Brooks B17 Saddle+Gel shorts
#1
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Brooks B17 Saddle+Gel shorts
Is it a bad idea to wear padded shorts on a Brooks saddle? The gel seat on a smooth saddle does not make a good grip for my butt in the seat. Thanks
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The rare times when I do not have padded shorts is for short errands to the store or something like that.
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My butt hurts on my brooks saddle after 1.5 hours when without shorts. Shorter rides than that, I don't wear padded shorts. Longer than that, I would wear them, but then I have to readjust the saddle height to lower it by around 4 or 5mm because of the extra height from the pads. Brooks saddles are slippy slidey whether or not I wear padded shorts. I actually prefer it that way so that my skin can freely move wherever it needs to go. With padded shorts, I get a slight discomfort after 2 hours but it's bearable.
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I read that brooks saddle adjust's to your butt bones once broken-into and so, wearing a padded short defeats that purpose? Thank you for the suggestions on not wearing padded shorts during shorter rides. Excellent idea!
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The padded shorts are not thick enough to prevent your saddle from breaking in to your body shape.
#7
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always wear padded bike shorts unless commuting short distances.
and as brought up, the "slideyness" of a leather seat is part of why they are comfortable, less friction that leads to friction to skin--my experience anyway.
and as brought up, the "slideyness" of a leather seat is part of why they are comfortable, less friction that leads to friction to skin--my experience anyway.
#8
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I'm not a big fan of gel anything. I have tried it and I don't feel any difference over a little padding with frictionless fabric.
A good saddle will over come "over padding". Yes, I have a Brooks C17 for my touring bike and can spend all day on the bike, where my other bikes have mid range saddles after a few hours start to hurt, with the same shorts.
A good saddle will over come "over padding". Yes, I have a Brooks C17 for my touring bike and can spend all day on the bike, where my other bikes have mid range saddles after a few hours start to hurt, with the same shorts.
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I always wear padded shorts on my Brooks and having the saddle at the right angle eliminates any tendency to slide forwards or back.
#10
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I personally don't. I own an Imperial and have found it a lot more comfortable without either gel shorts or even a rain cover.
#11
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I thought the whole point of spending $100+ on a Brooks, which also requires more care than a regular seat, was that it's supposed to just be comfortable. If you're wearing padded shorts anyway, why not just save yourself a lot of money and get a cheaper seat that you won't have to constantly worry about getting wet, dried out, etc...
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I thought the whole point of spending $100+ on a Brooks, which also requires more care than a regular seat, was that it's supposed to just be comfortable. If you're wearing padded shorts anyway, why not just save yourself a lot of money and get a cheaper seat that you won't have to constantly worry about getting wet, dried out, etc...
For a six or eight or ten or twelve hour day, I really want a good saddle AND padded shorts. My longest day this year was 12 hours, 36 minutes.
I do not constantly worry about it getting wet, when it starts raining I put on the rain cover. And in the evening in case of heavy dew I put on the rain cover. About once a year I put on some Proofide on the bikes I rode the most, but some years I forget to do it.
#13
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I agree, my skinny little keester prefers good cycling shirts shorts AND my comfy leather seats, but hey, that's me. I simply don't like having a sore donkey after a days ride.
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Also, I've cut my saddle to lower the bridge of the nose to relieve pressure on the perineum tissue and male organs, since the leather starts to sag a little bit after a while, causing the nose to rise. With the weakened structure, I added an extra row of lacing to the sides to pull them in. The extra cut works really well. Before I kept getting bumped by the bridge and was getting sore after only 30 minutes. Now there is almost zero contact with the bridge. I cut all the way to the tip of the metal plate under the nose. I tried 20 other plastic saddles which were either too narrow, too steep, too soft, or too sharp on the edges. So I came back to the Brooks and experimented with modifying it.
Last edited by tomtomtom123; 10-27-19 at 10:41 PM.
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Padless shorts and a leather Brooks is all day comfort in the saddle. I've often wondered if it would be even more comfortable completely naked......the world may never know....
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I thought the whole point of spending $100+ on a Brooks, which also requires more care than a regular seat, was that it's supposed to just be comfortable. If you're wearing padded shorts anyway, why not just save yourself a lot of money and get a cheaper seat that you won't have to constantly worry about getting wet, dried out, etc...
Unpadded shorts/undies can bunch up uncomfortably with any saddle, padded shorts help prevent that. One can buy shorts w/thinner padding if the saddle is otherwise comfy.
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I've never heard that myself. I've got about 3k miles on my B17; at least 2k of those in padded shorts. A Brooks saddle isn't so special as to change the basic rules-of-thumb (rule of thumbs?).
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I thought the whole point of spending $100+ on a Brooks, which also requires more care than a regular seat, was that it's supposed to just be comfortable. If you're wearing padded shorts anyway, why not just save yourself a lot of money and get a cheaper seat that you won't have to constantly worry about getting wet, dried out, etc...
So far, I haven't had to give the Brooks any special care considerations. But I usually tour in the desert and don't ride from home in the rain.
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My Brooks B.17 didn't work out for me (nose & skirt too wide) but I kinda liked the smooth surface, let's one adjust position easily & doesn't grab shorts. I reckon if one is sliding out of position too much the saddle position needs to be adjusted.
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My shorts have padding ... but I've never worn gel shorts.
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#22
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As no one has mentioned this yet, gel shorts are pretty much a gimmick, similar to gel seat covers.
I would not recommend buying them, if they worked that well, they would be popular, but they are seldom seen and used.
I would not recommend buying them, if they worked that well, they would be popular, but they are seldom seen and used.
#23
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Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of cyclists that use them competitively or touring.
Last edited by BikeWonder; 10-29-19 at 06:14 PM.
#24
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I do have a 1990 avocet gel touring seat that fell apart ages ago, it was always kinda sweaty back in the day.
#25
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A few examples from our past:
-The Pet Rock
-The Segway
-Google glasses
and of course the worst product that sold hundreds of thousands and may have even caused deaths:
The Singing Bass (Big Mouth Billy Bass)
I'm not saying that gel is bad, but I believe it has been over hyped, over used and put into poor quality products so any benefits it may offer are nil