Bad Brooks saddle???
 

There's a lot of threads on Brooks saddle, on how good and durable they are, on how to choose one, etc.

I'm still searching for a comfortable saddle and before I spend that much on a saddle I want to make sure it's a good investment.

I'm now riding on a cheap 10$, made in china and bought on Ebay Vader saddle that is quite comfortable and a big improvement from my other saddles but I'm still searching. As my 10$ saddle is more comfortable than my 85$ specialized saddle I'm worried that a +100$ saddle will be worth the money.

Is there anyone out there who regret is Brooks saddle? For any reason, not comfortable enough, didn't last as long as it is suppose or anything else.

Thanks

Some people don't like them, but everyone's rear is different. Others say the quality has gone down in recent years, mainly that the leather has gotten thinner, but in my experience, even if that's true, the quality is still very nice. My recommendation is buy from a place with a good return policy--if you don't like it, return it and try another. Even if you can't return it, you can probably sell it on craigslist and only lose 10% or 20% of what you paid, so it's not a big risk.

Have to take Care of a Brooks in wet weather .. taken long tours and just left plastic bags on mine.

I've just set my Brooks Pro Aside , as I lock the bike up outside, and so use weather resistant care-reduced
saddles on the daily rider ..

Currently a Vinyl Pleather covered sort-of Turbo like one i got for a buck at a Charity Shop. made for Trek.


though there are expensive pleather covered saddles out there Fizik of Italy makes some ,
carbon fiber rails an shells. road

Racers super light stuff..

PDW has began selling a dense foam saddle it needs no cover, wont absorb water, and is said
by seller, to be tough and abrasion resistant,, the perfect wet muddy Portland Cross race saddle..

Literally thousands of saddles out there.. not all butts and riders are the same, hence the variety.. :thumb:

I didn't like the one I had. But you'll always be able to find naysayers. For the most part they're well liked.
The front was too 'hard' on my bits and I didn't find it flat enough. They hold value well, if you don't like it you can always resort to Craigslist. That's what I did.

I like mine for the most part, but I'm sure there are modern ones that would suit me as well. How about asking your LBS if you can try out saddles from their "take-off" bin? Surely you can find something better than your $10 saddle without breaking the bank. :thumb:

I am a big fan of Brooks Saddles, and have 3 bikes with B-17 saddles on them. Saddle #1 was bought about 10 years ago, and is on a bike with ~13,000 miles on it. This saddle seems to have a thinner leather than the other two, and is considerably softer. It has also been abused more than the other two, having been ridden in more bad weather etc. Saddle #2 was bought about 8 years ago, and has ~5,000 miles on it, and looks almost like new. Saddle #3 is on my daily commuter, it is 4 years old, and has 9500 miles on it. Although comfortable, it looks hardly worn at all, and might as well be new.

I don't regret purchasing any of the three saddles, I do wonder about the oldest of the three if it's wear is a result of a bad manufacturing batch, or my mistreatment of the saddle, but I can't seriously complain about a saddle that has only lasted 13,000 miles.

Where I find the greatest value in the Brooks saddles is in long rides. I have ridden on a Brooks from Montreal to Boston with no pains in the rear - and that makes it worth the cost, even if it had only lasted for the one ride!

I have given up all my Brooks saddle (B17's). The severe nose up angle was a comfort killer. Specially when riding on the drops.

I now have a Selle TRK and this http://www.bikemania.bz/images/products/velo_250336.jpg

For $30 at Amazon it can't be beat. Just my opinion of course.

After trying countless saddles over the years I have finally arrived on the most comfortable saddle I have ever used. The Ride Out Carbon Comfort. It has a modern high tech design to it that really works. It looks unconventional with the short nose and flexible butt support but thats what makes it so comfortable.

I have a Velo saddle on my hybrid that I bought 16 years ago. Very comfortable. Has springs on the back for extra comfort.

I am currently riding a Brooks. When I bought my new bike last year, I decided to take the leap. While not plush like my Velo, I am getting used to it. Total miles on the saddle are still in the 100s and it still feels very hard, though that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I went on a 3 hour ride yesterday, and my butt isn't even sore today, so I guess I can't complain.

From what I understand, Wallingford has a great return policy.

http://www.wallbike.com/

The B17 is not an ideal saddle for riding in the drops.

Brooks are loved by many; hated by a few. I only use Brooks saddles on my bikes. I've been professionally fitted to all of my bikes, which makes a huge different in terms of comfort and injury prevention.

If you're happy with your $10 saddle you could always spend the money on other component upgrades and circle back to the saddle question later.

