Fifty Plus (50+) - I think I figured out my Brooks problem

There's another thread where I was whining about recent problems with my saddle. I think it was a combination of two things. First, I set up the Coda exactly like the Navigator as far as saddle tilt goes. Dead level. The thing is, the Navigator has a crappy suspension fork that when I get on the bike, loads up and drops the front of the bike and therefore the nose of the saddle a tad. I'd ridden about 1500 miles on a B-17 on it with zero saddle issues. When I bought the Coda, I bought another B-17. After riding on it for about two weeks, I changed the old one over to the Coda because the new one just didn't feel the same. DUH!, the Coda has a rigid fork and the saddle angle I set on the bike was the saddle angle I rode on. After trying the Alias for about three miles of reasonably hard riding tonight, I didn't care for the way it flexed and resolved to try to work out the Brooks issue.

And when I was putting the old Brooks back on the Coda, I thought it might be worth a try to put a little more tension in the nose to raise the sit bones a tad. Well, the seat tension nut and bolt is stripped out! That cannot be helping anything either. Guess I'll get to see how Wallingford and Brooks handle that little issue, the saddle is only just a bit over a year old.

So, I got busy and took the new B-17 back off the Navigator, set it on the Coda and went one teensy click down off level in the nose. Rode my 25 tonight that way and NO perineum problems, yahoo. In retrospect, it was all right there in front of me all along, I just was not smart enough to see it. MNBikeGuy gets the credit for saying hey, you're set up nose high. At first I said bah, I rode the Navigator that way for a year, that can't be it. But as I really thought it through, I'm pretty sure that was my issue.

Thanks MN BikeGuy for saving me $100 on the Alias.

Boy do I know this problem well. I cannot ride with the nose up even the tiniest click. A bike shop insisted that it would be more comfortable and had me take two test rides with it up one click. I was sore for days.

Then recently my saddle slipped a notch while riding and it got very painful until I corrected the problem.

So for me, a bike is essentially unrideable if that nose is up one click.

Not sure ,but I think the saddle may be a little slick yet, for nose down. What I've read is a lot of people like it nose up a cm or level. If it works who cares though, good luck. I'm still waiting for my setback seatpost. If that doesn't work, this Serfas isn't bad, but even with this Serfas I think I still need a little more setback.

BTW, I "rode" on a Brooks for the first time today. The LBS that is 2 blocks from my office finally put a Brooks into their test saddle rack. They have about 30 saddles mounted on seat posts and have both a men's and women's bike on trainers in front of the rack. So you can help yourself and pop seat posts in and out to compare saddles.

I've compared saddles there a few times before. Today I was in looking for an accessory and saw they had a B17 on the saddle rack, so I "rode" it for about 5 minutes, then tested 4 other saddles and came back to the Brooks for another 5 minutes. It was more comfortable than I expected. It wasn't brand new, but had only been in the rack for a couple of weeks.

For a five minute ride the saddle that was the most comfortable was this big ol' cushy spring saddle from Planet Bike. It wasn't super cushy, like a Velo Plush that I once tried and regretted, but it was pretty cushy. It employs the old "web spring" design up under the saddle. For a simple 5 minute "ride" it was so comfortable that you almost forgot it was there.
http://ecom1.planetbike.com/5002.html

Glad it worked out for you! :)
What accessories are you going to get with that freed up $100 ??

I've tried my B-17 down a click, level and up a click. Today, in the middle of 50 miler the down position wasn't feeling good so I changed to level. Nothing worked. It was a hot day here in w. mass. I don't know if it's the saddle or my velowear bib, but man, I'm slathering the lanacane on tonight. I was thinking that when I got home I would take out a hole drill and cut out one of those relief thingy openings in the saddle. I still may do it.

T-Man, glad things worked out. The tension nut thing sounds kind of odd though. Once you resolve the matter about the stripped nut, my best advice about the tension nut is to take the adjustment wrench and throw it off a bridge into deep water. Most of the things that can happen when you mess with that thing are bad.

I know that I like my saddles set with the nose just high enough that I don't slip toward the front. Never up.

I have taken a great liking to 2 bolt seatposts that allow for infinate positions for the saddle (ie one bolt in 1/4 turn the other out 1/4 turn. It seems that this cures the problem of always wanting to be right between clicks on the saddle adjuster.