mnmkpedals 

Nice weather finally, and took the tourer out for a couple rides. All measurements are the same as last season, except changed saddle to a Brooks Flyer. Feels great on the rear, except the stock Laprade seat post on my bike won't allow me to get the nose low enough to remove pressure from that delicate spot in front where you don't want pressure! I know it is supposed to be a little nose-up, but no matter the position, the Laprade keeps it too high and ends up putting pressure there.

Best I can tell, the VO Grand Crus post should do the trick and give me better control. But are there any other seat posts out there that give better control over the angle especially?

Lascauxcaveman 

Hmmm... I like my most of my saddles just a tad 'nose down' from level, too, but I've never met a seatpost that wouldn't let me go way, way past my ideal position.

Pictures?

dveneman

I too find it hard to imagine a post that will not angle the saddle way down past what you would want to ride with. On the other hand, I have had setposts that would not angle the front high enough for my liking. But I do like the front higher than the average rider. If not, it seems harder on my arms and I keep sliding forward.
Any other of your favourite brand seatpost should work. Some have touble getting a brooks back far enough and purchase a setback seatpost like the Gran Cru you described.

fietsbob

Flyer is sprung .. a Saddle clip on a plain post will do ..

Brompton has made the best saddle clip ever .. step-less adjustable and predominantly Aluminum.

Brompton | wallbike.com

CardiacKid

Are you sure you are not installing the saddle backwards. I did that once with an SR Laprode. I mean I know this guy that did that once.

DIMcyclist

That Brompton clamp is impressive. Do you think it would work with a double-rail saddle?

As far as the OP goes, I had similar problems mounting a Brooks B-17 on my XO-3; I never could get the angle quite right with the XO's original Kalloy seatpost (whose clamp is almost identical with your Laprade).

It was kind of a conundrum: on the one hand, I knew a two-bolt adjuster seatpost, like a Thomson or a Thomson look-alike would certainly solve the problem, but, on the other, it would also sorta spoil the looks of the bike (like putting a modern wind-deflector on a classic E-Type Jag). I thought about using a Campy track seatpost, but it seemed... well, too Italian for a famously Japanese bike (sorta like installing the steering wheel from a Ferrari in an E-Type Jaguar).

However I was on the right 'track' with a track seatpost (pardon the cheap pun; it was such a bargain, I couldn't resist it), and after some searching I found a Nitto track seatpost, an SP-72 'Jaguar' :



It has about an inch of setback and the adjustment mechanism is similar to a Thomson's, and (also like a Thomson) can be adjusted quite finely within a very wide range. I should note that a lot of these seem to have NJS 30mm rail clamps, so it took a little while (a patient three months) to track one down with a standard 44mm clamp, but once done: problem solved.

sumgy

Find a saddle that works is my suggestion.
I hate how Brooks saddles have such short rails so they cant be put into a decent position without using a different seatpost.
Only way I could ride a Brooks was to tilt the nose up.

Velognome 

Which is the proper attitude for a saddle, I believe?

mnmkpedals - It sounds like the installation of the post & or saddle is incorrect. Also a saddle with the nose below level usually ( stress on usually) indicates that the reach to the handle bars is too far or too low.

bruseforme

yes,I do like the front higher than the average rider. If not, it seems harder on my arms and I keep sliding forward.

sumgy

The reason you have to run it like that is because the rails are too short to allow it to be set back in the correct position.

Velognome 

Wow, you should let Brooks know this before they make any more mistakes!

sumgy

You should go measure the rails vs others.
It is an outdated design from when seat tube angles were much slacker.
Ride them if you like.
I will use a saddle where I don't need to compromise.
But everyone's bums are different and maybe they work for some.

Italuminium

Yes, brooks saddles have oddly shaped rails, but between flipping the post around and infinitely micro-adjustment it's perfectly easy to set them up right. And yes, riding with the saddle tilted slightly up is indeed the way to go with these saddles.

sumgy

Sorry I cannot understand how you can easily set them up right if you cannot get them in the correct setback position.

Italuminium

Sorry if I was unclear. These saddles were designed with 65-71 seat tube angles in mind, and for use with "candle" type seat posts, meaning that they basically stuck a length of alu/steel in a frame with a reduced diameter section at the top, to which a saddle clamp was attached. these clamps could easily be reversed to get the saddle just so that the knee was above the pedal spindle. This effect can be replicated by using a normal seatpost backwards, i.e. with the set back clamping portion facing the front of the bike instead of the read. YMMV, some posts do this better than others.

Here's a pic, from a member we all know and love for his veddy briddish IGH beauties.

mnmkpedals 

Thanks for the interesting discussion, and let me be the first to say that, yes, I wouldnt be at all surprised if I weren't doing something wrong in this case!

Sorry for not attaching pics with the OP. I posted while heading off to work yesterday, and just getting back now to check in. Here are two pics. One with the seat as far set back as possible, the other with it as far forward as possible. I want it as far back as I can, and to clarify, I'm not looking for it to be nose down, just nose a little lower, since it's a shade too much pressure up front.

No matter how much I fiddle, can't get the tilt any lower with it, so I was speculating it might have been a post issue. Sorry for the less than perfect pics, had to snap these quick before work, and thanks for any help.

Grand Bois

There is no "proper" angle. You have to find the angle that works for you. Nose up is horribly uncomfortable for me. All of mine are level or very close to it.

Velognome 

Well according to Brooks Blog there is. The Brooks England Blog » Blog Archive » Adjust your bicycle seat / Correct Saddle Fitment It's dead-level....and you have seem to found it.

zukahn1 

Nearly any decent correct sized seat post clamp combo hould give you close to 2.00 inches front to back and 30 degrees frome horizontal up or down and 1 to 6 inches rise on a basic brooks saddle this should be more than enough. If you can't make it work within these you likely have a frame that is to big or too small.

sumgy

Disagree on all counts (but then I also disagree with KOPS as a fitting method).
It is not about a bike being too small or too big, it is about seat tube angles.
As I said earlier, I cannot get my saddle far enough back with a Brooks, but then again I cannot get it far enough back with basically any saddle except for SMP so perhaps I am in the minority.

But as I said earlier, some people love Brooks and that is OK.