I don't like saddles that sag or hammock. I like them to be basically flat and stay flat, so that I can easily shift myself fore/aft to relieve pressure point as I ride.

Tensioned leather saddles are very much prone to sagging under normal use. Look at any well-used Brooks saddle, it'll probably look a bit like a Pringles potato chip. Some Brooks will sag all the way to the rails if the user doesn't discard it soon enough. The tension bolt in a Brooks saddle is limited in it's capacity to compensate for the gradual-but-certain elongation of the leather saddle.

To be fair, many bicyclists love the sag/hammock feel of a broken-in Brooks saddle.

A selling point of Brooks saddles is the great width of the saddle. However, you don't need more width for comfort, and often the cause of discomfort on a narrower saddle is not the saddle width.

OP, if you have a $10 saddle that suits you, then you should get a few spare saddles and count yourself very lucky. Don't fix it if it ain't broke.

I got one of these two years ago and still like it..... [h=1]Selle Royal Respiro Sport[/h]

I've owned 2brooks saddles and they are fine, but lately with I've been flirting with the idea of trying something more modern , probably will next month after I return from my tour.don t want to make a saddle change a couple weeks before I head out.

I highly recommend the Selle SMP.

' might actually wanna try it before you go. It does not have a "Break-in period" like the Brooks, if that's a concern to you.

I find that Brooks saddles don't give me that "ooh, this is nice" feeling as soon as I get on them, but at the end of a long ride, I am less fatigued than with any other saddle.

I had a saddle with padding that caused me no pain at all while riding but gave me pain the next day. It took a long time to notice the correlation, and I was wondering why I was having such pain.

My point is that feeling good while on the saddle may not be the most important saddle.

I tried a $160 Selle Italia Flite with Ti rails for a couple of weeks, never could get used to it. It was too narrow for me I think. After that I got a $35 Selle Italia X1 that's a bit wider and feels MUCH better to me. No pain or fatigue whatsoever after a ride or days after. It's not quite as light as the Flite, but it's still lighter than my stock Felt saddle so that's good enough for me.

That is what I am noticing so far with my not fully broken in Brooks.

+1

Although, to be honest, I haven't returned any of the three I bought from there. You can have my B-17 back when you pry it...

I regretted my first B17 Brooks. Tried it on two different bikes, drop bar and flat bar and could never get comfortable on it. It was always too slippery with the smooth leather. It was the hammock effect that I couldn't get use to so I sold it.

Last year I bought my wife and I Bromptons with Brook saddles and she hates her women's version. Finds it uncomfortable and slippery. I am sure it will be coming off this summer. As for me, I am never on that bike for more than 20 minutes so I don't really care what is on it. To me it just looks good.

For my weekend bike I purchased a B67, trying the upright Rivendell style and it was alright but went back to my Specialized Avatar 155 mm.

I have the Avatar on my winter commuter and my everyday commuter. Best saddle I ever had. I want to like the Brooks, they look great and they fit the style of bikes that I ride, I just don't find the ones that I have tried all that great.

On my daily commuter I don't use a Brooks, I use a Specialized Avatar 155 mm wide and it by far the best saddle I have ever used.

While i cant tell you what saddle your ass is gonna like, i got mine used for $60, they last a lifetime so theres plenty to be found secondhand in perfectly good quality

i have about 400 miles on my b17 and i like it so far.

the comfort for me is in the way its so wide and supports my whole ass, not just my sitbones.

I do notice the slipperyness and it would be my only "con" but ive only ridden it in commuting (plain) clothes, im sure with bike shorts it would be super grippy. Interestingly enough the alipperyness is also a good thing since you can move around to adjust yourself without sitting up all the way.

The "severe" nose up angle is not necessary and was mos likely the source of your issues. If the Brooks is adjusted properly, and that doesn't necessarily entail a "severe" nose up angle, it will be comfortable and your won't slide forward. Mine is not noticeably nose up and it is comfortable and I don't slide forward. That being said, the saddles you have now are very good.

All my bike shorts have some level of padding in them, so I used the same bike shorts on my LHT when I got a Brooks B17. For months I could never get comfortable. I could not seem to sit right on my sit bones, too much pressure up front in the drops. I just kept telling myself I needed to break it in. Then, one day I had to run an errand in a pinch, and just hopped on the B17 with no cycling shorts and was like "Holy s**!" It felt amazingly good. It was probably already broken in at that point because I used the Proofide as instructed and had about 300 miles on it. Since then, I only use compression shorts with NO PADDING on my Brooks. I can do 80+ miles without issue. After that, I understood what all the hype was about. I see now why everyone raved about it. It's tricky to get positioned correctly fore/aft and angled, but when it's dialed it, its like saddle nirvana.