That Swallow design is the way a lot racing saddles use to look like in the 30's all the way up to the late 60's days of road racing, so in reality it isn't strange just a forgotten look, oh and they used copper rivets. Back in those days it was called a B17 Swallow. There was a company that made a similar Swallow looking saddle called the Mansfield Bath saddle. I don't own a Swallow but I do own a Swift with TI rails and it is a very nice saddle and very comfortable, but the weird thing is I kind of like the Swallow looks better! It looks more like a racing saddle with a minimalist appearance, with the Swallow they come in a huge variety of colors, white, black, red (wine color), dark navy blue, and British racing green which really looks cool but is limited in production. The Swift comes in a variety of colors too but more classic colors, the British racing green is there, antique brown (dark brown), honey (light brown), and black.

The Swallow saddle is narrower than any other saddle they sell, this is a good saddle to get if you have problems with chafing against the sides of a saddle, while the Swift is a tad wider it is however the lightest leather saddle Brooks makes at this time.

You won't go wrong with the Swift or the Swallow if you decide on it, keep in mind they do take about 500 to 800 miles to break in. Also as a word of warning, DO NOT follow anyones advice on how to either break in a Brooks saddle or how to care for one, follow only the manufacturer's care instructions, they've been making these saddles for over 100 years I think they know how to best care for them and how best to make them last a long time. If you use someone else's suggestion as to how to break a Brooks in, like the famous bicycle guru Sheldon Brown who said to use oil, it will void the warranty, and oil will break down the leather and cause the saddle to sag more which means you have to tension it more which means it will fail sooner, also oil will cause the rivets to tear through the leather. A saddle is not a leather baseball glove, a saddle has to perform like a hammock, if you oil a saddle that hammock effect will fail due to the oil over softening the leather which is something you may want a baseball glove to do so you can flex the glove better to catch balls with. These saddles do need to be taken care of more than a plastic saddle but it will also last 10 times longer too. I no longer use Proofide due to the fact it is now quite expensive, instead I use neutral (neutral so you don't get color on your shorts) Kiwi paste shoe wax, I think it works better than Proofide and it shines nicer too, but my saddle is out of warranty so the warranty problem isn't an issue, but after 12 years of owning it it still looks new so I think the Kiwi works just fine, just don't get the liquid version this stuff won't last near as long. Sno-Seal is a beeswax formula that works great too, you can use it instead of the Kiwi if you want, but Kiwi is the closest to the formula of Proofide but with a bit more wax. Apply the Kiwi the same way you would with your shoes.

Water and sweat can destroy a leather saddle over time, this is why I use the Kiwi, if you know you're going to be out in the rain riding on a Brooks saddle it's best to get a saddle cover.

Leather saddles are a lot like leather shoes, with wearing they eventually break in to your foot, or butt, also leather saddles being smooth reduce the effects of chaffing and shorts last longer vs plastic saddles, in addition leather breathes better then plastic and thus are actually cooler than plastic saddles.