Tuesday the FedEx guy dropped off a Brooks Team Professional. I never thought I'd order one but did so based on all the talk around here and the net. Took it out of the box and gasped, it looked huge; I almost put it back in the box. I decided if I liked it the Dremel tool could knock off the bottom inch or so of the skirt and it would look better. Tried it and couldn't believe it. After a few miles I thought the pain would would begin because it's still hard as a rock. I felt NOTHING. Kept ridding, still felt nothing! Took it home and put the Dremel tool to it and used sand paper to finish off the cut; actually it looks rather sharp. Got the honey colored one, the cutting exposed the copper rails from a side view, looks cool. It's perched on a silver seat post and last year's yellow tires are back on and changed the bar tape to yellow with brown specks, the frame is bare titanium. Now she has a unique look, It's hard believe what a difference a saddle can make for a bike and it's ride. I need to get a picture. Flicked work today to go ride, :p anyone else ever do that?

Any chance you could post a pic? I'd love to see the skirt trimmed of the Brooks. I just got one yesterday, took my first ride with it, and had the same experience as you. Hard as a rock right now, but could not believe how comfortable it was!

I didnt trim all of it off, I was concerned that it would not keep it's shape. Dont know which one you have but on mine it says Brooks Professional along the bottom area. I cut from the very bottom of the letters across the side and tapered it. I think they have pictures maybe wallbike.com or somewhere that show examples of what I did. I will go look.
Edit: ok here ya go. found it, check it out.http://www.wallbike.com/content/butchering.html

Bike pic, please ?

VeganRider? Leather saddle? :rolleyes:

from Dictionary.com:

"veg·an ( P ) Pronunciation Key (vgn, vjn)
n.
A vegetarian who eats plant products only, especially one who uses no products derived from animals, as fur or leather."

BTW, I just ordered a Brooks B.17 standard. Anyone want to go get a juicy porterhouse?

Dude, lay off. Veganrider hasn't threatened you. I'm a vegan and don't generally buy leather products, but made a decision to buy leather soccer cleats as the artificial versions just aren't as good- and if taken care of should last for a very long time. Veganrider might have considered this with the saddle, as Brooks has gained a great reputation for quality, and should last almost forever. That said, I'm going to go bite into a giant beet salad now. :)

Sorry, just a little humor. Didn't know you had such thin skin- fried pork rinds might help...

I too enjoy slaughtering "innocent" animals. They taste quite good.

But seriously (and I was being serious about killing and eating animals), nice saddle.

yeah, get us a pic of the complete bike - not just the saddle job.

I've about 1200 miles on my Brooks Pro Saddle... I never felt pain with it at all... took a couple hundred miles for it to be fully comfortable... but NEVER had any pain...

Then I busted out my Dremel tool and went to town on it...

Do a search on here, and find The Fixer's Chopped up saddles... gorgeous... I aspire to do work like that!

jeff

Thanks for the defense! :) I knew before I even posted I would get some wise cracks from the dead animal flesh eaters. Your right, I feel the same about leather products ; my diet is vegan, sometimes I do make an exception but never for the sake of a meal! never. I think the leather for the Brooks saddles was from cows already killed as "food". Their throats were then slashed and blood gushed from their bodies while hanging upside down by thier feet; (some still conscious) then packaged as something called "meat". Sorry for the rant. Oh BTW, thanks for reminding me, have home made beets in the fridge from Sunday, forgot about 'em.

You don't understand, he dosen't have thin skin, it's just that when you do something different like being vegan people seem threatened by it as if they are doing wrong because they aren't doing the same. People slam us every chance they get and it gets old real fast. For most of us there ARE moarls and ideals behind it as well, which make negative remarks even more frustrating. Don't say your sorry, cause you not,---> "fried pork rinds might help" WTF? see what I mean!

Welcome home, Vegan. I know you'll enjoy your new saddle.

Your chop job will cut through the embossed Brooks logo.

Here are my two recent chop jobs, both are Professionals. Two different cutting contours.

Thanks Fixer, and my butt is thanking Brooks. I didn't cut that high because I was concerned it would flair out. I would assume it is ok to cut that high up? You do ride on it right? it almost looks too nice to sit on!

At 160 lbs., I have no problem with any of my butchered Brooks..... even with a more radically butchered B-17. Heavier riders may consider leaving a bit more leather on the sides, like on my second photo...

They took the leather off the cow to make your saddle before they butchered the meat for me to eat.

I have nothing against vegetarians. It's self-righteous hypocrites that annoy me.

Before this thread get closed, can someone please answer why do you all chop up your Brooks saddles? Is it uncomfortable with all the extra "sidewall" material? Is it a weight issue? Is it aesthetics?

As to the off-topic portion of this thread. My wife does not eat meat, poultry, or pork but occasionally has fish, very rarely. For that reason, she refuses to call herself a vegetarian. I respect her for that, but also, I respect her for the discipline she has to forgo most meat products, wish I could.

As for me, it's strictly aesthetics. Not even a weight issue for me.....as they're heavy, chopped or not. But of course, if Brooks saddles weren't comfortable for me to begin with, I wouldn't be wasting my time butchering them.

If you guys want to continue talking about animal slaughtering and things of that nature, let the mods know so we can move this thread to the politics and religion forum, ok?

Koffee Brown

Forum Mod

Fixer, what type of riding do you do? I do mostly fast rec riding, couple local races. My butt can't take much more, just wondering if others who ride similarly are using brooks saddles. I suffered horribly this wk on a 38 miler to the point of standing every 1/2 mile or so for the last 3-4 miles. The flite titanium looks great on my bike, but it sucks for me. New seat for Xmas this year.

Being a meat manager for the last 10 yrs, I'll stay out of the vegetarian debate...Congrats on finding a comfortable saddle, though.

Hey there Ive got a team pro on my bike, I love it, it was heaven right out of the box!
Ive put about 1000KM on it so far, and fyi, Im 5-8 and 180, so there is a decent amount of mass on that saddle. and I cant say how much I like it.

Also, I'm loving the chop job fixer did, nice work! Makes me wonder what the dremmel could do for me!!

Canili,

(why do I want to write Canolli, must be wanting some!).

If you are suffering, get a Brooks. If you are doing races, and are concerned
with weight (not necessarily a weight weenie) get a Brooks Swift, has Ti rails
and is a bit lighter that the Pro or B17.
B17 is by far the most comfortable saddle of the Brooks line, but it's more a
touring saddle than the Pro.
I'd HIGHLY recommend Wallingford Bikes ( www.wallbike.com ) Bill Laine gives a 6 month
no questions asked guarantee. You don't like it, return it and get your money back, period.

Lets keep the vegan bashing out of this.
Its a lifestyle, nobody's making fun of yours (cycling) I would expect the same
courtesy from ya'll.

Marty

as for the weight thing, I think that the majority of the weight on a brooks saddle is on the frame. why do they insist on using brass?

I think it would be cool to make a brooks saddle with a carbon frame and Ti rails. that would make for a light, and comfy saddle. I know the swift has Ti rails, but I think its still in the 300-400 gram range. i think that they couild make a stretched leather saddle in the 200 grame range if they thought about it and used more modern materials for the frame.

Brooks Swift costs more wieghs less and for those that aren't truly steady of hand is already close to what Fixer turns out though I must admit his mod is pretty cool.

http://www.pbase.com/shadco/image/31990639.jpg

As sleek as the Swift already looks right out of the box, nobody says you can't butcher it... I waited a year before I decided to do this one.