oooo man, i want a brooks so bad, but i would feel bad because i'm a vegetarian and theres that whole leather aspect involved with brooks. but man, i hear so many good things and i need a new seat REALLY bad.
any vegetarians/vegans out there with a brooks?

any possible alternatives?

man, its so tempting. kind of like drugs.

Fizik and others make synthetic leather saddles.

i've bought bieks that had brooks and other leather saddles, i bought them for the frame and other components, not for the saddle.

Eat a hamburger and buy a brooks saddle. Utilize the entire cow, and ask for the cows forgiveness so you can have a delicious meal and a nice ass seat.

find one used? that way you're not supporting the industry at all. not sure if thats how everyone feels, but its something i've heard.

you would have to deal with it being shaped to another person's ass, though.

Just get one? I have heard about vegans rejecting the use of animal parts for other products but not vegetarians. Oh, and meat is delicious

if you have any convictions, don't get it. the fiziks, as mentioned, come in synthetic options, as do the specialized body geometry saddles (which are absolutely amazing. i love my alias). the only reasonable arguement that can be made for a vegetarian or vegan to own a brooks is that they last forever, thereby reducing waste, and that there is no plastic, so it's better for the environment. but i'd have to say that cows are more detrimental to the planets well being than mining. (that's right, i'll argue that)

and whoever said to just eat a hamburger and get the saddle, shut the **** up. that isn't helping anything.

and how does meat being delicious have anything to do with a saddle? do you chew on your saddles? cause i don't.

Doesn't sound like homeboy is totally convinced of his animal-free lifestyle. If you desire one, get one. If you were really against it, you wouldn't even consider it. And the drugs comment?? Please tell me you're straight-edge too.

Seriously, this isn't a question that should be answered by random people on the internet.

If you feel strongly about not using leather, follow your convictions and look into other options. But don't go looking for others' approval because you want an excuse to do something that conflicts with your morals or lifestyle or whatever.

Do what's right for yourself because it makes you feel good, not because internet people tell you it should make you feel good. At the end of the day, you have to live with you and we could all give a **** about what you eat/what you sit on (hopefully two different things).

If you feel that strongly about vegetarianism, you probably won't go with a leather saddle. If you don't, that's cool too, but be honest with yourself.

I'm a pretty strict vegetarian, basically vegan for over
ten years, and I use an old Brooks that I pulled off a
thrift store bike a while ago. I don't have any problem
with the seat since it's about forty years old and so
arguably, the damage has been long done. I mean,
the thing already exists, so whether or not I choose to
use it has no bearing on the well-being on an animal.
I also wear leather shoes, belts and woolen clothes of
various types, all of which I acquired second-hand, so
you can see that I'm a pretty shi*ty vegan by most
people's standards.

i guess i didn't do a whole of research on the topic of saddles, just enough to know that brooks were amazing and thats what i was looking for(quality, not specifically brooks). what i didn't know was that specialized made some damn good saddles as well. notice how i asked for possible alternatives. thank you xthugmurderx for the specialized suggestion, the alias is definatly a beautiful saddle. in fact i am probably gonna order it when i order my IRO next friday.

GirlAnachronism, you're probably right, but i was looking for people who know saddles, and this seemed like a good place to ask considering i've gotten some pretty excellent help here before.

and yeah, i probably should have reworded my original post and put more focus on alternatives other than how i made it look like i was having a mid life crisis which made me question all morals and values i have.

as long as we're on the topic of research, may i suggest you actually go try some of these saddles before you buy one based on a suggestion?

well that was only implied, i still have till next friday to make a decision

i was gonna say what GirlA said but she said it so i'm not gonna say anything else.



ps. god it can be a pain in the shiit to look for good leather free bike stuff sometimes.

with the exception of tj, all of the vegan edge boys in milwaukee ride a specialized bg saddle. that should be endorsement enough. but seriously. we all love them. dope as hell. not cheap, and come in 3 widths, so get the right one. (you can pretty much order by body type) super skinny, get the 130, average, get the 143, big, get the 150 or whatever it is. i personally have ridden the two littler ones, and i like the 143 more, but i ride a 130 cause that's what they had. it's still the best saddle i've ever ridden.

and if anyone ever needs non leather bike part advice, ask me. i work at a shop and spend quite a bit of time researching these sorts of things. i may try to put a guide together, but lack motivation

Hey hey, fellow wisconsonite, i am from Neenah, just south of Appleton. There definatly aren't that many fixed gears up here. maybe in Appleton, but in Neenah, i only know of 2, me and my friend, both vegetarian and edge. What shop do you work at? i don't know to many down there but I did order my wheels from Bens Cycle.

selle italia makes all sorts of synthetic saddles

https://froogle.google.com/froogle?hl...-8&sa=N&tab=wf

yeah off hand, do you know derek? he lived in mil. for a little while. he then moved to san diego. his girlfriend is sierra. just checkin'.....

wheel and sprocket, hales corners. the one with ebay in the basement. you friends with brian, by any chance? he's the only guy i know from up there. and you need to come down here for my race on december 2nd (shameless plug- myspace.com/dahmerdash) and meet the crew, apparently. i haven no idea where neenah is, but i was in oshkosh on saturday and sheboygan on friday...anywhere around there?

and kyle, no i don't believe i do. he could have been here while i was on the east coast. or maybe we just never crossed paths.

brian strebe? not sure how to spell his last name, but if thats who you are talking about i kinda know him, hes a pretty cool dude.

I will see what i have goin on, and if i am free i will definatly try to make it down there, that would be really awesome to meet some other people from around the state.

do you happen to know Mark J. by any chance?

i'm with tnclr. If you were down with the lifestyle it wouldn't even think about it. . . excpet for the fact that it grosses you out.

no, no one named brian. oh well. murdah.


ps. my friend's brother phil lives in philly? he's from sd and plays jazz drums and stuff. but if you knew him that would be too weird.

kyle, i don't believe i know who you're talking about. chances are if he's not a vegan edge kid, or a bike messenger i don't know him. but frankie (silver bridgestone) moved to philly from sd and we used to work together.

wadajoobasomething, i don't know last names. it's less incriminating that way...but a dirty smelly vegan edge bike kid from appleton who always seems to be where i am when i'm in wisconsin but not in milwaukee. last time i saw him was the gorilla biscuits reunion show in minneapolis a few months ago. but yeah, he's a solid dude, so you should know him. get in touch with me over something else and maybe i can put you two in touch. he's closer to the area.

haha, yeah, gorilla biscuits reunion show and the brian i am talking about definatly match up together. he always has that funny hat on. cool dude definatly.

but seriously about Mark J., i know he worked in a shop down in milwaukee, he was a leader at a camp i go to, hes vegan edge so i thought you might know him. I think hes out in portland now. you know him? anyway he's a really awesome guy.

oh yeah, i am also open the weekend of your race, i will talk to my friend tomorrow, see if he wants to go, anyway, i will most likely be down there