flammenwurfer

I think that most all Raleigh Sports came with Brooks saddles on them, correct? My Sports has a B72 on it, which is now out of service.

Was the B72 the standard for the Raleigh Sports, or were there any other models that came with the bike?

Since my B72 is out of commission, are there any other, hopefully inexpensive, saddles that would not look out of place on a Sports? I would love to replace it with another Brooks, but I can't really afford one right now. I want to replace it with something though, because I want to ride it.

NormanF

You can try a Specialized Expedition Plus gel saddle... granted, its not a Brooks B66 but it will at least make the bike rideable.

mkeller234

How about a Brooks Mattress saddle. They came on some of the Raleigh Sports and can be had for an ok price normally.

clubman 

I'd roll the dice on one of these....https://www.velo-orange.com/vosamo8brwco.html

mickey85

If you can get a Brooks mattress, or a Schwinn mattress (you know, the ones with the S on them), I'd try that first - they're both insanely comfortable. Also, ebay is a thought. I got a good-quality B72 for $30 + shipping. If nothing else, I'd go with one of the VO saddles - they look really nice.

flammenwurfer

See, I hear all the time about how people get nice Brooks saddles for really cheap on ebay, and I look all the time but I've NEVER seen a Brooks on ebay go for less than $80.

The VO saddles look nice, and I'd like to try one someday but they are still too expensive for me right now.

I do like the mattress saddle idea. I have one that's on a ladies schwinn, but I'm not sure if the rails/seatpost/clamp will work on the raleigh.

Road Fan

Flam, I agree with about Brooks solid leather saddles, but the mattress saddles (Brooks, Schwinn, Messinger, Middleton and others) are totally different in design.

I recall seeing B-72s on Raleigh Superbes, and mattress saddles on the Sport, but perhaps it varied with model year.

EjustE

If money is an issue, you might want to try an Avenir saddle, like the Deluxe 2.0 or the men's sports model. They are $15-20 or so at Amazon brand new and are decent saddles for a 'Tourist' like a Raleigh Sports

Brian C.

Here are pictures of my Humber from the day I picked it up. It had a Messinger saddle which was similar to the original Brooks mattress saddles many of these were sold with. with some patience I found a used b72 on ebay to put on it (i think I paid $25). I also posted a picture of the b17n that I bought for $49 (including the care kit) using the Buy It Now button. Throw an old mattress saddle on there till you find what you want. If I come across a b66 for the right price I'll ditch the b72.

flammenwurfer

Brian C.: you must be much luckier than I. I don't look all day everyday, but I feel like I'm checking ebay pretty dang often and I never find anything near those prices. I guess I'll just have to keep trying.

Thanks for the suggestion EjustE. Those look like a great value, but they look too newish for a Raleigh Sports in my opinion.

Brian C.

[QUOTE=flammenwurfer;10778851]Brian C.: you must be much luckier than I. I don't look all day everyday, but I feel like I'm checking ebay pretty dang often and I never find anything near those prices. I guess I'll just have to keep trying.

I did get lucky, but now that I think of it, the b72 came from a post on old roads, not ebay. The seller was not trying to get rich, and he had a pretty bad picture to go with it, I rolled the dice and got lucky. The b17n was a buy-it-now with a low price that I jumped on as soon as I saw it, just a couple of hours after he posted it.

Speaking of getting lucky, the Humber was free, found the ad on old roads, owner just wanted someone who would appreciate his dad's old bike.

NormanF

The US is very expensive but you can find a good deal at Allterrain UK Cycles and even with shipping you can come out ahead. A Brooks B66 costs $90.14 but the Brooks B-67 is an even better buy at $69.34. And with $20 shipping, its still less than the $100-$125 they charge in the States even with free shipping. So if budget is a concern, I'd go with the B-67 and I just bought one for my Schwinn Qualifier.

Doohickie

Some of the Schwinns are just plain black and don't have the S. I recently bought a Wrights leather saddle (almost as good as Brooks, also made in England) for $40 on ebay. It's on my commuter. This one is the same model I got. (The cracking is nothing to be afraid of; I've got a Brooks B72 on my Raleigh DL-1 that looks a lot worse than that.)

gna

I know nothing of Gyes, but this looks like a nice saddle: https://www.crowcycleco.com/all-leath...owcycleenglish

Check ChainReaction in England. Quite often Brooks are on sale.