Saddle question about fitment
#1
Saddle question about fitment
/My saddle on my road bike broke, so I order a Brooks Pro Team, leather had been stretched. SO I love my B17 on my Trek FX 7.3. So I bought a B17 for road bike a 2.1 Trek. Seems like to matter how I adjust it I am sitting on my taint. Any advice on how to adjust? Help me please. Older male overweight
#2
just another gosling


Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 20,577
Likes: 2,682
From: Everett, WA
Bikes: CoMo Speedster 2003, Trek 5200, CAAD 9, Fred 2004
I've always ridden a road bike, and never could ride a Brooks for more than about an hour. I'm not overweight. OTOH, you could ignore the pain and numbness and just keep on riding, Sooner or later, everything goes completely numb, However then your equipment won't work anymore, so there's that. There have been big improvements made in saddles, especially in the last 20 years.
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#3
Not quite dead.

Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,386
Likes: 473
From: Carolina
Bikes: ICE Sprint X Tour FS 26 trike
I've been partial to WTB saddles until a couple of years ago, when I tried an ISM short nose saddle. I now have three of them, and they are just as great for a road bike as a mountain or gravel bike. I have the PR 2.0 and the PR 3.0.
The WTB Touring and WTB Speed are almost as good for me, and my fiancee likes them better (narrow nose) than the ISM, which are just a little wider in the front than the WTB.
I had a leather saddle decades ago. As I remember, it was uncomfortable for the first 500 miles, until it was finally broken in.
The WTB Touring and WTB Speed are almost as good for me, and my fiancee likes them better (narrow nose) than the ISM, which are just a little wider in the front than the WTB.
I had a leather saddle decades ago. As I remember, it was uncomfortable for the first 500 miles, until it was finally broken in.
#4
/My saddle on my road bike broke, so I order a Brooks Pro Team, leather had been stretched. SO I love my B17 on my Trek FX 7.3. So I bought a B17 for road bike a 2.1 Trek. Seems like to matter how I adjust it I am sitting on my taint. Any advice on how to adjust? Help me please. Older male overweight
The other potential issue on a road bike would be the saddle to handlebar drop. The B17 is more for bikes with the saddle about the same height as the handlebars. Excessive drop will cause issues, but between the two there won't be a lot of difference since the Team Pro is based on the B17. The Team Pro is 15mm narrower, 2mm shorter, and 2mm higher, so not a lot of difference.
Last edited by phughes; 02-12-20 at 12:13 PM.
#6
This site helped me considerably. https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com...ard-can-it-be/
#7
Senior Member

Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 615
Likes: 37
From: NW Peloponnese, Greece
I ride all my training rides (60-150 klm) on the Brooks pro. It has taken my sit bone form, and feels comfortable. The leather has a few wrinkles near the studs even though I used the Brooks leather cream. For races and Brevets I use a Fizik Aliante which is not as comfortable as the Brooks.
The problem with the Brooks saddles is they are heavy.
A saddles is very personal, someone's great saddle is another one's torture.
The problem with the Brooks saddles is they are heavy.
A saddles is very personal, someone's great saddle is another one's torture.
#9
Any time you fit a new Brooks saddle, or a saddle broken in by someone else, or a new one which has been stretched, you will need to break it in. A new Brooks is like a torture device over the first few rides, it takes time for it to break in. And no two Brooks saddles are alike, leather varies from animal to animal, so the initial feel and break-in time varies for a leather saddle. I scoffed at Brooks saddles for decades, thinking that they were only for old farts and cycle tourists, but I eventually saw the light. All of my bikes are now fitted with Brooks saddles, and in time they become comfortable enough that I can ride fairly long distances without needing cycling shorts.
#10
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 17
Likes: 2
I've always ridden a road bike, and never could ride a Brooks for more than about an hour. I'm not overweight. OTOH, you could ignore the pain and numbness and just keep on riding, Sooner or later, everything goes completely numb, However then your equipment won't work anymore, so there's that. There have been big improvements made in saddles, especially in the last 20 years.
#11
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 17
Likes: 2
/My saddle on my road bike broke, so I order a Brooks Pro Team, leather had been stretched. SO I love my B17 on my Trek FX 7.3. So I bought a B17 for road bike a 2.1 Trek. Seems like to matter how I adjust it I am sitting on my taint. Any advice on how to adjust? Help me please. Older male overweight
#12
just another gosling


Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 20,577
Likes: 2,682
From: Everett, WA
Bikes: CoMo Speedster 2003, Trek 5200, CAAD 9, Fred 2004
Brooks enthusiasts, oy. It's not a saddle, it's a movement. No, no long rides on a Brooks. I don't like it when my privates go numb, neither does my wife. I did long rides on a leather Italia when I was a teenager and didn't realize that numb could be permanent. I just thought it meant no more pain, which I suppose in a way would be true . . . But all that came a lot later.
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#14
Senior Member

Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 2,496
Likes: 771
From: Chicago North Shore
Bikes: frankenbike based on MKM frame
Have you thought if switching your B17 from the FX 7.3 to the 2.1? It won't be absolutely probative, but if you like it better than the new one, you can have some confidence that it's a break-in issue.
Are your bars lower than your saddle on the 2.1? If so, you may never get comfortable on the B17, although many people get good results from tipping the nose up slightly, though that's counter-intuitive. Or just get a Selle SMP.
Are your bars lower than your saddle on the 2.1? If so, you may never get comfortable on the B17, although many people get good results from tipping the nose up slightly, though that's counter-intuitive. Or just get a Selle SMP.





