather doesn't "give". The leather may absorb sweat from the crotch as one benefit, though.

jhawrylak

Terry PL wrote

So far I'm quite happy. Just one question, how and when does one use the tension adjustment screw? I've seen in other posts that this should never be changed. The instructions with the saddle were unclear.

The brooks information enclosed with with my B17 states
"turn 90° at time and repeat this sparingly.

The info Wallingford Bicycle sent me stated no more than 1 full turn per year.

The tensioning nut is a hex head so turning it 1 flat gives you 60° and 6 flats make 1 turn.

If you raide a lot, perhaps 1 full turn a year is enough. If you do not a lot, a longer time between turns should work.

I bought the Brooks spanner and it works very well. It is much better than pliers and allows turning it 1 flat very easily and accurately.

John Hawrylak
Woodstown NJ

Rowan

I didn't get the spanner with the Pro saddle. Tightening the nut is meant to tension the leather across the top as it inevitably sags over a (long) period of use.

There are many, many people who have their own take on the treatment of Brooks saddles, most seeking the quick-fix solutions. I'd prefer the gospel of Brooks -- after all, it comes from the makers and they have far more experience in leather and their own product than 99.9% of population.

Like a spoke-key in the hands of a novice, a Brooks spanner and neatsfoot oil can bring on a disastrous waste of money.

MichaelW

Brooks are the only saddle which come with integral saddle bag loops (apart from the Pro). You can strap a large Carradice saddlebag directly to the weight-bearing metal frame. For small-med loads (10-25l) this is the most effective way of carrying stuff, in terms of aerodynamic and the load/weight ratio of the luggage system. Compared to a moderrn style rack-top bag, the old-fashioned saddlebag does not need a couple of pounds of luggage rack. This more than makes up for any extra weight in the saddle.

Terry PL

Thanks for the advice. I will not touch the nut.

So far, 32 miles in the saddle and, I think, there's break-in progress. In any case, this saddle was more comfortable out of the box than my stock Cannondale version.

caroljm36

I bought a Brooks B17 from Nashbar last Spring because I was nostalgic for my old Peugeot's saddle from the 1970s. I stalled putting it on for a couple months and finally put it on last month for my commuter bike, after soaking it in neats foot oil per Sheldon Brown. I had been worried about getting saddle sores from riding in street clothes (jeans) so I had been wearing the Adiamo liner shorts and continued to wear these with the Brooks for my short 2.5 mile commute 4 times a day. I immediately loved that old Brooks feel--mind you this is a very hard and very smooth saddle. I love it BUT I began to develop saddle sores, I think caused by the jeans crotch seams....hell, I had managed to avoid that problem for 2 years. Mind you I am female and so the problems with a Brooks will be quite different for a man probably. But sadly now I think I may have to take the saddle off, or start commuting in bike duds and I don't really want to do that. (I definitely have a split cyclist personality: completely decked-out bike geek road warrior and easy-riding townie bike commuter.)

So it must sound strange to say I still love the Brooks--go figure! (I think it's a neat looking saddle as well. But I'm old, too.) What I don't understand is HOW conforming to one's sit bones would actually help. That would mean that the rest of the saddle would intrude more into the soft tissues, which it does not do when it is still a smooth flat and hard platform holding you up off those tissues. I would be interested in hearing from other women using Brooks, though I don't imagine there are many.

jhawrylak

Caroljm36 wrote

"I bought a Brooks B17 from Nashbar last Spring ..." and ended up with saddle sores.

Brooks makes saddles for women whivh are slightly wider to make up for the differneces in the sit bone positions. You may want to check the Walingford site and compare the B17 width (170 mm if I remeber correctly) with the womens models. Also Wallingford gives a 6 month guarente you may want to consider.

Finally, I put neetsfoot oil on my 27 year old B17 and it softened it up too much. Bought a new B17 from Wallingford and use only Proofhide and the Brooks spanner (he sells them for a package pprice of $10 with new saddle purchase. The differnece in saddle prices was about $5 and his guarentee was well worth the cost.

The neestfoot oil may be a cause and softened the saddle too much so you do not get proper support. My old Brooks was fine until I used the neetsfoot. Will never do it again.

