Another Brooks Saddle Question
My husband is buying me a new saddle for my racing bike. (Calfee Tetra Tri triathlon bike)
I've tried various saddles...and keep coming back to my Old Brooks. There is nothing more comfortable for me. I've been riding this particular saddle for 35 years. It is a Brooks B15 Champion Standard. It does have some cracks in the leather...and I do need a new saddle. I want to get another Brooks - this time with Titanium Rails (to save on the weight). The two complaints I have about my old saddle are:
1. The rails are not long enough for me to move the saddle into the position I would like on my Tri Bike.
2. The saddle is very comfortable...but perhaps not the best for riding on the aero bars (because it dips down in the middle.)
I've checked out the Brooks site...and have briefly tried a Team Pro.
The Team Pro was not very comfortable (but, I realize it hasn't molded to me)...and the leather at the nose is so long that it rubs against my thigh. The leather on my old saddle was cut much higher at the nose and on the sides.
I've never ridden a women's saddle, so I'm not sure that I would like the Women's Finesse. I am used to a long saddle where I can change forward/back position depending on the terrain and my riding position. ...and my old saddle is almost too wide for riding in the aero position...the finesse is even wider.
The B17 might be ok, but I'd have the same complaints that I have now with my old saddle, plus the leather on the nose and sides are longer than on my old saddle, and would probably rub on my leg.
The Swift and the Swallow may be too narrow for me. Not sure. I do have a Selle Italia Flite Saddle and another Selle Italia racing saddle which I can use, but they are not the most comfortable.
The reason I want to buy a Brooks Saddle is that I LOVE my old saddle. I've tried to switch to a different saddle many times (because I wanted something lighter weight), but always come back (because of the extreme comfort - nothing even compares).
The Brooks saddles that I am considering are the road/racing saddles with Titanium Rails:
the B17, the Team Professional, the Swift, the Finesse, or the Swallow.
None of the stores around where I live carry the Brooks saddles, so I will be going mostly by my experience and by what I read. I am aware of the Wallbike.com site. I am an Ironman Triathlete, so the kind of riding I do is a lot of long miles in trainng...then mostly in the aero position for racing. Any suggestions about which saddle might work best for me would be appreciated. Also, if anyone knows the specific differences between these various saddles (other than the statistics of length, width, weight) I would appreciate that input, also.
Thank You.