TallRider

I'm a big rider - 6'5", about 200 lb. I've ridden a B17 since 2006 and really like it. Reasonably comfortable shape to begin with, and reached "full" break-in after 500 or 600 miles.

However, I've had a different experience with the Brooks Team Professional. So far I've ridden 1200 miles, and it still feels rock-hard and uncomfortable. When I tap my finger on the leather, it still sounds as if I am tapping on a countertop (this effect dissipated with the B17 over the first few hundred miles). The rear end is developing sit-bone prints, but the nose is still uncomfortable and barely flexes under vertical pressure.

I've used only Proofide on the saddle (on both inside and outside - same as with the B17). I understand that the Team Pro is made of thicker leather than the B17, and thus will take longer to break in, and that Proofide isn't the stuff for fastest break-in. But I'm still a 200-pound guy and am surprised that the saddle still seems very hard and uncomfortable after 1200 miles.

Basically I want to know if this is normal experience with breaking in the Team Pro. If so, I'll keep using it. I've only used Proofide twice (over a year and a half), and perhaps I should work more of it into the leather. Also, the tension seems set very high, which may limit the break-in (I'm aware that caution is advised on any messing with the tension bolt).

tommyblair22

In my limited experience all brooks saddles are slightly different. I've got one from the 70's which is significantly harder than my two year old saddle. If you end up deciding that you don't want to deal with the pro anymore pm me.

rootboy 

Shrewd, Tommyblair.

Sounds like you got a good one, Tall Rider!

Michael Angelo 

Looks like it's been over tensioned. The sit bone areas look broken in, that raised center part is what's bad for you.

shoota 

Every time I see a broken in Brooks I can't help but think how they are the complete opposite of the modern cutout saddles. They look like ass hatchets ha

Barrettscv 

I have both the B17 and Pro. My Pro is more than 40 years old, I'm the original owner. It's still firmer than any B17 I've ever owned.

The B17 is more comfortable than the Pro, especially if the handlebars are nearly level with the saddle. The Pro is best used with handlebars below the saddle. The sit bones narrow when the cyclist is reaching low. As the cyclist raises his shoulders, the sit bones widen.

kaliayev

It has been said many times that saddles are entirely subjective and it is true within Brooks' line up. I prefer the Pro and Swift. The Pro works well for me even when the handlebars are level or above the saddle. I'm not a Brooks expert, but from everything I have read or experienced the sportier models like the Swallow, Swift, and Pro have thicker leather and will take longer to break in.

John E

My Brooks experience is with a 1973 Pro, purchased at the one-week mark from the owner of a new PX-10, and a 1990s Team Pro, purchased used on eBay, with unknown history.

After 40 years and 50k miles, my Pro is showing its age, but it remains very comfortable, and looks great on Capo #1 . It did take me a couple of weeks to break it in, but by now it is definitely a custom fit.

I also really like the Team Pro, but again, I do not know its history. I use it on my mountain bike. I had been told somewhere that the large-rivet Team Pros come pre-softened.

rootboy 

Good eye, MA. Has the tension bolt been adjusted?

TallRider

I wondered if my model happened to come over-tensioned. The only thing I've done is to remove some tension (at a few different points), but fairly quickly I'd backed off the tension all the way (no more threads, and the bolt part starts rotating). Obviously real leather saddles will have variability from leather as well as from quality-control. Here's a side-view of the saddle after about 1100 miles (zoomed-in from the on-bike picture above). I've added this picture to the OP, and the other saddle picture to this post, so people can easily see both views next to each other.



I figure I'll treat it with a thicker amount of Proofide (especially on the underside, which had gotten a bit dry) and keep riding it. Hopefully after another 800 miles, it will be comfortable.

rootboy 

Did you but this saddle used? Doesn't sound like it. When new, the tension bolt (nut) should be backed off as far as it will go.

TallRider

Bought it new. It's possible that I tightened it on my first attempt to loosen, but on my second attempt I certainly loosened it the second time.

