Breaking in the Brooks
 

Ouch!

Which Brooks do you have? I recently put a Team Pro S on my bike, and I loved it right out of the box. My sitbones aren't even sore. It's great. Am I just lucky??

Hi,
with an unpsrung Brooks, the seatpost should grab the saddle somewhere near the middle. If it doesn't, it won't work like it should. There are many approaches to breaking in a Brooks. I
melt a tin of Proofide with a hair dryer, and for a minute keep swabbing the stuff on the saddle. You need to use the hair dryer on the saddle a little to keep the stuff liquid. It soaks in better if it's liquid. I put extra on the edges to try and discourage wicking.

I'm approaching two months with my Team Pro. I'm enjoying it more everyday and haven't had one comfort complaint once I got the positioning and angle correct. It has been bleeding onto my jeans on longer commutes, though. I'm about to order either a Caradice or Velox seat cover to throw on for around town trips in street clothes. Other than that, though, its a beautiful saddle.

I know....some must go through the hazing process... :p

It's the "B-17" in the Honey shade. I only have about 75 miles on it. My biggest problemis I can't find my padded shorts anywhere. So I'm riding bareback!

Interesting. I just obtained a new brooks, and I wondered about the saddle placement as well.

Hiya Late, :)
When you say the middle do you mean the middle of the actual seat or the middle of the rails that are clampable? Cause right now the seat is centerered over the post and is clamped near the most foward part of the rails.
And what is wicking?

Bareback, no proofhide, Brooks Team Pro--1500 miles; feels great now.

Hi.
Brooks act like a hammock. The rails bend in and up when you hit a bump. If there isn't enough rail on one side, it can't bend, and the saddle will often feel hard. When I shoved a B17 back, it felt like a rock up front. Not good. So now I try to clamp the saddle rails close to the middle. Forward seems to have less of an effect than sliding it back. The 'tricky' part with moderne frames is finding a seatpost that can pull that off. Sometimes this means a lot of set back. Triathletes have this adapter that gives you extra set back from a standard post.

Any porous material like cloth or leather will draw water up. So if spray is just hitting the bottom edge, it could still draw the water
into the main part of the saddle. At least that what my paranoia tells me :eek:
So I get lots of Proofide on the edge of the saddle. I'm not really sure if that's a problem, or if what I'm doing is the best solution. It's just what I do.

So it sounds like I have it positioned right. I guess I just have to go through the hazing and sprint more. Sure makes the bike look more serious.

They're also reasonably sensitive to angle. I have Team Professional saddles on my commuter and my roadie. The one on the commuter is great, the one of the roadie was giving me a little bit of grief the last few rides. Yesterday on my ride, I stopped about halfway and tilted the nose down just a touch (helps to have a two bolt seatpost!), and now it's friggin' sensational! I was shifting around a bit at the start of the ride, but happy as a pig in ***** after I adjusted it.

I've found that I position my Brooks, relative to my other saddles, more forward and with a slight nose up attitude.

Don't worry, you'll break for ass in over the next 1000 miles. :) I really think it's as much your rear end changing over time as it is the saddle. Just keep going

I'd jsut add that if you press down on the centre part of a Brooks, you'll notice the leather bend a bit and the sides flare out slightly. This is what gives it its "suspension". You will wear butt grooves into the leather, and when that happens, you'll know the saddle is broken in.

By the way, late, do you have a product for that adapter you mentioned? I could do with slightly more setback on my own B17 on my randon bike.

I've got 600+ miles on my Brooks B-17. It's only softened a bit from the day I pulled it out of the box and applied proofhide. I'm about to put more proofhide on it and see if it softens anymore over the next 600+ miles. I never experienced any breakin hardships on my butt however. In fact it felt much more comfortable than my previous saddles from the very first mile. But over the last 100+ miles or so, I've developed a soreness on my left sit bone area. I keep hoping that the saddle will ease enough in elasticity to give my left sit bone a break. So far, hasn't happened. Still, I like this saddle more than any other I've ever owned, and that's quite a few.

800 kms!!

But once it is broken in, it is WELL worth it.


I miss my Brooks so much!!!!!! :cry: :cry:

What? What's happened to the Brooks? It hasn't been stolen?

No, but it is attached to Machak who is in the bike hospital right now. :(

Just a note folks. Found my padded riding shorts and what a difference that makes! LOVE THAT BROOKS!

If you need padded shorts to ride a Brooks then it ain't set up right.

I wonder which is breaking in, that chunk of cow hide, or your butt? I suspect it may be the latter :)

My Brooks was the first saddle I could ride without padded shorts ... with just regular shorts.

This is break-in time. I suspect that once those butt grooves appear and the leather softens a little, dang will be able to ride with or without shorts (at least of the bike kind) :p

Yeah! And man that Brooks was as hard as a rock when I first got it. And and I have a bony skinny butt with sit bones that are hard, sharp and pointed, (Ask Santa. He knows.) And best of all I quit smoking those more evil then cars cigaretts 10 months ago and my poor butt aint use to all that exta weight! 30 lbs! Which brings me back to the point why I need a Brooks. Because my ass was really killing me on my old saddle(s) even with the pads on. At least now with the Brooks and the pads my but feels much much better. :D