Brooks Saddle: Big, ugly, and oh-so-comfy!

[SteveS]

The Brooks swift below only weighs 370g. When my Planet X seat packs up,

this is what i will be getting for my 29er single speed

[deanbean]

Got my B17 Imperial last night from CRC, R1104 including postage, it's going onto my training bike to be broken in and then onto my DS.

[BigGuy]

Now that is art.

[RodTi]

Got my B17 Imperial last night from CRC' date=' R1104 including postage, it's going onto my training bike to be broken in and then onto my DS.<img src="https://cdn.bikehub.co.za/uploads2/20100513_052042_Brooks_Saddle_0.jpg" height="479" width="640" border="0" />

 

[/quote']

 

Deanbean - that's sweet...

 

I reckon you're going to be over the moon - expect to spend a fair bit of time simply staring at your saddle - and getting really weird looks from your wife/children/neighbours/LBS...

 

I'm envious of your selection there - in that you've now got the "famous" spanner - and the proofide! About the latter - how similar (if at all) is it to any products readily available here?

 

Also - do yourself a favour and do some googling about maintenance tips iro of the Brooks saddles - especially wrt to the spanner - little turns, not very often! Very pleased to see somebody else here comment about there saddle coming through a very wet 4-hour ride...

 

Oh - please put up some PICS!!! Seriously curious what that bad-boy looks like on your ride!

Edited November 18, 2010 by RodTi

[RodTi]

The Brooks swift below only weighs 370g. When my Planet X seat packs up' date='

this is what i will be getting for my 29er single speed[img']https://cdn.bikehub.co.za/uploads2/20100407_082617_brooks_swift.JPG[/img]

 

 

 

 

SteveS - I had a loooonnnngggg look at the Swift, before settling on the Special - please stick some PICS up - would dig to see it on a 29er...

 

 

[RodTi]

R3 000 ? My swift was R 1540...

 

 

Narra - what bike do you have yours on? How long / km's have you had it on for now?

[RodTi]

When the weather takes a turn for the better down here in the Cape - will take some pics of my Brooks now that it's got some time/km's on it...

 

Colour has changed - shape has change, as it has began to shape itself to me ...

 

Woohoo - blazing saddles no more!

[deanbean]

Hi RodTi, still haven't fitted it to the bike, here's a handy link to care of the saddles, the author says that kiwi polish can also be used.

http://www.esande.net/features/newbrooks.html

I ordered extra Proofride and a maintenance kit. My wife thinks I'm crazy because the saddle has been installed in the kitchen behind the AGA, where i can see it, until I get a chance to put it on my bike, and also because I've just bought a new Selle Italia SLK, so why do I need a new saddle????

By the way Selle San Marco owns Brooks England.

[narra]

R3 000 ? My swift was R 1540...

 

 

Narra - what bike do you have yours on? How long / km's have you had it on for now?

 

Howdy

 

I put mine on a rigid 29er. No issues and I am really enjoying the saddle. Done about 600 km on it now and what a pleasure 

[deanbean]

Done 2 hours on mine now, and it seems to be getting some shape already, so may not be the agony break in I expected.

[Mojoman]

Got my B17 Imperial last night from CRC, R1104 including postage, it's going onto my training bike to be broken in and then onto my DS.<img src="https://cdn.bikehub.co.za/uploads2/20100513_052042_Brooks_Saddle_0.jpg" height="479" width="640" border="0" />

How is the saddle shaping up now?

[Edition 507]

Riding a Brooks saddle is like shagging a fat chick, nice and comfy but you wouldn't want your friends to find out

[TYGA]

I've had a Brooks B17 for about a year on my SS and I love it more and more every time I see (and ride) it. The honey colour has gone darker with time and use and, to me anyway, it looks better every day. They're heavy, they don't like being drenched and they need to be looked after like any other leather goods but it suits my ass and my bike to a tee, it's super comfortable and I wouldn't have it any other way. I think the majority of the people that buy them become a bit obsessed by them, whether the obsession is warranted or not is purely subjective. I'd buy another but I'll never need to, this one's for keeps.

[RodTi]

Stumbled across these pics, thought I'd pop them up...

 

Sort of gives an idea of what's possible - and I reckon even those who were arguing that a Brooks could never look cool on a thoroughbred racer (albeit a Rigid SS), would agree that this looks pretty sweet...

 

 

The pics above, are of a Brooks that has been "butchered"... Google "Brooks + butchered", to see some interesting looking projects, in this regard... Applying my (admittedly) limited knowledge of them to the subject at hand, I'm guessing the gentleman in question started off with a B17 Special, and now has a Swallow...

 

Am supremely jealous of the handlebars as well - courtesy of Mr. Jeff Jones...

Reckon I'm going to be quite prepared to dig deep for them, to round off my eventual SS project...

 

Having forgotten about my earlier promises to take new pics of my Brooks, and share some thoughts and ride quality - I'll get them up shortly... Been a bit more than a year now, since I put mine on - so reckon I've got a fair idea of what's what!

 

Till later....

[RodTi]

Hello all,

 

Thanks for all the contributions to this thread - I reckon it pretty much contains all the info one might need in deciding whether or not to take the plunge...

 

I'm going to pop a mail to Admin, and see whether they don't think it would make more sense to move it to the "Product Reviews" section.

 

Right - as promised, here are some of my thoughts, after about 15 months with my Brooks B17 Champion Special...

 

First, some pics...

 

 

 

 

 

 

First things first.

