I do all of my rides on a San Marco Regal. It's done PBP, so it's a comfortable long-distance saddle of the plastic/leather-covered variety. I think that what you may be seeing on hipster bikes is something like a Regal or a Regal knockoff, since actual Brooks saddles require too much care, in my opinion. You have to break them in (for each bike), you have to do the leather treatment, and you have to keep them out of the rain so bad things don't happen to the leather.

I prefer the modern saddles because they require no break-in, and the same model of saddle is consistent right out of the box. I've got Regals on all three of the bikes I normally use, and I'll likely put one on the tandem as the Rolls is getting uncomfortable.

I don't like Ti rails. Every saddle I've ever owned that had Ti rails has broken. The last one I broke was a Regal with Ti rails late last October after a summer of use (including PBP). I don't think saddle rails are a good application for Ti, unless they redesign the rails so they are either bigger around or flat.

Luis