chipcom 

The Brooks Imperial prototype that I received last year, and have been using since on my single speed, has now been replaced with the B17 Standard that it replaced back then. There were two main reasons why:

1. Excessive wear on my shorts. It took time, but the rough edges of the cutout tend to rub seams into pieces.

2. The cutout becomes bothersome when wearing only light shorts and wool boxers instead of cycling shorts. Sorry, for the majority of my riding I don't wear bibs or cycling shorts...and the edges of the cutout started giving me so 'oh crap that didn't feel right' moments when in regular shorts.

Overall I still think it's a great saddle...but since I never really needed the cutout in the first place, there's no sense putting up with the minor problems it has caused.

Anyone else have updates on their Imperials since the prototype testing?

xB_Nutt

Still using mine. The cutout has not caused any of the issues you describe, I don't even realize it has a cutout. This is more than likely do to the fact that 90% of the time I ride with bike shorts or jeans. It is my favorite long distance saddle. I don't think I will ever give it up. I thought it was very cool that Brooks actually wanted real users feedback and were willing to give us saddle free of charge to test.

Tex_Arcana

Mine seems to have stretched out a little. Only recently have I had any problems. I think I need to retension it but can't find that dang spanner they sent with the bike. I'm with you a little Chip.

It may not be any fault of Brooks. Could be my lack of attention to the saddle and/or my clydely build. Probably both. Think I'll buy a standard B-17 cause I never really needed the cutout either.

sonatageek

So far I am happy with mine. I did a 250 miles ride on a bike with a standard Brooks Professional and I like the B17 Imperial much more.

CliftonGK1

I'm still totally digging mine. I've got almost 8000 miles on it including a couple of double centuries, some 300k's, a bunch of 200k's, a handful of century rides, and even a 400k which had me out on the road for just over 24 hours.

I needed to tension it just a wee bit (1/2 turn) to bring things back tight again after a year. The leather around the cutout is incredibly supple now, and that comes from a combo of 2 things: 1) mileage, 2) chamois creme. Yeah, prolly TMI, but I sweat a lot and the mix of stuff I use for chamois creme has softened the leather quite a bit after spending so many hours with my butt plastered to the saddle.
The wide portion of the saddle is pliable and has started showing obvious indentation moulding to my behind; it's very easy to find the correct positioning on the saddle now. No need to slide around looking for "the sweet spot." When I say pliable, it's not that it's sagging... just that it has taken form to me while still retaining tension over the parts that aren't the main weight-bearing contacts.

I did have to replace the lacing cord, but I did so with 2mm climbing accessory rope and it has been fine since then. It does sometimes creak a bit, but a leather saddle will just do that. While there are many things on my brevet bike I've replaced or considered replacing, my B-17 Imperial is not one of them. I'm looking forward to doing an SR series with this saddle, possibly next brevet season.

cbchess

anyone want to get rid of, or trade their Brooks Imperial Saddle?
I'd be willing to trade a B-17 that is broken in and laced.

Pm me or email me clbrosch"AT"vcu"DOT"edu

martianone

Moved mine around among four different bikes, it ended up on a Trek 520.
This bike, for me, has a little more aggressive position than the other bikes the Imperial was mounted on, the other bikes being slightly more upright for me. The Imperial replaced other Brooks models, a B-17 on the 520. I often ride without cycle specific pant/short, prefer baseball pants for cooler weather and what ever short I'm wearing in warmer weather. On the hottest/most humid days I do wear a pair of J&G touring shorts. The Imperial is more comfortable than any other Brooks seat I've used on the 520. Have tensioned it a couple of times and replaced the lacing with round braided shoe string. Don't sense the cutout or seat rivets. It is a great saddle.

sonatageek

Mine got wet last night -- somehow I forget to put the bike back in the garage after moving stuff around to make room for a car. Dried it off with a towel and hope it didn't get to saturated.

fender1

A couple thousand miles on mine and still loving it. No problems. Thanks Brooks!

MMACH 5

Mine is still on my main ride.

I even cut out and laced the Standard B17 on my other bike.

vrkelley

+1 I sold my Brooks "Professional". Racer's don't use 'em. Gee I wonder why?

CliftonGK1

Racers don't use them any more because races are won/lost on hundredths of a second by ultralight whippets riding bikes that barely make the UCI minimal weight requirements. 150g extra on a saddle, plus another 100 on a crankset, 50 on the bars, etc. could add up to an extra pound on the bike.
When you're spending 5 hours tops on the bike, you can get away with riding a lesser comfortable saddle if weight is the main concern.
If you're spending an entire day or longer on the bike then it might make sense to go with something like the Brooks. Then again, plenty of people are perfectly happy with a hardshell padded saddle.

