Looking at upgrading my saddle this offseason to a Brooks B17 Imperial. I'm just torn on what colour to choose! Black seems like an obvious choice given the colour of the rest of my bike but I hear the honey colour darkens over time and I feel that may look pretty sharp. Thoughts? Here's a pic of my ride to give you an idea.

Obey "The Rules".

https://www.velominati.com/the-rules/comment-page-8/

Saddles, bars, and tires shall be carefully matched.

Valid options are:

• Match the saddle to the bars and the tires to black; or
• Match the bars to the color of the frame at the top of the head tube and the saddle to the color of the frame at the top of the seat tube and the tires to the color where they come closest to the frame; or
• Match the saddle and the bars to the frame decals; or
• Black, black, black

A Brooks would look totally out of place on that bike. Not to mention it will add at least a pound. But if you're committed get black.

40+ years ago Brooks only made a Dark brown-black,
and bike shorts were black as well..
[ as is the chain stuff on your hands when you mend a rear puncture]

I have both. (the Team Pro , not B17)

It's after the Italian Buy-out .. We see Fashion choices of color in leather dyes.



I Voted Blue..
...

My B17 is dark brown and my C17 all weather is black. I love the look of the dark brown saddle but my fat bike is pulling commuter duty so I put a C17 all weather on it as I didn't want to destroy the leather one but come spring I'm gonna buy another bike (non-fat) to put the b17 onto lol. It took a year for my boney posterior to break that thing in!

Dark brown would look pretty badass on that thing!

I disagree. The bike already has a utilitarian look, and Brooks are definitely utilitarian. No one sees the saddle when its under you anyhow.

I do agree on black, though.

St, Catharines, Ontario, where the Great Lakes shipping channel
goes thru town ..
in a Canal.. with many Locks ..

When Wet, I put a heavy plastic bag over my Brooks (on Tours )
It also hides the saddle,

Seems since they have become both expensive and popular
they get stolen off locked Bikes..

so there is that factor..





...

People buy them for the looks, I mean let's be honest. I think they look hideous on any bike besides vintage ones from the pre-80's era that came with them. I cringe when I see a nice modern bike and someone throws that boat anchor on it. It's like a supermodel with a huge pimple on her face.

My first thought as well. My second thought was "Black, if you must." My third thought was the same as the first.

I can't speak to anyone elses reasons, but I bought mine because of the rave reviews on their comfort. I still have yet to install them and confirm that, as most of my bikes that aren't my fatty are put away for the year, but buying saddles because of looks seems like a silly idea to me.

Then again, I'm not exactly sure the Avocet Touring I have on my Univega would earn your favor either

An original brown suede Avocet Touring is on one of my Univega's

Voted dark brown, but should be combined with tan skinwall tires to ameliorate the massive amounts of ugly radiating from that fork. Don

Hey, its a 'flat-bar' bike! Besides, considering the panniers, a pound won't make the slightest difference.

I vote black, but only because I remember an ad in an old magazine. It was titled something like, "Dad wants a new bike!" and featured dad on a mountain bike, with the nose of a honey-colored saddle protruding from an unfortunate location. You can imagine what it looked like, probably intentionally.

+2.

I'd consider a white saddle just to be different! Perhaps white with some red in it to complement the pedals and red accents on the bike.

The *ONLY* thing that really counts in saddle choice is comfort (saddle type and position are the two determinants of this). Color is almost irrelevant, IMHO: a well-used and well-broken-in black Brooks or Ideale saddle will turn dark brown after a few thousand miles, in any case.

Get a lock (or make one out of an old, retired 3/32-inch chain covered by fabric or an inner tube) to *KEEP* your nice leather saddle long enough to get it broken in to your anatomy.

Protect your saddle from sunlight, rain, and dirt by using Proofhide (the original Brooks product is still the best, IMHO) and cover your saddle with a saddle cover when not riding if it is outside or exposed to the elements (i.e., on a roof rack or hitch rack outside your car).

As far as I am concerned, those who call Brooks saddles "inappropriate" on any bike or "boat anchors" are, figuratively speaking, just full of carbon fiber: a well-broken in leather saddle (like my Ideale 90s and my Brooks Pro) that fits you well and is properly positioned is a priceless asset, whether on all-day rides like Eroica California's Coastal route or riding around town doing errands.

If you really need my 2 cents' worth on saddle color, choose black or honey brown, but remember that your eyes are not the sense that will most appreciete the saddle when you are riding.....



My 1970s Brooks Pro saddle. Even with a crash-bent steel frame, it is plenty comfy for use on my 1972 Peugeot UO-8 mixte. Note the Abus miniature chain lock that keeps it on my bike when I am not riding it.