michaelm101

Just wondering if now, in 2023 there is something better than the tried-and-true Brooks saddle...???

Thanks in advance!

veganbikes

Yes whatever saddle works best for you and your sit bones. There is no one saddle for everyone. My butt does happen to like the Cambium saddles but not everyone does.

michaelm101

So, how does one experience/demo various saddles to see/feel what works best for out sit bones? Is there a saddle demo program at our local bike shops? Do online retailers have saddle demo programs?

Camilo

The answer is yes and yes. Do a little web searching and calling your local bike shops to find them.

Germany_chris

I prefer Berthoud saddles for leather and WTB for plastic.

PDKL45

Some bike shops should have a collection of 12 or so WTB test saddles that you can try out one by one to find the one you like.

jwalther

Take a look at Selle Anatomica if you want a leather alternative to Brooks. Selle Anatomica

50PlusCycling

40 years of riding, touring and racing all around the world, all of my bikes have Brooks saddles. Are there better saddles? Possibly, but I use what works for me. As a younger person, I scoffed at hippy touring bike riders (they all seemed to look like Bob Ross) and their Brooks saddles. But they knew better than I did.

fishboat

Don't be so lazy, do a little research here on BF..you won't be hard-pressed to find 50 threads discussing Brooks saddles vs everything else. Brooks hasn't changed, and neither will the comments about them.

indyfabz

Man! So did I. Raggedy old tube socks. Bell V-1 Pro helmets. Total "bearded bombers," to borrow a term my dad used a couple of times. In my mind, strapping all that crap to your bike was an excuse to go slow and not ride hard.

Then I decided to ride across the country self-contained because supported trip did too many miles each day and cost a lot compared to the alternative. Fellin love with it. Ended up doing three long tours for about 10,000 miles total during my time off from thr working world.

GhostRider62

The leather on Berthoud saddles is much better than the leather on Brooks but your butt might disagree. I have several of each although am currently running a rubbery/plasticy Cambium Brooks saddle with 7x9 carbon rails

Chuck Naill

Carry a plastic bag to cover when if it's raining and you plan to be off the saddle.

easyupbug 

To make veganbikes point my long distance riders have only three disparate saddles that work for me found on bikes passing through my shop, a Cambium, two Selle Italia Oktavia and several Selle Anatomica saddles with the slot which I am careful to keep the narrowest section at 1/4" which is recommended.

daniell

I have both the Brooks Team Pro and the B17. My B17 has steel rivets unlike the Team Pro that has copper. If I were to buy another B17, I would pay extra and buy the one with copper rivets. One of the steel rivets on the B17 is no longer laying flat. With copper rivets a couple of blows with a hammer will remedy the problem.

veganbikes

Some do test ride saddles some don't. It varies from shop to shop. I doubt there are any online retailers doing it but some brands do offer a trial period where you can return it to them if it doesn't quite work out. I have had to buy some saddles and try them out and then just had extra saddles but they have gone to others either sold or occasionally as gifts to good friends so nothing was lost.

If you talk with a fitter and do all the measurements, you have a slightly better chance of finding that new saddle more quickly. They can make recommendations based on your pedaling and measurements and you might land on something more quickly and sometimes they have some test saddles.

mstateglfr 

C17 is the most comfortable saddle I have used.
It's significantly more comfortable, lighter, and less hassle compared to a B17 saddle.

The width and shape work for me. It may not work for others. Crazy, right?

KerryIrons

Many years ago, two guys I rode with were complaining about their saddles. One had a classic Italian (plastic) saddle and the other had a Brooks. They swapped saddles and both loved their "new" saddle. Something better is the saddle that works for you. Some people love saddles that nearly everyone else hates, and vice versa.

Broctoon

Indeed.

I have a C15 and I've never been able to warm up to it. I don't hate it, but it is not comfortable for rides longer than an hour. My B17 feels much better to me, now that it's broken in. I will say precise adjustment is very important.

I never do any long tours and seldom ride more than 50 miles in a day. If I were spending long days on the bike, I'd probably be more a proponent of the Brooks. My favorite saddles are a few models from Fabric. Compared to a Brooks, they are lighter, easier to maintain, comfortable from day one, and not as fussy regarding adjustment. I think their only downside is they *might* not be as comfortable at the end of a 500 mile week.

Polaris OBark

My B17 and Berthoud Aspin are both great. I impulse-bought a C17 and it is quite painful (not just uncomfortable, it hurts for days).

So try before you buy.

2old

Some stores have test saddles (if someone hasn't already answered); for me WTB keeps the tush happy.

Bald Paul

I wish Avocet was still in business making saddles. Had Avocet saddles on both my racing bike (narrow version) and touring bike (wide version.) Best saddles I ever owned.

79pmooney

Yup. In my racing days I went for an long/near epic ride with a racing friend. He was riding a Brooks Pro he loved. I was riding an Avocet III. (The Avocet; a leather over hard plastic and thin foam made by Selle Italia.) Our seats were as different as night and day. Had we swapped seats, that day would have been torture for both of us.

I am a rider who uses all of the length of my seats. Traditional leather means I will be spending time sitting on hard leather directly on hard steel. Not my soft parts' idea of fun.

79pmooney

The early narrow Avocets were made by Sella Italia and used the regular Selle Italia shell. I was told this several times in the '70s. Every one I got my hands on said "Made in Italy" underneath. Felt identical to other Selle Italia seats I rode, both with the Selle Italia name on others, (One of my commuters had a "Peugeot" seat of the same shape and "Made in Italy".) Selle Italia made seats for anyone willing to set up and pay them to put their name on it. And they all worked for my butt - at least until my body changed and my riding life became a small h*** until I discovered seats with holes. Now it's Terry Flys, the early ones made by Selle Italia.

Darth Lefty 

I've been sarcastic in the past about all the woo surrounding them. That's just for fun (see below). I didn't like a B17 when I tried it. But (today at least) I'm absolutely not going to hold up my anecdote against 130 years or whatever of Brooks saddle success.

It should be comfy out of the box, you're just not tough enough. You nevertheless have to break it in. That only takes ten thousand miles or so. That's fine, you have to start putting in the mileage to withstand it anyhow. Don't leave it in the rain, you'll ruin it. Cover it up with a plastic shopping bag you got out of a tree. That's what real cowboys do with their saddles. If it's sagging and your butt is hitting the rails, definitely don't tighten that nut, it will rip. That's just the feeling of "broken in." Instead drill holes in it and lace the bottom up like a tennis shoe. You can tighten it up with the nut in front but don't do that, you'll ruin it. You can't use saddle soap, you have to use the Brooks stuff that does not say it's saddle soap, or you'll ruin it. The Rivendell stuff is ok, probably. You can worry about whether the goo is vegan as soon as you forget the saddle was a cow. You can soften it up with neat's foot oil but don't do that, you'll definitely ruin it. It's not a freaking baseball glove, dummy

Calsun

In 1970 a Brooks was the best available saddle. I had a friend grind off the factory rivits and soak the saddle in neatsfoot oil and then use new copper rivits to reattach it to the frame. No need to break-in the new saddle with my butt.

But since that time I have bought lots of saddles and none were from Brooks. Too many improvements with plastic saddles that can vary the support at different points of contact and are far more comfortable right out of the box. My last new saddle was a Ergon SMC Sport Gel men's saddle which has been great from day one.