TallRider

Hey all, I recently bought a Brooks B-17 leather saddle, and I'm about to embark on the 200-500-mile journey of breaking it in. I currently ride a frame that's too small for me, and the handlebars are way below the saddle, so I'm in a tuck/aero position. In the future I expect to update to a larger frame, or put a mega-long stem (e.g., Nitto Technomic) on my bike to get my handlebars up closer to saddle height.
My question is, will this change in riding position affect the break-in of the Brooks? If I break in the saddle while riding in an aero tuck position, will it be less comfortable when I ride in a more relaxed "touring" position? Or do these sorts of variations in position not matter very much for breaking in a Brooks? (After all, my butt won't be too different on the saddle.)

HomoRoadie

I recently bought a Brooks swift and have about 500 miles on it - it is becoming more comfortable but is not totally broken in yet. One thing that I have noted - if I am in the standard areo position (and the nose is level) I notice immediate discomfort. My bars are 2 1/2" below the saddle - I have altered the angle of my aero bars up and this helps.

My feeling is its not going to be the saddle you should worry about during your upcoming trip...

cs1

No

Tim

TallRider

Thanks cs1/Tim for the no-punches response. Anyone else who can corroborate this?

I don't ride in a true aero position or time-trial tuck, btw.

biker7

I'll help...I have a couple of Brooks saddles. An interesting question. In summary, it shouldn't matter much if any. What happens is...a small frame promotes the handlebars to be well below the height of the saddle. This causes your torso and pelvis to rotate forward. Sit bone spacing grows more narrow as your pelvis rotates forward. Is this critical? No. The B.17 is one of the most comfortable saddles out there because of its wide variety of fore/aft riding positions. Where you sit on the saddle and how much pelvis rotation will affect where your saddle breaks in however but as you develop your riding style with that particular bike, you will likely be all over the saddle anyway. One thing I will mention is Brooks saddles are very sensitive to saddle tilt. With the handlebars well below the saddle in particular its critical to rotate the saddle down a bit in front or I believe you will suffer perineal pain...often the achilles heel of a Brooks with a big drop in particular from saddle to handlebars. I run mine almost dead level but my handlebars are only a fraction below my saddle height. Most knowledgeable Brooks users suggest postioning the rear of the saddle slightly above the nose to allow your sit bones to slightly elevate the pelvis away from the nose of the saddle...particularly with a big drop to the handlebars.
HTH,
George

TallRider

Thanks, biker7. This is what I was looking for. Makes sense.