I've tried so many saddles! I had a Brooks in the 70's. It came on my Raleigh Gran Prix. It was bad. After 25 miles I was starting to hurt. By 30 I was definitely in pain. By 40 I was almost numb.

I bought a Nashbar touring bike in 1992. It had a Vetta Gel saddle. For some reason, that saddle was perfect for me! I never got a sore butt once. Unfortunately, they stopped making them.

It eventually got too torn up and ratty and I tried to find something to replace it. Everyone raved about Brooks saddles, but after my experience with the Raleigh's I resisted the urge to buy one. I tried a Terry, an early Specialized Body Geometry, a Nashbar Century, an Avocet; I even found 2 Vetta Gels on Craigslist. Of them all, most were terrible. The first Vetta wasn't the same model - it was really small (?) The second one was pretty good, though not as good as the original.

When I bought my LHT a couple years ago I decided to bite the bullet and see what all the Brooks hype was about. Maybe they had changed since my experience in the 70's. I bought a Champion Flyer, thinking the springs would help soften the ride on a long tour. It worked out pretty good. On a tour of the Northern Tier I had little problems with sore butt. There were a few times when, after 3 or 4 long days in a row, my butt would start to get uncomfortable in the afternoons. The biggest problem was the annoying squeaking sound coming from the springs.

When I bought my next bike, a Specialized Allez, it was my "fast" bike. I tried to set it up more like a young racer would do (silly me), and make it look good. I started with a sleek Nashbar saddle that was color coordinated and advertised as being comfortable. It wasn't good. 25 miles were okay; by 30 it was starting to hurt. I had some centuries scheduled. The thought of doing 100 miles on that saddle scared me. Next I bought a Specialized - an Avatar, I think. The results were about the same or worse than the Nashbar. I tried a Serfas RX. It was very cushy, but hurt just as bad after 30 miles.

Finally, the week before my first century of the season, I took the Brooks Champion Flyer off the LHT and mounted it on the Allez. Finally, relief! I completed the centuries in comfort!

After that experience, I bought a Brooks for the Allez - a B17 - and put the Champion Flyer back on the LHT. If anything, I think the B17 is more comfortable than the Champion Flyer. It started out comfortable, and has gotten more so with time. Now I'm wondering if I should switch the B17 to the LHT before going on tour this summer. It's certainly lighter, without the springs.

I know not everyone likes Brooks, but so many people swear by them that I'd say anyone who is struggling with finding a comfortable saddle should at least try one. We all know that finding a comfortable saddle makes a huge difference in touring pleasure!