Lots of Brooks threads... here's another from a first timer.
I'll update as time progresses, but here's day one.
I'm starting this thread for those of you that have never ridden a Brooks before... as I haven't either, before today.
Saddle : Brooks Swift, Honey.
Well, it's pretty as all hell. Especially after its first treatment of Proofide... it looks "of rich mahogany". I did buy the glove oil, but decided against soaking the entire saddle. The saddle had a bit more flex than I expected... I was thinking more "wood block" than flexy leather. Did the bottom and top with the Proofide, wiped it off and took it around the block. I set it at EXACTLY the same height/tilt/setback as my Selle Italia Flite and it felt fine from the get-go... at least in terms of position.
It's weird though. It's just flat out hard. Like sitting on a bleacher at a HS football game. You can definitely feel your sitbones on it. The fact that there's ZERO padding actually seems to help your pedaling in that there's no resistance whatsoever from the saddle. I should also add that I do not own one pair of cycling shorts. I ride in cut off Dickies only. Year round, no matter the distance.
I rode to work tonight as I always do and on the way there, it felt fast because it was so slippery. However, on the way back... I started to realize that I'm using WAY more arm strength to maintain my riding position because I'm sliding so much on the saddle... my shoulders started to get a little tingly.
So that's about 15 and a bit miles today... not much, but I can already tell the saddle is not the same shape it was earlier this afternoon. It's flattening out a bit, but definitely still pushing kinda hard on the sitbones. I don't think it's ready for a 25 miler straight, but for commuting, it's fine. It's definitely more comfortable than I thought it would be right out of the box.
The bike is inside tonight with another application of Proofide and a little heat from the salon blowdryer (which gets ridiculously hot) to liquify it and it sits like that overnight to be wiped/buffed before riding to the salon tommorrow.
I'll update in a few days as things progress and it breaks in more... but so far, so good.