 

The saddle is very wide - 175mm to be exact. I opted for this version, being classified as a "Touring & Trekking" saddle (in the Brooks Catalogue), as opposed to a "Road & MTB" saddle - since I figured at the time, that if I wanted comfort, I shouldn't be too concerned with the width...

 

In retrospect, this might have been a mistake - although I'm not necessarily sure of that. Had I opted for the B17 Narrow, which comes in at 150mm across, it would no doubt have been easier to drop off the back on descents etc. Currently, it's a bit of a mission, and more often than not, I implement my rather bizarre technique of dropping one thigh off and to the side, with a sort of twisting over the back - - which no doubt looks stoopid, and isn't as effective...

 

Would the 15mm difference have made an impact on comfort? Possibly not. But allow me to say that my next saddle for the second bike will definitely be a Brooks, and it will be one of the narrower options. Given that I'm toying with going for a 29" racer, possibly a full-susser, it would make sense to be more focused on being able to 'jump off the back'.

 

Suffice it to say that anyone concerned about how "big" the saddles appear to be - have a good look at the size comparison between the possible plastic/carbon/synthetic perch you are looking at, and the racier/mtb specific saddles in the Brooks catalogue - if you are adamant on width/length issues, and you can find a Brooks saddle to match your requirements - then imo serious consideration should be ginven to the Brooks...

 

I'd like to pop up some thoughts about how my saddle has gone through some changes over the last year - as it has been "ridden-in"... This should give some idea of why many would argue that a leather saddle remains the only "custom-built" saddle on the market!

[RodTi]

I've only recently bought the Brooks Maintenance kit from CRC, for R68.00. Comes with a small tub of Proofide (the recommended leather wax), the spanner and a Brooks branded cloth, the latter being rather superfluous - but looks pretty

 

I initially thought that they're being a bit stingy on the size of the Proofide tub, it being about the same as one of those round little Zambuk tins, but after having applied some of it, it's very clear it will go a long way, and should last years... I'd advise anyone buying the saddle, to get hold of the maintenace kit as well. If you're going to buy the saddle through CRC in any event, it's a no-brainer...

 

I used ordinary dubbin for almost a year on the saddle, which was possibly a bit silly. The dubbin is completely different in composition to the Proofide, and I'm quite convinced that it's not ideal. My initial cynicism with Proofide, call me jaded, was that here was just another example of a company trying to get the consumer to purchase additional, unnecessary accessories from them, so as to continue milking the proverbial cow. I now realise that Proofide is not only superior, but the little tub will last 5 times longer than any dubbin, and at R68.00 for the entire kit - they're not exactly going to get rich off of me...

 

My overuse of dubbin - in the beginning, I might have been a bit obessive about the new saddle - saw me applying liberal dosages, on fairly regular occasions... Once every few weeks... Which is not necessarily the end of the world, since it did help soften the saddle up quite quickly, but I probably overdid things by a couple of applications... The possible result, has been a saddle that shaped quite quickly to my particular riding style, and anatomy - and now fits like a glove.

 

With this being said, I found the saddle to be comfortable from Day 1. All my friends, that have hopped on and have done a few km's, have made similar remarks... But each saddle is obviously different, so this remains my experience...

 

See some of the pics below, to demonstrate how it has shaped...

 

 

The pic above tells a few stories.

 

Firstly, the saddle has been recently Proofide'd - which explains the waxy appearance on the top. The three holes down the middle, have plenty of wax/dubbin residue inside of them, given that more is always applied to the bottom of the saddle, to provide additional waterproofing... This then pushes up into the holes, which then sometimes gets clogged with sand /dust...

 

Next thing - notice how the three holes are no longer in alignment... The top two are "pulling" to the right, which might have something to do with my leg leg being slightly longer than the other?? In the pic below, you'll see what the effect of this is on the "side-skirts"...

 

I'm trying to figure out if this is a good thing - since presumably the saddle has shaped to compensate for me leaning in my stroke?

 

 

The view from the front more clearly demonstrates the lean to the side... If you look closely, you can make out how the holes are no longer flat-on, and are twisted slightly... At the bottom, whilst acknowledging that the angle of the camera is slightly off, you can still pick up the noticeable difference in length between the "side-flap" on the left, seen from the front, as opposed to the one on the right... This ties in with the earlier pic, and demonstrates how my riding-stroke appears to favour a lean to the right (as seated)...

 

Not sure if this suggests I should consider inserting some spacers in/on my right foot's cleat/shoe? But that's a whole different question, for another day...

 

 

This is the closest I can get to trying to demonstrates the "sag" in the saddle, as it has molded to my shape requirements... The circled area at the top, on a better resolution version of this pic, demonstrates a "depression" in the saddle [with a similar one closer to the camera, that cannot be seen due to the light] - where my "sit-bones" have gradually made themselves 'known' to the saddle... Custom-designed simplicity!

 

Over the next few years, a small and ever-so-rare turn of the screw will be preformed at the front of the saddle, to re-tighten the saddle, and thus remove the sag, should it become too pronounced - This should effectively result in a "as-new" saddle again...

 

 

Another view showing the shaping of the holes.... Admittedly, this viewpoint makes the saddle look a lot longer than narrower than what it is!

 

 

The last pic again shows the difference in dip between the two side-flaps... It also shows the curious what the bottom of the saddle looks like... In front, above the glare, you can make out the rounded metal plate in the nose... The three brass 'pins' in the nose, attach the leather at the front, to this plate... Tightening the screw, moves the plate forward, which "pulls" the attached leather with it, thereby tightening up the entire saddle, and diminishing any sag...

 

And that be it.

 

I'll pop up some last few thoughts a bit later!

Edited November 19, 2010 by RodTi