pgjackson

Got my Brooks yesterday and the San Diego rain finally quit. Dried out pretty good and all the flooding on my bike route is gone. LOTS of dirt still on the road from runoff. Anyway, I couldn't wait to take the new saddle out for a spin.

First of all it is simply beautiful. Heavy, yes...but a serious piece of old-school craftsmanship. I like retro stuff like this. The redish-brown looks a little out of place on my black bike, but I like it.

Anyway, got in 20 miles and not sure I could go any farther. It's like sitting on a narrow piece of wood. The good is that there was no pressure on my 'taint. The bad is I now know exactly where my "sit bones" are. On my previous saddle my taint took a beating, today my butt was on fire. I also felt like I was sliding off the front. Might have to adjust the nose up a little. It is a very slippery saddle...hoping that as it breaks in it will become less slippery.

I know it is supposed to take several hundred miles to break in and I'm willing to give it a shot. It wasn't as bad as some have said, but it wasn't "heaven" like others have claimed. The first 3-4 miles were very comfortable, but after that things started to heat up. My old stock saddle was more comfortable than the brand new B17.

Is this similar to your experience with the B17?

DRietz

Fit is very paramount on a Brooks saddle. Most people find that the nosed tilted up slightly works best and it definitely takes awhile to break in. Just keep going, man.

Machka 

If you read through the other thread you started, several of us mentioned the slippery feature of a new Brooks. It takes a couple weeks of regular riding before that goes away, but it does help to tilt the nose of the saddle up a bit.

Aside from tilting the nose of the saddle up a bit, you may need to make a few other adjustments over the next few weeks. I broke my first Brooks in back in 2004, and I am in the process of breaking another one in now (a beautiful green one with copper rivets. ) I have actually had to gradually lower the saddle more than I thought I would need to. I will likely raise it a bit again, once the divots start, but I think I've finally lowered it to a point where I'm relatively comfortable on it.

pgjackson

I did like the feel of actually "sitting" on a seat with my butt rather than having my body weight supported on my taint. I like the wideness of the rear of the B17. My proofide won't be here till next week, so I won't be able to condition it for a few miles, but I can tell this seat is pretty much indestructible. The slippery part was the hardest thing to adjust to.

KDC1956

The B17 Brooks Saddle are nice for sure.I sold my first one because I got in a hurry that's I gave up lol.And then it hit me what I was doing wrong with the saddle So I got another it did take a while to break it in but I would never sell this one at all.Both of the saddle was the B17 Special in Green.Now I am building a new bicycle and want another saddle not sure what color I will get it in this time.Don't give up on your saddle time will break it in until it is OUCH lol.

tpelle

One thing that may help is, instead of riding for an hour or more at a time, stop every 15 or 20 minutes or so and either just stand over the bike or get off and walk around for a few minutes. You are supporting your weight on a different area of your bottom, and the pressure points squeeze all of the capillary blood out of the tissues. Getting your weight off that area helps. Standing and pedaling helps too.

Keep making little tweaks, and keep riding. It'll get better.

My experience indicates that it's not so much the Brooks getting broken-in to your butt, but your butt getting broken-in to your Brooks. I went through the break-in agony with my first B17. When I decided to put one on my second bike, there was little to no break-in. It was comfortable right away.

StephenH

I started with the saddle level and then tilted the nose down just a bit to eliminate a personal numbness issue, and have been happy ever since. This on one of the "pre aged" saddles, not necessarily the same one. Anyway, try it a bit, adjust a bit, and you may discover it's not for you. I've had several saddles that were comfortable, although they weren't anything like each other.

jamesdak 

My experience exactly! If it starts to hurt just stand on the pedals for a minute or so. Nowdays I can ride for hours on end with zero discomfort and the second one took no time to "break in".

Oh and I like the look on my black bike:

pgjackson

Adjusted the nose upward a bit and took it out for another 20 miles today. What a difference! Sit bones are still a little sore, but it was about 10X's more comfortable than yesterday. Didn't feel like is was sliding off. I think I am really going to like this seat.

catforker

A Brook's will break in more quickly in hot weather - butt sweat in the key

Machka 

Yes, and I tend to ride with more weight on my feet when I'm breaking in a Brooks.

