margoC

I have a brooks finese saddle (for women) and just got a B17 for my other bike, not the one for women. The womens one is shorter. All womens saddles are shorter which makes me wonder cause I would think men would have more "junk" to bang into a saddle nose with and want a shorter saddle. I think the longer brooks I got should be more comfortable once I break it in because the nose of the brooks has that hard metal piece and it will be further away from my sensative areas.

I am just wondering if I should have gotten the womens B17 (the finese now only comes with titaniam rails and is prohibatively expensive) instead of the regular model. I've always wondered about why mens saddles are longer and it seemed like a good time to pose the question.

Nermal

The most common theory is that the short horn is better adapted to the wearing of skirts - as if I'd seen this in the past decade or more. In other words, tradition.

damnable

Hmm, there are many different womens saddles around that I have seen, a lot looking very different from each other. The only general difference I have notived is that they tend to be wider as the back, because of the wider hips women have. Sometimes they may even look shorter when they are really just wider.

Let your butt decide.

8bit

I agree that the shortness is probably akin to the lady's bike, adapted to the use of skirts. I prefer the longer saddles, anyway.

margoC

I'm hoping the longer B17 will enable me to adjust my postion on the bike if I want. As long as it's as comfortable as my finesse I will be happy, I went on a 35 mile ride today, the longest in months, and it was like a chariotte! I wore shorts instead of my "riding skirt" I would have gotten another finesse if the price was reasonable but I don't really need the titanium rails.

stapfam

Those titanium rails add to comfort- They flex abit more so it is not just a "Bling" thing. I ride a variety of bikes and I cannot ride a wide saddle. Chaffing between the legs is the problem if it is too wide- EXCEPT for on the Tandem- you sit down more on these things. I actually use a Selle Italia Trans Am saddle- The womens version. Nose is a bit shorter but no wider than a mans saddle but that extra width at the rear of the sadlle does give me a bit of comfort.

JohnTon

Any forum about cycling saddles will end up with “let your butt decide” - or some iteration thereof. I absolutely love my Finesse - originally I bought it at a discount, attracted by the weight saving due to titanium components. I had no idea this saddle is supposedly gender-specific. The male genitalia is one of the perhaps unsolvable issues when it comes to complete cycling comfort - but for me the shorter saddle feels great up in front where the junk hangs. I’m not absolutely sure the length makes any difference though - but - I can assure you that the comfort of a leather saddle will most certainly improve with riding, oiling, and judicious tensioning. I’m 183cm tall and switch my saddle from bike to bike - it is now broken in very nicely after three years. Replaced an Ideale leather saddle I had for 35 years and lovvved!! but it finally wore out.

jaxgtr

according to my wife, the longer horn was more uncomfortable for her. After trying several including some women's specific saddles, she was able to find one that she felt comfortable on. But as mentioned, it all based on your body geometry and how the saddle fits that.

rsbob 

There are plenty of unisex and short nose men’s saddles these days. Maybe short nose for men who wear kilts.

Just bought a Selle Italia seat today and spent many hours researching saddles - bought a short nose uni which matches the spacing of my sit bones with a cutout to end all cutouts which matches my other Selle seat but adds gel padding for the sit bones.

cyclezen

Biy, I do hope she got it figured out, otherwise the last 15 yrs mustta been uncomfortable...
Ride On
Yuri

Troul 

butttt.... we will never know unless the OP sits down at the puter' & provides us an update.

shelbyfv

15 years! How does stuff like this even happen?

datlas 

Bumping an old thread like this certainly puts you at risk of being the butt of zombie jokes.

Toadmeister

I borrowed my wife’s “short” Brooks. My junk package would hang off/over the front and dangle a bit like a teabag if I wasn’t wearing very snug cycling compression shorts.

It was an interesting feeling and provided great cooling airflow to the boys. I’m sure it looked ridiculous and might have been dangerous to the family jewels if I were in an accident….

mstateglfr 

Interesting. I have three Brooks C17 saddles and one C17 Women's saddle and cant tell the difference. The women's saddle is actually the one Ive had the longest- Amazon delivered it instead of a men's saddle, I didnt notice, and once I did notice I didnt care.
The women's saddle is 2cm shorter, but the same shape and curve.

JohnTon

Well, if that query really merits an answer ... here goes: Shelby, you must be a young'n - relative to my own years of cycling experience (did my first 600-mile tour in 1970), 15 years is a fraction. And as far as I know, there are still people out riding bicycles; I am pretty sure I saw some just last weekend on the century ride I did. Maybe one of them can benefit from my experience with this type of saddle. Leather saddles do of course weigh more than composites - but this is one area where discomfort can truly ruin a ride, even destroy an epic tour - so hopefully we can help save some poor cyclist out there a sore butt, or worse, serious infections due to open sores. It's horrible if you've ever experienced it, and I believe leather saddles can be an important component of a comfy ride.

Hypno Toad

Frau Toad swears by the shorter B-17 for her bikes, she claims they are more comfortable on the lady parts. Also Frau Toad will ride with a light skirt over bike shorts on these bikes while going to dinner, drinks, socializing... These saddles are on upright bikes (Pugsley and city bike); her road bikes have women's saddles, but not specifically shorter designs. At some point, I'll have to swap one of her B-17 saddles on to one of my bikes just to check it out. For my part, I ride a few different Brooks: B-17; C-17; and C-15 carved ... and each one of these saddles been on a bike that supported my butt for The DAMn (for what that's worth... kinda off topic).

shelbyfv

OK, so you woke up one day and decided "I'm gonna join BF and revive that 15 year old thread, tell folks I like me some Brooks..." Got it. BTW,there is a current Brooks thread in 50+, enjoy!

JohnTon

Just trying to be helpful / constructive. Sorry if trolls feel threatened by that 😈

shelbyfv

^^^Thank you for addressing Margo's question, I'm sure she's appreciative.

c_m_shooter

She is just trying to make you feel better about it......

jaxgtr

, probably.