My husband is buying me a new saddle for my racing bike. (Calfee Tetra Tri triathlon bike)
I've tried various saddles...and keep coming back to my Old Brooks. There is nothing more comfortable for me. I've been riding this particular saddle for 35 years. It is a Brooks B15 Champion Standard. It does have some cracks in the leather...and I do need a new saddle. I want to get another Brooks - this time with Titanium Rails (to save on the weight). The two complaints I have about my old saddle are:
1. The rails are not long enough for me to move the saddle into the position I would like on my Tri Bike.
2. The saddle is very comfortable...but perhaps not the best for riding on the aero bars (because it dips down in the middle.)

I've checked out the Brooks site...and have briefly tried a Team Pro.
The Team Pro was not very comfortable (but, I realize it hasn't molded to me)...and the leather at the nose is so long that it rubs against my thigh. The leather on my old saddle was cut much higher at the nose and on the sides.

I've never ridden a women's saddle, so I'm not sure that I would like the Women's Finesse. I am used to a long saddle where I can change forward/back position depending on the terrain and my riding position. ...and my old saddle is almost too wide for riding in the aero position...the finesse is even wider.

The B17 might be ok, but I'd have the same complaints that I have now with my old saddle, plus the leather on the nose and sides are longer than on my old saddle, and would probably rub on my leg.

The Swift and the Swallow may be too narrow for me. Not sure. I do have a Selle Italia Flite Saddle and another Selle Italia racing saddle which I can use, but they are not the most comfortable.

The reason I want to buy a Brooks Saddle is that I LOVE my old saddle. I've tried to switch to a different saddle many times (because I wanted something lighter weight), but always come back (because of the extreme comfort - nothing even compares).

The Brooks saddles that I am considering are the road/racing saddles with Titanium Rails:
the B17, the Team Professional, the Swift, the Finesse, or the Swallow.

None of the stores around where I live carry the Brooks saddles, so I will be going mostly by my experience and by what I read. I am aware of the Wallbike.com site. I am an Ironman Triathlete, so the kind of riding I do is a lot of long miles in trainng...then mostly in the aero position for racing. Any suggestions about which saddle might work best for me would be appreciated. Also, if anyone knows the specific differences between these various saddles (other than the statistics of length, width, weight) I would appreciate that input, also.

Thank You.

I don't know if you've seen these, but they're comparison pictures of the Brooks you're considering:

https://www.wallbike.com/Various.html - I've got the left one in the middle row.
https://www.wallbike.com/pros.html

The second link, in particular, shows the differences in width and length of the women's saddles in relation to the Team Professional.

For what it's worth, when I first rode my Team Pro, the nose rubbed me the wrong way as well. After a generous Proofhide rub, it didn't bother me at all.

-- Also, regarding the positioning of the saddle. The Team Pro has much less front/back adjustment than my last saddle. I was able to just get it where I wanted it, but the other option would be a seatpost with more of a setback...or for Tri's, maybe turning the post around to get the seat more forward.

Ironwoman,
I have 2 brooks (b17 and team pro) and agree they are extremely comfortable
once broken in.
I've recently tried a Fizik Aliante, and I'm seriously impressed. Lightweight
comfortable and fits like my team pro.
Fizik also makes a Tri specific saddle (Arione Tri) with a bit more padding
on the nose of the saddle.
I have no experience with any of the Arione saddles so I can't speak about them
other than to say that the Ariones also get great reviews.
If you are going to stick with Brooks give Bill Laine at Wallingford a call he
will be more than happy to discuss different models with you. With his 6 month
guarantee you really can't go wrong.

marty

Those links were great! Thanks. I have a Team Pro from Wallbike, and I just took it from my tourer and put it on my carbon / steel road bike. Looks goofy (honey and copper on a blue black frame) but it is more comfortable than the Selle I've been riding.

I think I'm going to get a Swift or a Swallow for this bike - but am worried that they may be too narrow. I am impressed with the return policy at Wallbike - so I'm confident I can exchange something too narrow and get another pro. (black this time)




I am interested in mounting aerobars, and have some concerns about saddle fit with the Brooks. I'm comfortable in the drops with the Brooks - how close is this to an aero position?

Hands in the drops are about 4"-6" lower than a true aero position (if your drops are in a racing profile ie: 3" +/- lower than the saddle) and about 4"-6" closer than aero. A close approximation would be to sit on the bike and put your elbows on top of the bars on either side of the stem. You'll probably find that you need to shift your hips forward, which might force you to move your saddle forward as well.

My bars are 2" lower than saddle... and I do notice repositioning my hips / butt when in the drops.
I assume the elbow rests are variable, and keep you off the top of the bars... so my worst case will be in the drops? If this is true, I think I can find a comfortable position with the Brooks.

(road bike that I won't change my position on - just adding the bars for a brevet so it won't be a Tri or TT bike / position)

I tried to post this earlier, but it didn't take.