Machka 

Yep!! It is amazing what a difference that can make!

travkat

You will love your saddle just be patient. like the others have said, tilt up a bit is key and the proofride and a soak in the sun will work wonders. I miss mine and should have never sold it.

echo

Keep us updated! I'm getting one soon and all this pain talk is getting me excited!!

pgjackson

Here's what it looks like. I know I'll get some crap for the little bag on the top tube, but that's where I carry my iphone so I can listen to Pandora Radio when riding. Reggae is great riding music.

echo

I've heard that the rails haven't got much adjustment backwards and forwards on the mounting rails...how does it seem to you? I am a tall rider with 34" inseam on a 64cm frame, just wondering if I'll need a new seatpost with a long setback.

pgjackson

Seems about normal to me. I didn't notice an issue with front to back adjustments. This is only the second saddle I have ever used so I don't have much to compare to.

jayr

Got mine today. Been looking forward to it for months. I think I'm going to wait to get some proofide before i put it on though. It's been raining pretty steady so I don't want to mess it up any.

robertkat

This. Carry the necessary tools and don't hesitate to make very tiny adjustments every few miles for the first few rides. I have a B17 on one bike and it took some time to get it right. Just put a B15 on my other bike and took it out for the first time today. I stopped maybe 5 times in the first few miles to tweak it, but after that I could tell it's almost there and going to be quite nice. Also, I'm told the B17 is the stiffest of the Brooks range. BTW, the dark brown is the best color. I got my B15 in honey only because I couldn't pass up the deal - titanium @ 20% off.

big chainring 

+1. Put a new Brooks Team Pro on my bike and am riding it on my trainer. Sweat and heat are the keys to breaking in a Brooks. After several 1 hour rides its starting to get comfortable, and has noticeable give in the leather.

Tempted to soak it in oil and beat it with a mini sledge hammer though.

Machka 

From the looks of it, you could tip the nose up even further (unless this was the "before" photo). Have a look at the Your Century Bicycle thread in Long Distance, scroll through and look at the Brooks saddles on the bicycles posted there. https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...tury-bicycle(s)

And I use a Bento Bag for granola bars and cookies.

pgjackson

That was the "after" adjustment. I looked at those pictures, I'll tip it up a little more and see how I like it. But some of those saddles looked pretty uncomfortable they were pointed up so high. My Bento bag is just big enough for an iPhone and a Nature Valley granola bar.

billydonn

This is true. A little baseball glove oil on the underside helps too, but someone will be along soon to disagree with the oil application.

NormanF

I love the Brooks Flyer. Leather saddles are comfortable because their hardness makes them suitable for extended rides... soft parts don't get squished into the saddle surface the way they can be on softer saddles. They conform with time to your rear like a good pair of shoes conforms with time to your feet. I wouldn't ride on anything else on my bike.

tcarl

Enjoying this thread, but I've ridden nothing but leather for 30 years now. For me, I have the nose of the seat at the same height as the back end of it. That's the postion I find comfortable. In terms of breaking in I've run the whole gamut (I have 7 leather seats in use right now - 3 Brooks, 3 Ideales, 1 Lepper) from taking a whole 1000 miles to break in (I started with lots of short rides) to comfortable right out of the box. My newest is a B17 Narrow. It's so soft I don't like it. I've already adjusted the tension screw out more than a quarter of an inch in the first year. I emailed Brooks about this and their reply was about how the stiffness of the leather can vary from cow to cow. What I've found interesting for me is that the width of the seat makes a big difference in comfort. I once had a B15 - so wide I sunk into it, not perched on it. Very uncomfortable. The standard B17 is also too wide for me. The B17 Narrow and Professional seem to fit me best. I suspect that once you get it broken in, the tilt and fore/aft adjustments correct, you agree that a leather saddle is the best type to ride.