Brooks saddles are hard as a rock until you break them in, then there is nothing better. As far as the springs go, I was surprised myself when I got my B67 yesterday that the springs were very stiff. I had been riding a mattress saddle that bounced around and bottomed out on big bumps (of course I'm 6'1" 230 lbs on a 40 lbs bike) and the Brooks springs, at least new, barely bounce at all. However, yesterday I rode on cobblestones with my unsprung B17 and there was some pain involved. Today I rode the same stretch on the same bike with my B66 and it was a lot better.