DanitoLaboy

Hello everyone,

I have a question about seats. The stock seat on my Cannondale is awful and very painful to me. As the miles go by the worst it gets. So I decided to change it for a new one. Im looking at the Brooks B-17.Any pro's and cons on this seat? Or any other suggestions?

Many Thanks,

Danito

barba

The B-17 works for many and doesn't work for some. Unfortunately, there is only one way to find out...

super-douper

you gotta just try saddles. I tried B17 narrow and it didn't work for me. Currently I'm riding a Terry fly and it's pretty good. I have yet do do a century on it, but on the rides I've done (up to 40 miles) I've had little to no pain at all.

The price of the terry is pretty steep, but performance bike makes a Forte "classic" that looks to be virtually the same. I went to the store and compared them. They're very, very similar. The classic no doubt made by terry. It's even made in italy just like the terry fly. And the classic is only about $35. I bought one for my SS/FG, but haven't put any serious miles on it yet.

Az B

The Forte saddle is a Velo. Definitely *not* a Terry. The Terry seats are comfy saddles, but not neccessarily for long distance. Too much cushion over a long period of time allows your sitbones to sink in. This creates perineal pressure. One of the main differences between the Terry and the Velo is the quality of the foam padding. The Velo uses a lot cheaper foam padding, and Terry uses much higher quality, denser foam.

Brooks is definitely worth a try. I've tried a lot of different saddles, and most of them are fine up to 50 miles or so. A few are good for ~75 miles. Only the Brooks allows me to ride 100-200 miles and never even think about my butt.

Keep in mind that while comfy right out of the box, they get more comfortable over time. So give it some time and make sure it's positioned correctly.

Az

sch

Terry makes a generally pretty good seat for a wide variety of riders, but they
have some degree of ephemeralness, especially the Liberty variants. I get
about 4-6 kmi before the foam breaks down to the point where the seat is
too saggy to ride. The Fly series are made differently and haven't ridden my
one mounted fly enough to judge. Brooks OTOH is likely to rival the frame in
its longevity with a bit of care. As Az B says, a saddle good for 50 mi may be
terrible at 100 or 200mi. Brooks may take a thousand mi or so to wear in for
some riders so you can't reject it out of hand. Weight weenies will be turned
off by Brooks as well.

jibi

Have you looked at others in the Brooks range? When my b17 finally died early last year at the age of 26 I found a Brooks Professional suited me better, I must be shrinking with age.

I regularly spend almost all day in the saddle, and so far she is a beaut.

george

thebulls

If you buy your Brooks through Wallingford Bicycle Parts (www.wallbike.com) it comes with a six-month return policy. You may pay just a bit more, but if you're in doubt about whether a Brooks works for you, then I'd say Wallingford is the place to buy it.

DanitoLaboy

Hey thanks for all the great info. I will most likely give the brooks a try. I know its mostly personal taste and you have to try some seats before you get it right.

vincentpaul

You might want to wait just a month or two and see if Brooks is going to put the B17 Imperial into production. I'm currently involved in the pre-production test that's being conducted with the assistance of Bike Forum members (see the Classic & Vintage Forum for reviews). It's a very comfortable seat for long-distance riding. It's based on Brooks' 1890's designs that were designed specifically for comfort on long rides. It's basically a B17 with a special cut-out and some small changes to the cutting and shaping. I took it on a 60-mile ride in cold weather (30's w/ snow) for my first ride on it. Incredibly, it was quite comfortable!

George

You have to be careful with the Brooks because of the short rails. Unless your short, then your ok. I'm 6'2' and after I bought the B17, I had to buy a set back seat post. I heard rumors that they were going to start making the rails longer, but I don't know if it ever happened or not.

CliftonGK1

That depends on your riding style and your bike geometry, though. I'm 6'6" and don't need a setback post for my B-17. I don't think that they've changed the length of the clamp area on the rails, though.

I'm also involved in the B-17 Imperial test, and for long distance riding I'd recommend waiting to see if they bring this one to production. While I didn't notice much of a benefit when I had all my cold weather gear on, there is a noticable improvement when just wearing shorts/tights, especially when climbing or in the drops. It's more comfortable for climbing than my B-17 Champ. Std. which is already well worn in with over 4000 miles on it, and I only have 31 miles on the Imperial so far.

Regardless of the Brooks model you get, make sure your saddle is right for you and for your riding style. The Brooks line is pretty varied, so you may want to check out others than the B-17. If it's not comfortable right out of the box, don't count on it "breaking in" to some easy-chair level of zen-butt-orthotic comfort. I'm of the opinion that if it sucks right out of the box, it's not getting any better 100 miles later. I've got some friends who swear by skinny little barely padded racing saddles, even for double centuries. To each their own.

DanitoLaboy

Thanks! any pics on this new brooks?