Touring - First ride on the new B-17

I found my sit bones. I wasn't quite sure I was sitting on them on my old gel saddle. No doubt about where they are now. Folks weren't kidding when they said that thing is slick. I had the nose tilted up so I wasn't sliding off the front, but I was sliding around all over the place for the first couple miles.

I took the short route to work today only 6.5 miles since I was running a little late and it was pretty comfortable most of the way. I was starting to feel the pressure the last 5 min or so but over all a pretty comfy ride. I'll take the long route home (15 miles) and see how it works out.

Congrats on your new saddle, keep us posted!

I just got mine yesterday. I rode it around the neighborhood, because I had just returned home from my 32 mile ride. I'm very excited to get some seat time on it.

I just got mine yesterday. I rode it around the neighborhood, because I had just returned home from my 32 mile ride. I'm very excited to get some seat time on it.

Aren't we the lot?? getting all worked up over a saddle... I love it! :P

Aren't we the lot?? getting all worked up over a saddle... I love it! :P

Plus I think it looks sharp as hell too.....

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu212/ericwelborn/dddfcd7b.jpg

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu212/ericwelborn/0d070c09.jpg

Plus I think it looks sharp as hell too.....

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu212/ericwelborn/dddfcd7b.jpg

I must agree! :)

I found my sit bones. I wasn't quite sure I was sitting on them on my old gel saddle. No doubt about where they are now.

that's funny because when I switched from my old Concor to a Specialized Avatar gel saddle the position of the sit bones was very distinct as the pressure was taken off the perineum.

btw, Texas2wheel, gorgeous set-up.

that's funny because when I switched from my old Concor to a Specialized Avatar gel saddle the position of the sit bones was very distinct as the pressure was taken off the perineum.

btw, Texas2wheel, gorgeous set-up.

Thanks, I've got an axiom streamliner rack on the way and when the curent bar tape gives way, I'll be going with something to match the seat.

Texas2wheel,
Nice looking bike!
What does the bar end shifter on the right hand drop do?
I can't see derailleurs, or cassette, or multiple chain rings.

Texas2wheel,
Nice looking bike!
What does the bar end shifter on the right hand drop do?
I can't see derailleurs, or cassette, or multiple chain rings.

I think it's an internal gear hub.

Yup, SA S-RF5(W). Geared down a little from stock.

Aren't we the lot?? getting all worked up over a saddle... I love it! :P

It does seem a little silly to get all worked over a saddle; but I must say, I finally have succumbed to all the praise that the B-17 has garnered and bought my first that looks just like the OP's. The vintage lugged steel bike I'm building is not complete so I haven't ridden it yet, but I'm waiting in anxious anticipation.:)

I too think that looks great, my Tricross Sport is dark/w silvery grey and my same coloured B17 works well with it visually also.

not sure if I already said this to you specifically, but expect sore buttbones for awhile, my initial rides were similiar in distance to yours and I too was a bit sore at the end. After 6 or 7 of them it got a lot better (although very hot and humid weather surely helped speed things up as I was so sweaty)

funny what the fellow said about being excited about a bike seat, yes we are a sorry lot (but what the hell)

I have about 70 miles now on my B17 and it's pretty nice. At first it felt just perfect, but today I was sliding down to the nose so I moved the nose up just a bit; we'll see how that works out.

Didn't make the 15 mile route home, had to pick up my daughter, but I did get in a hard 10 and it was actually better toward the end than the begining. I think I'm going to like this thing.

