Bintyx

You want the saddle to conform to your shape---would the shorts interfere with that? Thanks!

FBOATSB

The idea of the Brooks is not to need padding ever.

mstateglfr 

Yes its perfectly fine. A thin piece of compressed foam will not keep the saddle from conforming to you.



While perhaps not needed, padded shorts are still quite beneficial/comfortable to many, so answering the OP question is helpful.

djb

horse baloney, with padded bike shorts they are even more comfortable
your keester mileage may vary, but mine prefer padded bike shorts, others dont mind not using them. Use whatever is more comfortable for you.

djb

Binty, I have a couple of leather Brooks, and Ive always used bike shorts, but would add that for the breaking in period, I found that riding in warmer weather where you will sweat a bit helps soften the leather slightly and helps in it gradually taking to your shape.

also, don't confuse "sore sitbones" feelings with slightly improper saddle position, ie listen to your nether regions and make slight adjustments as often small changes can make a real difference in comfort.

Snuts

Not really. As others have said do what ever works for today's ride.
All I might add, is expect the first ten minutes to do nothing towards break-in as I feel it takes a few minutes to bring the leather up to body temperature. So try and ride for 20-30 minutes each ride for the first bit. My Brooks saddles are very comfortable. The first one was a lot quicker to break-in than this one. I rode it in the mid summer heat last year, this one in the fall, and this spring so far.

Hope this might help,



-Snuts-

Zurichman2

Did you know that they sell proofhide to help break in the saddle? I think that is the name of it. Use if sparingly though as a little bit goes a long way. I didn't think my Brooks Imperial needed any break in as I rode mine in a 300k ride the first time I rode on it. I think I would be more concerned on protecting it in rainy weather with a shower cap or whatever works for you. Enjoy your Brooks.

veganbikes

Let's buy saddles we need to break in for at least a 1000 miles and then call it comfortable? Go with a Cambium instead it still has their logo but is already comfortable and doesn't require silly notions of break in!

skookum

You are overthinking this.

djb

bike seats are so personal, but I bought a used Cambium to see how it compared, and decided that I preferred the leather ones for comfort. Will try to give a try again at some point though.

martianone

+1, agree.
"Just put proof hide on your bum,
Then go riding"- shorts not needed.

djb

ultimately to get a brooks to become more comfortable, you just need to ride and put the hours in, so go with wearing what is the most comfortable for you.

and of course, its just a bike seat, so if a leather brooks ends up not being comfortable for you over time, get something else.

Happy Feet

I use both a C17 and a B67 and they are two different saddles all together. I would not say the cambium is great right off the hop. It's pretty stiff and takes some getting used to as it will not mold to you but I like it now for my commuter. The B67 felt pretty good right away and is more suited to long hours touring. I have treated it once with proofhide as per new saddle suggestion from Brooks.
I also had a BN5 that did not fit well at all.

It's an individual thing.

veganbikes

For sure. I was mainly making a bit of a joke. I do know a few people who have had the dead animal saddle and haven't had the break-in time that most people experience but generally consensus seems to be long break in time and then magically "comfortable" saddle which seems like hooey to me. If you have to wear in a saddle it might not be the saddle that is wearing in as much as the butt is getting used to being uncomfortable and slowly coping ; )

HTupolev

It's both. The hard surface of a tensioned leather saddle helps make it comfy, but the sit bones do need to be HTFU'd for it to work.

Rowan

As is usual, speaking from no direct, personal experience whatsoever. It is the BikeForums way.

By the way everyone, Proofide.

OP, wear padded shorts. The beauty of a Brooks, when broken in, is that you will feel almost as comfortable with unpadded shorts as with padded shorts.

badger_biker 

I did the same thing and have the same conclusion. Even out of the box the leather seemed more comfortable to me. I haven't given up on the Cambium and am hoping with warmer weather it will flex a little more and feel better. The shape is perfect but just not as much movement as the leather.

djb

your take on it is very similar to mine.
I do feel on a bike that one would be standing sometimes, it would be fine. On my touring bike fully loaded, I rarely am standing, a seat like my Brooks that works great overall is appreciated.
On lighter loaded bikes or any riding where regular standing happens, you get that little break on your keester, and the riding I did on the cambium seemed that it would ok for this. I just didnt stick with it too much as the bike that I bought it for was a touring bike and an upcoming trip, so I just put the "tried and true" on it.

MRT2

Agree. After a couple of seasons with the B17, I decided to try the C17. The C17 seemed better suited to a more aggressive style of riding than the B17 and while it was fairly comfortable, the B17 felt better. After about a month, I went back to the B17 and gifted the Cambium to my son.

Tourist in MSN

Wear what you normally would want to wear on your bike. Padded shorts are fine.

I disagree that Proofide is used to help break in the saddle. I find that after the leather has taken some shape and is closer to where you want it, that is the time to apply Proofide. Once Proofide has been applied, it does not change shape to any great degree after that.

Proofide is necessary for water resistance. It is extremely important to avoid getting a saddle too wet before you apply Proofide. But I agree that a waterproof cover for rain is necessary, Proofide alone is insufficient for water resistance.

I have four Brooks Conquests and two Brooks Pros in regular use, a Flyer and a B17 that get occasional use.

Zurichman2

So what do you know about the new Brooks that is to have some kind of rubber coating on them. I have only heard about it and have not seen one or knew of anybody that has used one?

So I went to Western bike shop and the new Brooks is a C15 Cambium saddle but it doesn't have the cutout like my Waterford has.

Zman

mstateglfr 

Got a link?

Zurichman2

not a techy guy but go over to

Westernbikeworks.com and just type in Brooks saddles and it will show the C15 Cadium saddle

I now see some reference to this saddle in some posts above.

Zman

Tourist in MSN

I never heard of a leather saddle with rubber coating.

Tourist in MSN

I mis-understood, I thought you meant a rubber coating on a leather saddle.

There were several comments above on the Brooks C series of saddles. I tried one for a few hundred yards and did not like it.

I do not use saddles with cut outs.