If your more upright you will need something with a lot of support. The brooks generally is made for a more upright position but not fully upright. That may be part of the problem as you are putting a lot of weight on the saddle as compared to a more semi upright position like with drop bars. I can't attest to the reliability issues you've had as I haven't used mine very much yet. I have a ride out saddle on my commuter which I use most often. I like the brooks though and it felt comfortable after adjustments were made. Like Kon Aaron mentions the saddle on Peterwhitecycles is really nice but I find the Brooks a better design.