Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Brooks saddles for Cylde

I'm in need of input on potentially 2 different Brooks saddles.

Bike number one: I just picked up an '88 Miyata 615 that's in really great shape. It needs a new saddle, though. I'm torn between the B 17 and the Flyer for that bike. I'm around 210, 212--is the sprung saddle going to make me a lot more comfortable? I plan to use this bike mostly on the weekends for long rides of over 90 minutes a pop, typically 2 or 3 hours.

Bike number 2: my daily driver for commuting and generally trips under 90 minutes is an Electra Townie 8 700c. I'd like to keep it that way, but...last weekend I did 2 hours on it and (TMI warning) I was pretty sweaty and ended up with some kind of bump under the skin on my right 'cheek. It's getting better over the week, but it's still there, going away very slowly. So obviously I'd like to find a saddle that will minimize the chances of this happening again. Right now, the bike has the stock Townie saddle, which is a huge padded beast. Since the weight distribution on Townies is much more over-the-seat oriented, though, with the extremely upright position, would a Brooks like the B66 or B67?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The B67 is a single rail sprung saddle. It will fit most modern posts.

The B66 is a triple rail saddle which needs an adapter for modern posts.

I have had both and they are very similar. The B66 is slightly wider. They are both comfortable and I would recommend them.

I'm a pretty big guy at 6-2 and 255. I have B17's on both of my bikes and find them very comfortable. I see no real need to go with a sprung saddle - I just lift off of the saddle when I see extremely rough pavement coming.

That "bump" you are speaking of is actually a saddle sore, or, generally speaking, a boil or carbuncle. It's actually a skin infection, but I suppose can get started from minor abrasions to the skin, or from compression where the blood flow gets cut off, or as a side effect of diabetes.

I don't know, obviously, your personal health situation. I was diagnosed as diabetic when one of these became seriously infected and went into blood poisoning. Since you are posting in the Clyde forum I presume that you are carrying some extra ballast, which also can cause an onset of diabetes. If you have never been tested, you may consider visiting your doctor and having blood drawn for an A1C, which reveals your average blood glucose level for the past 90 days.

I'm a pretty big guy at 6-2 and 255. I have B17's on both of my bikes and find them very comfortable. I see no real need to go with a sprung saddle - I just lift off of the saddle when I see extremely rough pavement coming.

That "bump" you are speaking of is actually a saddle sore, or, generally speaking, a boil or carbuncle. It's actually a skin infection, but I suppose can get started from minor abrasions to the skin, or from compression where the blood flow gets cut off, or as a side effect of diabetes.

I don't know, obviously, your personal health situation. I was diagnosed as diabetic when one of these became seriously infected and went into blood poisoning. Since you are posting in the Clyde forum I presume that you are carrying some extra ballast, which also can cause an onset of diabetes. If you have never been tested, you may consider visiting your doctor and having blood drawn for an A1C, which reveals your average blood glucose level for the past 90 days.

Yeah, I knew it was some variety of saddle sore. I'm sure it was the combination of being really sweaty and riding that Townie saddle, on which I was shifting around a ton trying to find a comfortable position after about 90 minutes. It's actually really comfortable on short rides, but now I see that it won't work on longer ones, which I want to do much more frequently. My pharmacist recommended a drawing salve, which seems to be helping to bring it down.

No diabetes so far, but I do have a family history, so it's another reason I want to lose some more weight. I'm shooting for about 30 lbs less, around 180, for a goal. Mostly I'm biking for utility and fun, but I'm going to ramp up the "health element" of riding, too.

One saddle down, one to go sometime when I have some more $$$

Here's my new B17 Special on my Miyata. Two days in, and though it's not broken in, it's quite a bit more comfortable than the completely worn-out Selle Royal gel set that was on here before:

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r378/Shinyville/IMG_1639.jpg

Much as I fight and toil with mine, +1 for the B17, although I'd think about heading fore the B-17 Imperial or the Selle Anatomica for your Miyata, as I've noticed the more miles I try to put in the drops on my B-17, the more I wish I had a cutout.

(of course, I chopped, abused then neglected mine for a year, so ymmv)

I'll generally only spend a couple of minutes per hour in the drops, so I'm not too worried about it yet. This is my first drop-bar bike, and I'm not totally excited about the drops. So far I'm about 50/50 on the tops of the bars and on the hoods, with occasional hands in the drops while I'm going down hills.

Nice ride!

I'm pretty happy with it, considering that I have a grand total $240 invested in it! Not bad at all.

The only thing I feel bad about is neglecting my quite-new Townie for the last couple of weeks, which is a fine ride, too.

+3 for the B17, I have it on my Fuji Newest and being 5'11"@335, it's like riding on a couch.