Originally Posted by
skeem
from my experience on road bikes and in a high end road bike shop, people (including myself) seem to think a nice sam marco, italia, fizik... saddle does the trick. im wondering why every hipster is spending $120 and up for an old style leather saddle. they seem outdated to me. people rave about thier comfort, ive never ridden one, but are they really as good as a modern racing saddle that people who ride all day in the saddle up the alps use? can someone back me up and just help me feel im not wrong in thinking that a new italia flite is as coumfy as a b17 and that a flite is lighter and uses more modern technology. any help?
Not many racers or people riding high end fast bikes will pay the extremely high price for the narrower and lighter rail styled Brooks, and it's simply impractical to run a B17 with a race bike. But, I have seen people riding Swifts on race bikes. The shape doesn't match the use, and the saddle weighs a ton. But, I love my B17 (that I got for $85 new from my LBS, not sure where $120 came from) on my already heavy Steamroller with 1.5" saddle to bar drop. I also love my Flite Ti that's on my faster bike, but it cost more and I wouldn't want to ride it totally upright with a 30lb bag on my back, it works better for faster riding and more saddle to bar drop for me.
Outdated? Sure. Comfy for some uses? Absolutely. Comfy for all riders and all styles of riding. Of course not.
I once saw a Pista Concept with a B17 and over 6" of saddle to bar drop though, that was dumb.