Individual comfort is what it's all about.

chipcom 

You kind of touched upon what I think is the biggest problem with having the cutout....it's hard to keep the saddle from sagging too much - especially after a long wet/humid/sweaty ride. Adjusting the lacing and the tension only mitigates that so much. It got to the point where I think the boys were settling down into the cutout when I was wearing light-loose shorts.

chipcom 

See, to me, having to wear cycling shorts and use butt butter defeats the purpose of having a Brooks on an everyday bike. When racing or doing longer distance rides (60 miles or more), I'm usually wearing bibs and still don't have to bother with butt butter...but the majority of my riding is done wearing regular shorts/pants and wool boxers. The B17 is perfect for that...the Imperial not so much (after a year and a half of trying). Of course some of the issues with the cut-out may have been addressed in the production models. I have yet to see a production model in the wild.

chipcom 

Weight isn't the key issue for racing. Many pro and amateur racers still use saddles that are only a few grams lighter than a Ti Brooks Swift. The big disadvantages of a Brooks for racing include;

a) their tendency to deform badly when ridden soaking wet...which is a common occurrence when road racing on bikes with no fenders

b) racers don't usually have one saddle that they transfer from bike to bike...thus the biggest plus to a Brooks is of little value when racing.

availpunk9

I'm about to go back to regular B17. I've tried the imperial narrow for about a year. The saddle was fine when not broken in. I can't seem to be comfy on anything longer than ~20 mile rides. I think this has to do more that it's the narrow version vs. standard. The cutout doesn't bother me.

bay area biker

Well, to each his own, but I don't know how you beat the standard B17 for everyday riding. I was tempted by the Imperial but sensed the cutouts would bother me (no special clothing to defend against the edges of the cutouts); likewise I sensed there would be too much sag over too little time. The B17 standard gives me no prostate-related problems, nor any sweating-related issues, on short and medium-distance riding. Padded saddles with big cutouts in the middle do give me those problems, against all apparent logic.
The B17 just cannot be improved on, IMO. I haven't tried to ride a century on it or anything like that, so it's possible I'd like a more forgiving saddle for that application, but the regular B17 is just a masterpiece of hundred-year-old design.

CliftonGK1

Most of my mileage is my commute, and I don't need the chamois creme for a 15 - 25 mile jaunt to/from work. My weekend mileage is where I cringe to think how bad things might get without it. I ride with the Seattle Randonneurs and have spent as much as 24 hours on a single event. 9 - 13 hours at a time isn't uncommon for me on the weekend, and I've never found a saddle I can comfortably do that without padding and/or chamois creme.

Tude 

Chippy!!!!!!!!!!! I haz one still in use on my roadie - I still love it. I use the roadie as a touring type of bike - plan on taking it out for a lonnnnnng cruise Sunday as FINALLY it looks like the rain will hold off. It's one sexay saddle I must say and I have no problems with it at all. Cut out is still interesting and it doesn't (or I think) matter to this female person here at all. Since I moved in July and FINALLY have all my bike tools and stuffs altogether now and in one room, I found the leather "Proofide" again - I touched it up with that and smoothed it out quite nicely. Lacing has weathered a bit. But in reading more on the wear and tear on bike shorts, etc - yeah I do notice some different wear on my shorts/long tights though - perhaps because of the edges of the seat. Since I use my other (hardtail mtb) bike to commute with and am generally an offroader with another Toy - roadie tends to sit more, but the seat remains firm and shows no wear and tear except towards the back end of each side - probably where my legs rub it constantly - probably where the wear is going on my shorts/tights. Guess it's a little wider for me than what I would have chosen for a seat. Still a great seat though! Have about 2000 on the seat at the moment.

Oh and perhaps cuz I haz hard azzz, but I don't really need that cream stuff - maybe on >100 for the saddle though

Riding with couchy in a couple weeks too, may have the poor boy try my seat out hehe

SSfreak

Have a little over a 1000 on my Imperial. The seats great and I don't even notice the cutout. Love the seat.

Cyclist0383

I deep sixed mine after less than 500km. It sagged considerably, and my sitbones were hitting the metal frame, which was extremely painful. I swapped the Imperial for a B-17 (I've used B-17s for many years) and all is right again.

hairnet

How does one receive these prototype saddles? I have seen people in other threads comment on the Brooks saddles they received and it makes me curious.

genec

Weight.

Cyclist0383

Brooks was offering them for testing awhile back.

chipcom 

Hmm, now that I have my Imperial sitting on the shelf, maybe we can really fred out couchy's ride by swapping that yellow Selle Turbo ass hatchet with a black Imperial love seat.