Burglar

I recently bought a Brooks B17 for my road bike (93 Specialized Allez Comp). I'm 5'10ish 245 pounds, and I have thighs the size of telephone poles. The B17 is great EXCEPT that it feels a bit too wide between my thighs, and I'm getting some rubbing against the skirts of the saddle.

I was thinking of trying a Swallow due to the high skirt. Plus it looks really cool. I've read that it is Brooks' most flexible saddle, so I"m not sure how well it will support my weight.

Maybe the Swift would be a better option? If anyone has feedback on either or both saddles, that would be awesome. The B17 will probably end up on my commuter MTB.

RunningPirate

I have a) a B17 on my Touring bike, b) a Swift on my road bike, and c) tree trunks for legs (they call me "Los Arboles" down Mexico way )

The Swift came on my Record Ace - when I first saw it, I thought: Wow, this is going to suck. Not so - it is surprisingly, shockingly comfortable. Moreso than the B17. One proviso: The Swifts that come on the RA are pre-softened, so that may be a factor in all of this. Regardless, I do like the seat and there is no rubbage.

Seve

I have a Swift TI on my road bike (see the link below). The saddle has roughly 3,200 km on it to date. I have no intention of removing it.

Out of the box it was very hard, not pre-softened. I'm not sure when it became broken in, sorry.

It is very comfortable even after 5-6 hours in my case.
I would suggest that having a micro adjustable seat-post helps in dialling it in, with respect to tilt, but, it may not be necessary.

As with the other Brooks (Flyer) that I currently have, I found that the more precise you fore/aft/height/tilt you can tune the saddle - the better.

I used only proofide and followed the normal maintenance and care instructions that came with it.

You can always pop a note off to Brooks, they are quite good at responding if you need assistance with your decision.
https://www.brooksengland.com/en/Cont...tactForms.aspx

ECT

I have the Swallow on my road bike and really like it. I don't think your weight will be an issue. It's a hard seat even after it's broken in. The bigger consideration is the width. The Swallow looks really good on a rode bike. I get comments about it all the time.

Good luck.

uciflylow

I run a champ special on my touring bike and destroyed a Team Pro on my roadie after 10 years. Long story short, I decided to replace the Team Pro with a Swift and I NEVER got use to it no matter what I did. If you could compare the support at the back of the Swift to the on on the Team Pro you will see the Swift is more rounded and it is a narrower saddle. The more the Swift broke in, the more it tried to cut me in half! I have it hanging on my wall and replaced it with a B17 that I laced the skirt up tight on. I'm in bum heaven after 500 miles!

Just because it's a Brooks, don't mean it will fit your bum! There not all the same!

r32nj

Another one you might want to consider is the Gilles Berthoud Aspen. I weigh 270 and tried a B17 but found it too soft and a bit wide.

https://www.renehersestore.com/servle...es-Mens/Detail

Saltybeagle

I tried the Giles saddle, in my opinion it has a design flaw, had to return it. The rails would pop out and swivel in the the frame.

socalrider

I have tried the Swift and liked it, didn't love it.. I preferred the Team Pro model for my road bike.. There are also many websites that have home methods of butchering a b17 saddle, this is one of the best.. This gets the skirts out of the way.

https://dekter.net/misc/brooks.html

Burglar

Thanks for the input.
I'd thought about cutting the B17, but I think I'd rather just use it as is on my other bike. I'm more upright on it, and the longest rides I do are 5-7 miles to work and stuff.

Nobody around here has a Swift OR Swallow in stock, so I can't check either of them out before I buy.