I did a century and a half on my 2 year old B17 a few weeks ago with no bike shorts. My friends who I rode with all had bike shorts and plastic saddles and were complaining the whole time. My butt felt great at the end, no more sore than if I were to sit in a Lazy-Boy for about 12 hours.

hi zepp, are you still planning on doing your trip in feb? Happy New Year btw.
You did 150 miles/240 klicks in a day, or 150 km? (either way, super wow or wow)

ps, I just got a bike trainer thingee for indoors, so will try without bike shorts, Ive never really done any real rides without them, just a habit to use them. Guess one still has to watch for seams and such still though.
also, I have been so happy with my brooks that when a LBS employee told me he had a B17 with the copper hand hammered thingees to sell, I bought it, so now I have 2. Its used but is in very similar condition to my 1 season used one, except he was rough with it so has a few scuff dings. Will put it on my mtn bike that I still use for city bashing, whenever I used that bike this summer my keester yearned for the brooks. The guy is slight like me and so the depressions look like they are in almost the same position as mine, and I figure it will adjust to me slightly over time.

cheers

I think I'm going to like this thing.

That just sounds so odd to me. I already love my B17, right out of the box. On the very first ride, I described it to a friend that it was like "Mother Theresa reaching down from heaven and cradling my butt in her hands." :lol:

But it's true: From the very first ride, it's almost as if I'm not even sitting.

Maybe it helps that this is not my first leather saddle. I have an old B72 on one bike and a Wrights W.3N on another, so I kind of have a feel for how they should feel when properly adjusted or something.

Doohickie, either you are very religious or you have a thing for skinny, boney fingers caressing your buttocks.

hi zepp, are you still planning on doing your trip in feb? Happy New Year btw.
You did 150 miles/240 klicks in a day, or 150 km? (either way, super wow or wow)

ps, I just got a bike trainer thingee for indoors, so will try without bike shorts, Ive never really done any real rides without them, just a habit to use them. Guess one still has to watch for seams and such still though.
also, I have been so happy with my brooks that when a LBS employee told me he had a B17 with the copper hand hammered thingees to sell, I bought it, so now I have 2. Its used but is in very similar condition to my 1 season used one, except he was rough with it so has a few scuff dings. Will put it on my mtn bike that I still use for city bashing, whenever I used that bike this summer my keester yearned for the brooks. The guy is slight like me and so the depressions look like they are in almost the same position as mine, and I figure it will adjust to me slightly over time.

cheers

It was a proper century and a half, 150 miles. It was a 12 hour endurance challenge along the Han river in Seoul. I used to use cycling shorts too but when I started touring I would ride every few days without them just for a change of pace it eventually became apparent that they were unnecessary for me and I even enjoy it more without them. Are you going to put the Brooks on the bike trainer? Thats a great idea because I have always hated trainers because of the cheap saddles they put on them for fatties. Congratz on the new Brooks Special. Those are really classy looking saddles.

As for my tour it, its starting to come together. I will know more about it in the next 2-3 weeks and will make a post about it so as not to hijack this thread.

Cheers

Mrs. HandsomeRyan got me my first B-17 for christmas but so far I've avoided the temptation to mount it to one of my other bikes since the bike that is being built for it is still only a frame, fork, pedals, and a saddle right now. A box of goodies should arrive on Friday with more pieces though!

I'm glad to hear more positive reviews.

B17 is the only saddle I ride. Have the B17 narrow on my road bike and the regular B17 on my other bikes. It was comfortable from the moment I put it on the bike. Only a few minor adjustments to get it positioned correctly. It amazes me that friends still don't get how a hard leather saddle can be comfortable.

B17 is the only saddle I ride. Have the B17 narrow on my road bike and the regular B17 on my other bikes. It was comfortable from the moment I put it on the bike. Only a few minor adjustments to get it positioned correctly. It amazes me that friends still don't get how a hard leather saddle can be comfortable.

Which one do you prefer...narrow or regular? I was supposed to get a regular B17 for Christmas, but Santa got stuck in the chimney or something. :P

Glad to see all these positive reviews. Mine is still in the mail. Hopefully it'll be here today. Hoping I have similar results as you folks.

That just sounds so odd to me. I already love my B17, right out of the box. On the very first ride, I described it to a friend that it was like "Mother Theresa reaching down from heaven and cradling my butt in her hands." :lol:

But it's true: From the very first ride, it's almost as if I'm not even sitting.

Maybe it helps that this is not my first leather saddle. I have an old B72 on one bike and a Wrights W.3N on another, so I kind of have a feel for how they should feel when properly adjusted or something.