Salubrious

There are two things you can do. If you want to do it the fast way, treat it with mink oil or something similar, place a heavy cloth over the saddle, and beat it with a rubber mallet. You don't need to beat it very much.

This approach gets criticized for taking some of the life out of the saddle, but I for one don't suffer suffering very well Worked great on a Pro that was pretty recalcitrant.

Plan B; again treat it with mink oil or the like (and just so we are clear, on top and bottom, getting all of it saturated), then tighten the tension and let it sit for a week or two. Before riding, loosen the tension up, see how that works.

bertinjim 

TallRider-

The mallet may work but may also crack the leather if you are overly enthusiastic. Slather the underside of the saddle nose with mink oil or Proofide and let it soak in. Grab your kitchen pastry roller and roll over the inflexible, offending portion of the nose. Repeat as necessary until you get the pliability you need.

Wanderer

Give it more time, not all leather is the same. I'm 200+, and my B-17 took a few thousand miles to break in.. I've never used anything but Proofhide, annually. Looks like new, feels invisible.

smallpox champ

It's possible that the saddle is just too narrow for you. My father once complained about a B17 Narrow, I found out he was sitting on the rivets

rootboy 

Here we go again.
Mink Oil and mallets.
It astounds me how this highly questionable advice has persevered for decades.
Oh well….

Lascauxcaveman 

My recommendation is replace the Pro with a B17. I think that's what your butt is asking for.

I ride both and find I prefer the B17 for general purpose rides (say, anything under 30 miles) and the Pro more comfortable for Centuries and grueling climbs. But if I rode anything for 1200 miles and it's still not right, I'd give up on it. (and yes, yours does look like it's taking on the old ass-hatchet shape. )

Michael Angelo 

Has the OP ever been fitted for a saddle? the LBS has a sit bone pad, you sit on it get up and the measure the center of the indents on the foam.





https://www.specialized.com/specs/spe...eometrysaddles

Salubrious

You are far more the expert working with leather than myself! So I will not argue- especially in light of how much I admire your work. But I had a seat one time that simply would not come around. This technique worked and its now as comfortable as my other Brooks saddles, most of which came around on their own. It really does seem as if each saddle is different.

rhm

A B17 standard (not a narrow one) will break in much faster than a professional. It's something to do with the shape. If after 1200 miles you don't like your professional, maybe it isn't for you. Or maybe you have it set up wrong, a degree or two of elevation is all it takes to get it wrong. I would not recommend trying to change the saddle; it is either right or wrong. You can't change it for the better.

TallRider

It's nice to hear that a 200+ pound rider took a few thousand miles to break in a B17. A reminder that leather varies from saddle to saddle.

A reasonable question, but in my case the Pro fits fine. I ride 143mm saddles in the Specialized BG line (based on their sit-on-gel test thingy), and you can see my sit bone impressions in the Brooks Pro as pictured.

I think I'm going to stick with the slow treatment, using proofide. The underside of the leather seemed quite dry when I took it off the bike, which may have been a limiting factor on break-in.

If the saddle is still very slow to soften, I might use the rolling pin trick mentioned by bertinjim, but doubt I'll go for the mallet treatment.

It's possible that it may never be comfortable for me, as Lascauxcaveman wondered. If I go another 500 miles and it hasn't improved, I'll give up on it and go back to my B17 (which for now I'm saving for a more upright-posture bike).

noglider 

Tip the nose up a bit. This may necessitate lowering the saddle a smidge. Try riding.

If that doesn't help, get a B17.

rootboy 

This may be it, Tom. If you are feeling the nose of the saddle too much you may not have it adjusted properly.
But I didn't want to assume too much.

rootboy 

Thank you Slubrious, but I am by no means an expert. I just try to follow what the experts do say about what to do…and not to do…with leather saddles. As far as I know that would be only the guys who make them and Tony Colegrave.
Oil will definitely soften a saddle. But, in my opinion, that is what you don't want. Well…what I don't want, that is.
But that's just me.