Brooks is looking for testers again
 

Just got an email to fill out a survey to get in line to test the new C13 Saddle. They are looking for 100 testers.....Good luck!

i tried it. ;) I am such the average sort of rider though that unless they are picking randomly.. chances are slim!!

I put my name into the hat but I'm not holding my breath. I believe someone here on the C&V forum got to try out the first Cambiums when they were looking for testers.

Thanks for the link.

Hopefully it doesn't fill my mailbox with SPAM :P

I'm kind of looking for a new seat. Originally wanting to try out a traditional Brooks saddle, but there would be advantages of a waterproof saddle.

Of course, it would be nice to beat on it for a year, rather than giving an opinion after a month.

They have been for a while, I put my name in at least a few weeks back. They won't spam you. They send me an email about once a month and it usually has some interesting stuff in it.

Here are some notes on the saddle.

EB15: Brooks Lays Up the New C13 Cambium Details, Plus Intros a Wide Urban Bag Range

It looks very nice, but I must admit, it looks a touch on the expensive side.

As I noted on my comment on the post, Price will be a big factor on whether this new one will sell. As many suspect, Brooks will not resist tacking on a very high price on their highest tech saddle. I don't know why these should sell for such high prices though, as it's mostly assembled together with just the nuts and bolts at the cantle. I just do not see as much work going in to assemble these Cambium saddles compared to their leather ones.

But can one put a carbon frame saddle on a steel bike and still sleep at night?

They seem to have carved out a niche for very nice leather saddles with very hefty price tags. They'll do ok if their business model doesn't include selling a billion of them.

But, I agree, as they move away from the fine leather saddles to simple plastic saddles, one would expect the prices to come down. So far, however, the Cambium line seems to be about the same price as the leather saddles.

Now that I pretty much have a dedicated wet weather bike, leather may not be quite what I want so I'm hunting for alternatives, and may try out a C15.

I think the C13 is intended to open up an entirely new market for Brooks. The C15/C17 are still quite heavy compared to modern plastic or carbon saddles and I don't think a lot of people with ultra-light carbon bikes are willing to buy them. The C13 will be competitive in weight with most modern saddles and be more attractive. The C17 on my Ciocc just disappears under me, and it still has a traditional vibe (it's a Brooks for crying out loud) to it. But I'm not that concerned about the weight on a bike that would be very difficult and expensive to get below 20 lbs.

kactus has the root of it. the survey was obviously trying to get at peoples preferences on weight: and obviously aimed at higher spenders. the categories for things like "for the bike you ride the most, how much did you spend on your current saddle" started at <$100 and went to 400+ or something. same with bikes <$1500 going up to the sky...

my answers were like uhhh.. i spent $10 on the seat and $300 on the bike. .. this is not the world i am in.

I saw the C13 the other day in person and it is incredible, the price point isn't crazy.

The full shell is rad, I just wish they would keep the underbelly of it raw.