Thanks for the links and for the advice! I had seen that link to the Women's saddles before, but not the other one. That is very helpful.

As for aerobars, bmike, I didn't have any problem riding with aerobars and my Brooks saddle on my Trek 5200 road bike. It was totally comfortable, so, you shouldn't have any problem riding with aerobars with a Brooks saddle. I only started looking for a new saddle when I got my Tri Bike: Calfee Tetra Tri - not because of comfort, because the Brooks is still the most comfortable of any saddle I've ever ridden, but because I am not able to get the saddle into the correct forward/back position on that bike (I like my saddle farther back than the regular triathlon position. I keep slipping forward on my Brooks. Then if I do ride back further on my Brooks, somehow the back of the saddle hits the back of my legs.) Even so, I've ridden 4 Ironman Triathlons on aerobars on my Calfee with my Brooks saddle with no problem (other than a little rawness at the back of my leg.)

As I said in an earlier post, I've just moved my comfy Brooks to my road bike, from my touring bike. It felt great on the trainer... but today on the road I noticed I am slipping forward, and feel like I need to push the saddle back. I've maxed out the rails on the Brooks - so when I order that new Brooks I'll also be looking for a seatpost with some offset - today I didn't feel like I had the right position for power in the legs.

I think I also have to tip the nose just a bit...

Thanks for the info about the aerobars.

Sounds like you might need to get a different seat post, or raise the nose of the saddle very slightly.

I agree now, looking at a photo of my touring rig with the Brooks on it - I had it tipped up quite a bit. (more upright position, bars almost level with saddle)

I tried to set the Brooks level on the road bike - but taking another look it seems that "level" may mean slight up tilt as the Brooks is slippery compared to my old saddle - and it seems to angle down a bit.

Yep, I have a seat post with some set back...and tilt the nose of my Brooks up slightly....

Ordered a Brooks Swallow Classic (with Ti rails) from wallbike this morning. The rails are supposed to be a bit longer, so I'll wait till I mount it to figure out seatpost setback ...

What aerobars are you using? I had an old Scott set (early 90's - Greg LeMond set up...)
I've looked at the Profile models at a LBS. I like the model with the arm rests that flip out of the way. Are there other brands with similar features? Scott seems to be owned or liscenced through Profile now? Looking online is a bit difficult - hard to see what can be adjusted, etc.


Again, I'm not TT or Tri specialist. I'm adding this to my road bike for long solo rides. (hoping to do a Brevet series this summer, and build a base for future ultra events) I'm looking for an alternate position / comfort. My old bars were not very adjustable (still have em, missing most of the hardware) and heavy by todays standards.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I like the ones where the armrests will flip out of the way, too. I have 2: both are Scott. On my Trek 5200 I have the Scott bars with the piece in between the two sides to join it together at the top. On my Calfee Tri Bike, I have the same Scott bar, but without the piece that joins the two sides together. I'm liking that one better. The good part about the Scott bar is that the arm rests can be flipped up if you don't need them...or flipped down ready to use (or tied down if it is really windy). The Profile bars with the flip up pads are spring loaded, so they can be a little trickier to get into -- not bad once you are used to it. Also, for the Scott bars, there is room underneath the arm rests where you can grab your bars even without flipping up the arm rests. My husband and other triathletes that I know use the regular Profile bars or the Syntace bars. I haven't shopped for aerobars lately, but Scott is my bar of choice. When I got mine, they came in different sizes, so you could fit them perfectly to your needs. They also are adjustable for width and forward/back placement for the arm rests.

I've heard complaints about other "adjustable" aerobars being loose or rattling.

Searching the web, I see what you mean.

Hey, these look good

or these

Then THESE are like the original Profile Airstryk, and many people are happy with them....only, like I said, you have to get used to getting the arm rest down into position to get in your aero position.

bmike, I'm thinking of ordering a Swallow. I like the fact that it has longer rails...and the cut away design. Seems like it would be good for riding in the aero position. I'm a little afraid it might not be comfortable for me, though. Have you ever tried the Swallow? (I see that you just ordered one yesterday.) Let me know how you like it.

Or, if anyone else has ridden the Swallow, I'd appreciate any input.

I have a Team Pro, and the Swallow is a bit narrower. It should be here tomorrow, when I'll mount it and adjust it on the trainer. I just got the Team Pro set where I like it. I hope that the Swallow is close to the same height off the rails, so I do not have to play with seat height. Any movement backwards will help me, as I'm very close with the Pro on having to do something with the seatpost.

I'll post back how I like it.

If you order from Wallingford Bicycle they have a great return or exchange policy. I figured I would try it, and if it is uncomfortable I'll swap it for another Team Pro or a Swift.

I've posted a few pics, and after I ride the Brooks Swallow I'll write a quick review of it here.