Neetsfoot is great on baseball groves, but I seriously doubt fopr Brooks saddles.

Just some thoughts.

John Hawrylak
Woodstown NJ

caroljm36

The B17 fit my sitbones amazingly well, better than the one on my Peugeot. I looked at some "women's models" last year and I remember them being huge, with springs. I don't think the neats foot oil softened it up at all, but if you're not a neats foot fan, I supposed it's easy to see that as the culprit. I'm going to keep it on--rode it to work today--and I think maybe there is another cause. It was just kind of a funny coincidence I think and I will give it more time.

lotek 

caroljm36

I'm betting on the seams on your jeans.
Didn't get saddle sores from previous soft padded saddle.
Now with brooks (hard saddle) nowhere for seams to go
but into soft tissue?
The Finesse saddle (Brooks womens) is an unsprung
saddle, size is 174 x 242 (width, length)
B17 measures 170 x 280 (width, length) for the standard
so you get a smidge more width and a lot less lenght
(which may or may not be a good thing).

I'd stick with the B17
Marty

jhawrylak

Caroljm36 wrote
"I don't think the neats foot oil softened it up at all, but if you're not a neats foot fan, I supposed it's easy to see that as the culprit. I'm going to keep it on--rode it to work today--and I think maybe there is another cause. "

Two suggestions:
Ride with riding shorts and see if the saddle sores return.
1. If not, the seams are to be the problem.
2. If still a problem, try increasing the saddle tension 1 flat (1/6 of turn). Keep trying although I would not go beyond 3 flats (1/2 turn). The neetsfoot probably softened the saddle and it needs to be tensioned to provide the proper support.

John Hawrylak
Woodstown NJ

bikerchas55

I am a Swift devoté, I don't think there is any break-in period to speak of, and as far as softening goes.... don't do it!!! I want mine to stay rock hard. The shiny slipperiness, together with the hardness is the key to comfort in my opinion. If you want a soft saddle get something else, if you want a comfortable saddle that you can ride for hours and hours and will last for decades get a Brooks.
To the interesting lady who rides in jeans.... don't. Make the world a better place by wearing your bike shorts to work.

To the folks who don't think a Brooks looks racy I submit a photo:

fractus2

I bought one and tried it but took it off because of the hardness. One day I'll have the patience to break it in correctly.

Dahon.Steve

I just became a Brooks owner. I purchased the B73 which is the model with THREE SPRINGS! Here's a picture

https://www.brookssaddles.com/index.p...=mens_trektour

I use that saddle and a suspension seat post on my Bianchi Milano. Folks. I can't tell you the feeling of being able to ride for hours and bouncing over ruts, bumps and potholds. Last Saturday, I rode until my hands were hurting big time but my butt was just fine. Simply Amazing.

To be totally honest, I was afraid upon taking it out of the box since it felt so hard. It had some flex in the center but I didn't think it was going to be enough. I was actually going to put on a gel saddle on top of the Brooks! I was dead wrong.

For those who can't use the Professional Model because it's too hard, why not go for the B66? Yes, I know it has springs but that's what makes it special. I don't know how anyone is able to ride a Brooks saddle without springs. The good news is, the Brooks with the springs is awsome.

I don't know why more people ride saddles with springs. Seriously. There was no need to break the saddle in since the springs did all the work of a suspension seat post. I use both a suspension seat post and a Brooks for extra comfort. It's been a dream come true.

For those hybrid/Beach Cruiser/Comfort type riders looking for saddles of your dreams, get a Brooks with springs. My only regret is that I didn't go for the most aggressive model which is the B90/3.

In my opinion the best Brooks models are the B73, B33, B130 and B90/3.

caroljm36

Well I'm still using the B17 on my commuter, I just love the feel of the thing and just could not take it off. I think the saddle sores were a coincidence and even managed to ride without liner shorts with no repercussions. Just as well, because the saddle on my Lemond apparently no longer being made (Lady Trans Am).

Hot Pepper

Now you've seen one.

It's a Swift, with Ti Rails.

chaztrip

I have been thinking about a Brooks to go on my new Allez Elite... but which one? I am thinking going with the B-17 but do I go standard or narrow?



edit never mind I had lust so I just ordered the Standard!

Thanks