I almost never see Brooks saddles on commuting bikes that are parked downtown in my community or on campus. Many of these bikes see more miles per year than many of our touring bikes.

I store my errand bike outside. While I leave a plastic bag over it to keep the UV and most moisture off of it, I still do not want to subject a leather saddle to the weather like I do the rest of that bike. Thus, I use a cheap plastic saddle on that bike, although it is not very comfortable.



Where you really should look for Brooks saddles is in a hiker biker campsite on the Pacific Coast or the GAP/C&O or other place where there are a lot of touring bikes.



Or some other place where you see lots of bike tourists.





Or on a long distance ride. Bicycle Quarterly published a survey of equipment used in 2007 Paris Brest Paris Rando by riders from USA, 50 percent used leather saddles.
http://www.bikequarterly.com/BQPBPEquipsurvey.pdf

But you still will generally find at least half the riders do not use leather. No single saddle is best for all riders.