spare_wheel

TroN0074

This what I have on my 3 speeds Armstrong.

RR3

There is a Cyclist in the Netherlands with a blog or website that reviews and recommends what Brooks saddle would best work for the type of riding and rider derriere config. I like my Brooks Champion B17 Ti but prefer my Berthoud Aravis


This website can be helpful in selecting which saddle might be best....


Leather saddles: Brooks, Lepper, Selle Anatomica, seat covers, saddle maintenance, etc.

cobrabyte

In my case, nothing happens to it. My Brooks saddles have been left out in the rain a bunch of times and they're no worse for wear. If a leather saddle gets wet just let it dry out before you ride it. It's really not that hard to tuck a plastic bag under the saddle for when you need it though.

I find it amusing that leather boots, jackets, wallets, etc...have a reputation for being tough and long lasting, but leather saddles are viewed as these fragile things that need to be babied. They're not. I don't treat my leather saddles any different than I would treat any other saddle. No goops, no weird treatments or breaking in. I put it on my bike and use it.

lostarchitect 

Yeah, it's 100% your butt, and you like what you like. I just wanted to point out that for a saddle to get "floppy" (as opposed to having some give) it needs to be abused.

cyccommute 

In over 11 years of posts and 533 pages, about the only thing you can say is that there isn't a "recommended" commuter bike. I can find just as many bikes with "drop bars, expensive components, and narrow high pressure tires" as any other kind of bicycle used for commuting. People commute on everything from English three speeds to a Huffy Mullet with drop bars to carbon fiber road bikes. I suspect you might even find an ordinary in there. I have a guy in my neighborhood that commutes on one every day.

cyccommute 

There are times when you can't bring your bike inside when it rains. Some buildings don't allow bikes inside. While this is a commuting forum, on a tour my tent is nowhere big enough for my bike.

I-Like-To-Bike

I think that having a neighbor who commutes on an "ordinary" demonstrates just how unrepresentative your observations may be about the people who commute on bikes and their equipment, as well as your sampling location. Try examining the places where bikes are used for commuting to schools and low paying jobs where probably most bike commuters may be found, rather than the places where office workers and techie cycling enthusiasts (as the typical BF poster appears to be) park their LBS beauties.

Ya know, somebody must buy and even use all those Big Box Store bikes that have dominated sales for decades in the U.S. Nobody would ever draw that conclusion looking at the pictures of the posters' bikes on the commuting list.

KonAaron Snake 

I think both of you are right. The majority of commutes done across the US are probably not done by people who care about this stuff and they are largely unrepresented here. At the same time cy's point that a commuter bike just being one used to commute is on point...and there are a lot of different approaches. My favorite commuter is a drop bar MTB conversion with a rack. What bike is right for your commute depends on your needs (including cost).

As to the OP's question, my Brooks is comfortable. It looks good. I don't "maintain" it. Prefer a cheap plastic one? Good for you. I've used Brooks since I was 15...my butt kept getting sore on a plastic avocet and an older rider gave me a Brooks pro. it stopped hurting.

As far as the cost, there are lots of things others spend money on that I'd likely think are stupid. I tend to keep those opinions to myself. Chocolat and vanilla.

spare_wheel

Something the "european/dutch/danish city bike" is the "perfect/optimal/best" commuter bike types fail to acknowledge is that there are plenty of places in the world with very high cycling mode share where these bikes are not used. It also beggars the imagination that a bike that is essentially unchanged for 100 years is the "perfect/optimal/best" commuter. (Clearly bike technology has advanced a bit.)

KonAaron Snake 

I don't like those at all personally. To me a heavy bike that is a pain to carry and lift doesn't work. Someone not taking a bike up stairs and lifting onto a rack might not care. I hate IGH. I don't find upright position comfortable...I need my back stretched. I HATE generators - hub or bottle - because I like helmet mounted lighting and I prefer rechargeable because I have a lot of bikes and I need one system that works for all of them. I also think that they're ugly as hell.

What tire is best? Wheel size? Depends on your roads and commute!

That doesn't make me right - it's just a prefernce. Buy what works for you and I'll do what works for me The best bike is one that fits, is comfortable and which works for you (including cost). My preference is for touring bikes and MTB conversions.

