Brooks Saddle Break-in
#51
RidesOldTrek
I also love the Ideale.
#52
Senior Member
I'm currently testing a B17 Imperial. When I had it on my 92 PDG Paramount, it was very comfortable, except in the drops(note: it's not yet broken in). I moved it over to my 84 Letour Luxe and cannot find the sweet spot. I also cannot ride a Team Pro, but love the B17 Narrow and the C15
When you are ready to try a change install the same 17IMP onto your 84 LeTour Luxe. Set it up (adjust all the positioning information) to match the position measurements you took when the saddle was on. Go out and ride and see if it feels the same on the different bikes with the same measured saddle position.
Measure and write down:
1. the saddle height spindle to top, measuring along the seat tube
2. the saddle angle, called the pitch angle. The frame should be level for this one.
3. rotation of the saddle, called the yaw angle. When the centerline of the saddle runs from the centerline of the seat tube to the centerline of the head tube, it is at zero degrees yaw.
4. saddle setback, measuring from the point where the saddle is widest to a plumb line through the BB axis.
When I set up (self-fit) one of my bikes I calculate saddle height using the LeMond formula. I do initial setup by measuring from BB center to the top of the saddle along the seat tube, usually my target is 27 to 28 cm. After I move the saddle back to match the transferred setback from Bike #1 (in your case, the Paramount), I lower the saddle so the LeMond saddle height is the distance from the saddle top at the widest position (for me this is usually where my sitbone contact point is) down to the BB axis. It may be necessary to iterate this back and forth a few times: saddle set back, saddle lowered downward saddle setback increased, et cetera until the adjustments are too small to worry about. At this point the effective seat tube angle is defined by the BB axis location and the sitbone contact point. For me it often ends up round 70 or 71 degrees, on bikes with 74 degree physical seatpost angle!
But once you set up for measurements 1 through 4 you can ride bike #2 (the 84 LeTour Luxe). If the saddle is the same, its bike position is the same the (we have not discussed this yet) saddle to handlebar position is the same in terms of sitbone to bar each and degree of bar drop, and the (also not discussed yet) crank arm lengths are the same.
So far I've found that this process shows the same saddle feeling more or less the same on different frames. Where I can't get my parameters matched between two bikes, I can get more insight into what causes subjective differences in saddle perceptions.
This takes a lot of time and isn't easy, but this is what I use to make comparisons - all things being as equal as possible.
Last edited by Road Fan; 05-30-23 at 05:31 PM.
#53
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 910
Bikes: 1964(?) Frejus Tour de France, 1967(?) Dawes Double Blue, 1979 Trek 710, 1982 Claud Butler Dalesman, 1983 Schwinn Paramount Elite, 2014 Brompton, maybe a couple more
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I love how slippery they are. getting the angle correct is key to taking advantage of it's features & benefits.