Hello!

New to Bike Forums and I read a few things regarding Brooks saddles and sagging after age. I recently bought a used Brooks B17 Narrow and at first glance I didn't notice anything wrong and bought it and off I went. When I installed it I realized that the front went towards the left and that the left side was sagging a bit. After a ride on it I felt that it was comfortable and that I just needed to find the right positioning with the seat post. Now I am worried about the sagging and the potential for bent rails. I have attached some pictures to show what it looks like, from the front bending to one side and from the back (left side sitting lower than the right). Any suggestions on what I could do? This afternoon I tried tightening the tension bolt, only slightly, but no showing of the sag getting better yet.

Please help thank you!

Josh

I think you discovered why the original buyer put it up for sale , in the first place ..

A Pyrrhic Bargain, As I call them .. after this Historic event .. Pyrrhic War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

maybe a Brand new one will be more something you know the history of how it was cared for by you in it's past.

or a C17 and not have any saggy leather issues at all .

I don't see any photos , but with most Brooks ' saddles are made to fit one rider after it broken in . No two people are the same , the saddle took on the shape of the last owner . Also no one know how well they took care of it .

IME, once they start to sag, it's over. the silly adjusting screw only pulls them tight in the middle and creates an unbearable, for me, longitudinal ridge that is usually worse than the sag. i usually just try to tilt them up in front so that the sag will position me near the back where i belong. i've had to discard a couple of them due to age. each cow's skin is different and the thinner the material (the B17 being the thinnest and the Professional being the thickest) the sooner the sag.

as far as the asymmetry is concerned, i'd just just live with it.

BTW, i've got eight bikes and four have Brooks saddles on them. some are 30-40 years old. i never put anything on them or adjust that silly screw. it just serves, IME, to hasten their demise.

make a Mold of wood, carved in the shape you wish it to be, and then saturate the leather in water, and pack the underside with stuff to push it into the mold you made ..

the factory pressed the leather in between molds of steel , but you are not a tool and die maker so maybe wood is a material you can carve .

done any wood carving?

might not be worth your time and effort , but its for you to decide..

The Brooks saddle that came with the Raleigh Professional I bought in 1973 did that same thing after 25 years or so. It was still comfortable so I just kept on riding it. I did find a replacement in a flea market in almost brand new shape for $25. That one is still on my touring bike. Even Brooks saddles don't last forever

Here's one guy's lows-tech method (scroll about halfway down): BLUG

You could probably use a leather lacing that would look better than the zip ties but the idea's the same.

Sorry the uploaded for the photos was not working. It seems that everyone understands though. Very ticked off. It was my poor judgement and stupidity for buying one used that got me into this mess, now I'll try fixing it. Thanks for all your help everyone!

That's too bad... I hate when sellers are not on the level.