Reynolds 

This may be an US-based forum, but in most parts of the world commuting bikes are not "recommended" commuter bikes with "drop bars, expensive components, and narrow high pressure tires", they are cheap MTBs, roadsters or even beach cruisers.

I-Like-To-Bike

As they are in the U.S., if one looks beyond the bikes used to commute by the relatively small slice of commuters who are sports/enthusiast riders as predominantly seen and discussed on this list. That was, and is my point.

bonner1040

You dont see ANY fancy bikes like what I ride on in Amsterdam or India thats for sure. I have never seen more bikes used soley for commuting anywhere else in the world. The only fancy bike you see in Amsterdam, someone is riding, with aero gear and they only exist on TV in India.

I-Like-To-Bike

Really? Where, your neighborhood or cyccommute's?

D1andonlyDman

Well a fancy bicycle sells for several years of the average Indian's annual income. And the Netherlands is totally flat, so the benefits of a high-end bike are largely unnecessary except for racing. And wind is much more of an issue there than hills are, hence the aero gear.

bikemig 

+ 1. MTB conversions make first rate commuters.

bonner1040

I dont disagree with that at all, but out of 1,000,000,000 people there are plenty that can afford all the bikes that everyone on this forum owns combined. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands driving BMW and Mercedes bought with 80-100% import tax almost doubling the price.

D1andonlyDman

Those folks drive chauffered limos, not bikes, to work.

KonAaron Snake 

I think are some other reasons as well...

More humid, salty air than most of us have. Higher rates of theft. Just MORE bikes - your bike will be wedged between others while parked. Scratched, pressed, etc. There are also just more commuters - faster bike doesn't help you get past the 5 mph stream. Space is at more of a premium - I think more people keep bikes locked outside.

Most importantly, I'd wager most of their commutes are shorter than many of ours... With better public transit options than most of us enjoy.

As as I like bike's is getting to, everything is relative.

spare_wheel

That sounds like something an "enthusiast" or an "experienced commuter" would write. Mycommuterisbest-itis!

cyccommute 

No, having a neighbor who commutes on an ordinary just goes to show how wide the pool of bikes that can be used for commuting is. I do observe places where people commute to school, low paying and high paying jobs, urban and suburban commuting. I volunteer at a local bicycle co-op where I see people whose only transportation is a bicycle as well as others who can choose to commute by bicycle. The only constant is that their bikes look exactly like all the bikes in 533 pages of posts on the Bike Forums. They look exactly the same, i.e. they are bicycles and range from Big Box store bikes to high end technological wonders.

You are the one who referenced the commuter post and made some comment about "recommended commuter bikes". Now that you can't find a list where there aren't any people commuting on unrecommended commuter bikes is your problem not mine.

I would say that my sample set of bicycle commuters and bicycles used for commuting is vastly larger than yours. I live in an area with 2.5 million (give or take about 100k) people of which about 4% commute by bicycle. That's, roughly, 100,000 people commuting by bicycle across a very wide area. Just in the City and County of Denver, 6% commute by bicycle on a regular basis. That around 40,000 people. If you are counting, Burlington, IA only has 25,000 and, if they follow national trends, only about 1% of your local population commutes by bicycle. That's around 250 people.

I think my observations of what constitutes a "commuter bicycle" are more valid than yours.

alan s 

I'm so focused on the comfort of my Brooks saddle, I rarely notice what others are riding. They all seem to have 2 wheels, a frame, other stuff and a person riding it. This whole debate is pointless. Ride what you want, where you want, and stop fretting about what others are doing.

kickstart

I pointed that out at the beginning, but what can one do when some seize every opportunity to make disparaging comments about anything other than the latest, greatest sporting equipment pressed into commuting duty.

bmthom.gis

I recently obtained a B17 Narrow from the fleabay that had maybe a weeks' worth of service on it and the seller did not feel like breaking it in. So far, I have absolutely loved it. It has seen time on my "city bike" (aka 90s non-suspension mtn bike) and my 89 Schwinn Prelude. I did a group ride last Thursday and was the only one riding a steel bike with a Brooks on it. It is about to get put onto my Peugeot which is going to become my commuter.

Sheldon Brown has a great article about leather saddles
Leather Saddles

Specific questions have already been answered, like what happens when it gets wet.


These belong more on the 41, but with that saddle moving to my commuter, well I will miss it on this bike.