undisputed83

I know I could put almost any brooks saddle on a road bike, but is there a lighter version of a brooks saddle for us weight weenies? I know the B17 Narrow is 530g roughly, I was wondering if I might find something around 400g? Or is that a pipe dream?

I purchased a B17 for my commuter bike, and I'm totally in love with it.

pallen

https://www.brooksengland.com/catalog...wift+Titanium/

not cheap and still not light, but that's about as good as it gets.

oh wait, actually the swallow is a tiny but lighter
https://www.brooksengland.com/catalog...llow+Titanium/

undisputed83

Awesome! Thanks!

Dolamite02

This is another good resource.

merlinextraligh

this one looks attractive.

NSFW

https://bp1.blogger.com/_Rpt8G1PBMmo/.../s400/nude.jpg

socalrider

If you are looking for a good road saddle look to the Team Pro over the B17 narrow.. Wallbike sells a lesser expensive version of the Team Pro

https://www.wallbike.com/brooks/unspr...classic-saddle
https://www.brooksengland.com/catalog...am+Pro+Chrome/

I find the Team Pro a better saddle for use on a road bike, it is still wider than most stock road saddles so it is still Clyde friendly.. The team pro is only 10mm narrower than the B17 - but the Narrow B17 is 20mm narrower than the stock B17, it is noticeable..

I found that on a road bike, the extra width of the B17 was nice for the butt, but was harder to drive through the pedal stroke, you will see the way the more road oriented saddle will allow you to drive the legs harder.. The swift and Team Pro are both great saddles.

jdon

I have this on my vintage Bianchi https://www.brooksengland.com/catalog...llow+Titanium/

canam73

Those Bobbys sure have discipline. He actually seems to be looking at the sign.

Shimagnolo

That looks *very* comfortable!

Spookeay Bird

You cant beat a Brooks.
Mine was a honey when I got it but turned it into a black after I decided black works for any thing.
I have it on my CAAD8 and can ride all day and night and never know it's under me.
Brooks Rules but is not for the Weight Wart.'

10 Wheels

How did you make it Black?

Spookeay Bird

rubbed it down with Lacquer thinner then applied black hair dye. After that. I let it just set in the sun a day or 2 and then began using black shoe polish every night for a 3 or 4 nights and then gave it a buffing and left it alone and rode it. now and then I give it a rub of black shoe polish... It's not the only way to do it. there are several how too's out there on changing the colours on them.

10 Wheels

Thanks....I bought a Honey Brooks and would love to have it Black.
I know you do good work.
Do you have any pics of the saddle.

I might try that.

Spookeay Bird

let me pull it off the hooks and snap a few... BRB

djb

as someone whose bottom really likes Brooks, all I can say is that in my opinion, if a given seat or saddle works great for you, it is completely worth the X hundred of grams more it is compared to light ones for you being not sore and having more energy after a long ride cuz your butt isnt sore.

that said, if a light saddle works for you, all the better.

Spookeay Bird

OK Here ya go.
First. As I got it.

Some after turning it black.

Spookeay Bird

+1 on this....... Pire Pressure! LOL... We kill our arsses becasue we need to look cool. I do it too..... The saddel on my CAAD9 I hate it. but if it looks go,,,,, you smile. My-8..... Thats my comfee bike. I don't give a Drat what you say it looks like. I will be pretty and passing you after 100 miles.

surgeonstone

I have the Brooks Professional which I love. Beware the Swift or Swallow. The leather is a good bit thinner and can easily stretch. I had the swallow and after 1 year found it had sagged so that I was bumping on the seat post. I kept on tightening the saddle and soon ran out of room on the adjustment bolt rendering the saddle a flaccid, useless 300 dollar hunk of leather. Never had that problem with the pro.

djb

Ms Spook, thats quite impressive, I would never have thought that one could make a colour change so effectively. Perhaps its the photos, but you would nver know that it was a tan coloured one. Does the colour come off on clothes ever?

Spookeay Bird

NO, it's stable. It's not me. With out going into detail of the businesses I operate. I am always needing to learn new things. This was one of them for other reasons. 140 years ago there were leather shops. Just becasue they went away, the info on leather work is still out there. I just did what I read, understood and reproduced. I did not come up wit this process on my own. LOL coloring leather has been going on for hundreds of years. I just found the modern Wal-Mart equivalents to some of the processes. But Cow Boys were making saddles Red, Blue and Green before I came along.

Just get in there and mix it up! Don't be Skeered,,, Just sayin!

jamesdak 

The problem I ran into with my road bike was that the shorter rails on my Brooks saddles would not allow me to get the proper aft saddle position in relation to the BB. The rails just don't offer enough adjustability for some of us. I loved my Brooks but after getting my Pro fit had to stop using them on my Trek because I could not get them back far enough.

They are really comfortable though. I rode the B17 for awhile but had to get narrower ones once I finally really started spinning.

djb

dont be skeered...cute.
Naw, I was just curious tis all, dont know diddley about leather working, but as you say, makes sense as leather was used for so much more than today. And no, my tan one is fine as it is, and the other one is a darker brown and it goes well with my black and silver cross bike that it is on.

I did learn recently that the old expression "too poor to have a pot to piss in" comes from when tanneries would give a few pennies to folks for buckets of urine to be used in the tanning process (that I actually knew, that urine had been used for the acid or whatever in it for tanning leather)---so I guess if you were that poor, you were pretty darn poor.

james, yes my narrower one is better for spinning more I reckon, but for your case, there are seatposts with more setback or whatever you'd call it, to allow a seat to be positioned back further (maybe not something you need now or want to do, but they are out there)

revchuck 

I have a Brooks Team Pro, and really liked it until I rode a metric century in it, the first 50 miles of which were in a steady rain. I had treated the saddle with Proofhide, but to no avail. It stretched badly. I still have it, and will re-use it on another bike later. I just won't take it out in the rain again.

The Team Pro is the one you want for a road bike. It's designed for a riding position with the bars lower than the seat, whereas the B17s seem to be designed for the seat and bars about level.

As for dying leather, it ain't rocket science, as has already been noted. Go to a shoe repair shop and get a bottle of leather dye. Gives you some interesting possibilities, too - a black bike with cordovan seat and bar tape would be awesome.

Rowan

The weight difference between a Ti Swallow in the left hand and a Selle San Marco SKN in the right hand is almost negligible.

I haven't done the weight test between a Ti B17 I have on my Ti bike, and the others. Obviously, yes, the B17 is a little heavier, but it's certainly a darned sight lighter than the steel-framed versions.

I found the Swallow took a long time to break in, but once it did, the comfort factor went instantly to 100%. Sagging is something I am keeping a check on.

A little bird on this forum also let us in on a secret method to break in Brooks saddles, and it worked like a charm on my Ti B17 and Machka's steel framed B17 that resides atop her touring bike.

AngryScientist 

not that it's light, but velo orange sells a version of the swallow that is quite nice at a much lower price point (steel rails though)

commuter bike (at the train station):