Originally Posted by
Sangetsu
I love the standard B17, but am getting a Flyer for my wife's shopping bike. The shopping bike is a new Panasonic, an electric-assisted model, but which is designed for Japanese people in mind. The seat tube is too short, and the original seat too soft. When I ride the bike, I can simply swap the new seat on a longer seat tube. The reason I want the Flyer is because of the upright seating position, which tends to send the bumps and shocks up the seat. The springs on the Flyer should soak up some of the bumps.
The springs on the Brooks Flyer are pretty stiff. My Brooks Conquest might use the same springs. I think when I sit on the saddle, I only depress the springs maybe 5 mm, I weigh about 80 kg. I like the springs because I think it removes some of the "buzz" from small bumps, but the larger bumps where you stand on the pedals to use your knees for suspension, you will still want to stand on the pedals for those bumps with the Flyer.
When you said seat tube, I suspect you mean what we call a seat post in USA. Keeping the saddle attached to the seat post and changing seatposts when you change saddles would be the easiest way to frequently change saddles. A suspension seatpost may also be of benefit if you find the springs in the Brooks are not adequate.