I've been on gel as long as I can remember. Even my Mtn. bike in jr. high had a gel saddle. My first real road bike in high school I put a gel saddle on it before I even left the store with it, so the hardness of the brooks is going to take some getting use to. I took the long route to and from work today, 15 each way, and it was alright on the way in, but the first 10-15 minutes on the way home were a little hot on the sit bones. It was good after that though. The thing I notice most about it is the lack of pressure on the perineum area even with the nose tilted up much further than I would have ever imagined putting a saddle. I can even get out on my bar ends and hardly even notice it, where I had some real pressure there with my old gel seat that would prevent me from spending much time out there.
I've never had any type of bike saddle feel like someone was cradling my butt in their hands though. My old '79 Caddy El Dorado on the other hand was pretty close.

Doohickie, either you are very religious or you have a thing for skinny, boney fingers caressing your buttocks.

I'm not saying which.

just being silly 'tis all

Of course, of course.

snaps got mine for my bike tour. put 4,500 miles on it and it still needs to be worked in.....i guess i just got a really hard one

i guess i just got a really hard one


Are you talking about a saddle?

chuckle

i sure hope i was talking about the saddle. :thumb:

I've got 4 B17's in my stable with around 45,000 miles on them. I will never ride anything else. However I will make a few points. First of all don't even think about giving up on one till you have at least 500 miles on it. It's not that anything is going to happen to the saddle at that point, it just takes some people that long to get over the mental hurdle of sitting on something that hard.

Secondly, these saddles have fairly short rails and because of that sometimes make it hard to get rearwards enough on some bikes. Even if you do get your knee position correct, you often feel like you are being "pushed forward" while riding. This is a feeling that subsides over time and becomes normal but it does exist. Thirdly, I much prefer to angle the nose of my saddles slightly downwards. I have tried all other angles and always go back to a slight downwards tilt to the nose. YMMV.

In addition to that I always tell people the greatest thing about a B17 is what it isn't more than what it is. By that I mean, it is a saddle that once you get used to it, requires no messing or fussing, and will last your lifetime. I do proofhide mine maybe once per year but beyond that I just ride.

I love my Brooks, and have never found an option as comfortable. I did find, however, when I first got one, that wearing padded shorts really didn't work. I go for seamless, unpadded underwear now, and find any discomfort is only at the end of a 30 mile plus day, and only for for the first three days or so.

Some glowing testimonials here, but I remain skeptical. Was checking out a new B17 in a shop today. It was as slippery, shiny and hard as a slab of polished oak. Hard to believe it'll be transformed into a loving cradle of comfort merely by months of body heat, bum sweat and shoe grease.

dont fret mr gopher, for about 20 years I thought exactly the same thing, twas only at the point of having to get a new seat anyway, seeing the prices of seats being easily $50-$100 that I figured "what the hell, I'll try one, its $90 for a B17"
seriously, I always thought like you do, that they could not be comfortable. It was actually the internet reading that tipped me to coughing up the dough to see how it was. Other aspect was that my old gel seat I used for years and years has almost the same shape and overall size as a B17, which was as least a "given" set of perameters that I could compare to.

if you are a Yank, the store that sells them and offers a 6 month return policy is a great incentive, I bought mine here in Canada without sucha luxery and still decided to go ahead with it.

and "months" is not the case, my situation of a 140lb lightweight taking only about a month for it to be comfortable for all day rides, and I am not someone who will suffer through something just to appear tough.

dont fret mr gopher, for about 20 years I thought exactly the same thing,
Well, there you have it. Most comfortable saddle ever made; just takes 20 years to break it in.

what are you talking about, heck even after 20 years, I cant stand to get on the thing, in fact I never ride anymore and just thinking about it causes me mental and physical anguish.
And dont even get me started on the bleeding hemorrhoids.....oi vey

the only upshot of it was the volume of my moaning and groaning meant that motorists always heard me coming, hence very safe inner city riding.

;-)