Anyone else have a painful experience w/ a Brooks B17??

I really wanted to like this saddle, but it is killing my nether-regions. I think I am going to switch back to a Selle Italia SLK gel flow on the FG. I use bullhorns on my FG, so I am in a pretty hunched over position and the b17 just gives to much perineal pressure. I might try it on my road bike to see if it's more comfy there.

Just thought I would throw this out there b/c i know a lot of FG riders are interested in this saddle. Try it before you buy it b/c I found it to be really painful while riding in an agressive position.

Rode mine for a few months and sold it. Yeah, just didn't work for me but I am not a very patient person...

There's a reason why those things don't come as standard on track bikes.!

The last time I was in as much pain from something leather, involved stillettos, chains and a 'safe word' !

LOL!!! Yeah, not really for a fixed gear, though everyone and their crazy grandmother buys one for the fixie!? I have a b-17 on my Nishiki Riviera GT, for the 50 mile rides, and it is super comfortable. I would suggest moving it to your touring bike.

Also, hunched over on bullhorns?

After my brooks broke my taint in I was fine.

How far a drop from saddle to bars?

click

If you still want leather, go with Selle An-Atomica. My Brooks Swift and B17CS are gathering dust for reasons similar to yours, minus the pee pain.

Pics or it didn't happen.

LOL! Holy crap that was funny. I think I might end up with a new sig.

The tilt on the brooks needs to be dialed in.
Most people say point it up a little, mine is slightly down.

Good for 10+ hrs in the saddle.

I'm on a $35 Charge spoon and I can pee just fine??? Hell, I did a metric yesterday.

Pretty sure there's something you can take for that.

i sometimes pee out my butt

thank you for that golden nugget of info

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL_DxT2UOyo

Sounds like a swift would probably be better brooks saddle for you if you set your handlebars somewhat lower than your saddle. B17 is for better for you if you set you saddle at handlebar height or or only a little lower.

Also playing with the nose tilt for the saddle may help too. I have a swift and ride it with the nose pointed slightly up and have no problems once I dialed it in.

I do think the B17 is hit/miss especially with people in the sub 200 lbs range. My buddy rode his for a month before he gave up and sold it to me, this is my 2nd B17 and I find it more comfy than my leather recliner. Dialing it in is what will help with any pain issues because this thing is so wide and comfy it has to be an installing issue, and my saddle to drop angle is far beyond what people think the brooks is set up for.

I'll get some pics up when I get home from work today.

My saddle to bar drop isn't more than 2.5 or 3 inches, but I am positioned prettty far forward. I have a reasonably long stem (110mm I think) and Profile Design Air Wing bars, so I am usually hunched forward pretty far.

It sucks b/c the Brooks is the most comfortable saddle I've ever ridden on as far as my sit bones are concerned, but the perineal pressure is just killing me. The inch or 2 of steel at the tip of the saddle is what's killing me, I think. And I'm pretty sure this isn't a fit issue b/c the bike felt fine w/ my SLK saddle.

I donno, I'll post some pics later and y'all can tell me if you think there's another problem, but I'm starting to think that there IS a reason people don't put B17s on track bikes.

Maybe it will be more comfy on my roadie where I am not as hunched over

Gonorrhea.

Seriously though, how long are you on your bike in a single ride? I find that my saddles cause little to no pain, but at about the 40 mile mark it gets really, really painful (really suddenly). The effect is more pronounced on my aluminum bike also (although the steel bike also has the more comfortable Brooks on it). In that case, the answer is to wear chamois or ride a more comfortable bike.

If you're experiencing pain from short rides, I am not sure what the problem is though. I have the same setup you are riding and I haven't noticed any pain from short rides.

I loved my B-17 team pro from day one. I was riding on a Storika before that, though, so you know… Anyway, I have more saddle to bar drop than the picture above and never had any pain problems. The team pro is much thicker/harder leather than the regular B-17 so I didn't sag in the middle which is what helped. I would, however, get a little numb on rides over 40 miles, but no pain. Because of the numbness I switched to a Swift. While I was breaking that saddle in I was making a lot of adjustments to get it just right. At one point I was feeling that I was getting too much pressure on my perineal from the front of the saddle, like you say. What I did for that was move the saddle forward on the rails just a touch, and raise the nose a little. I know that sounds backwards, but that put more of me on my sit bones and the back of the saddle, and less of me on the nose of the saddle. If you haven't given up totally on it yet, try that.

My average ride is about 5-10 miles. In the past 3 days, though, I rode about 75 miles, and last night is when I noticed the pain. My balls were sore/numb as well, so I know it's not an STD

Lorok- I'll give that a try. It actually does kinda make sense. I am used to tilting my saddle downwards a bit on my road bike, but I will try tilting the brooks up just a notch and move it forward a little bit. I don't WANT to give up on it totally. It came w/ the used bike I bought, and I re-tensioned it and proofided it after I bought it.

brookss are very angle sensitive so play around.

I rode a century on my B17 Imperial with no problems. Maybe you just need to cut a hole in the top of your saddle and lace up the bottom.

If you are riding more lately than you normally do, I would guess it is probably that. Were you going over particularly rough roads (i.e. ones that would cause constant vibration)? If you aren't used to riding 75 miles in a short period of time (and particularly if your saddle isn't fully broken in), you might experience some pain. I can tell you that when I end up riding more than I plan to (and thus don't go into it properly prepared), I do experience numbness to my man parts.

Generally, you can do things to prevent pain and numbness down there but sometimes you end up biking more than you plan to and them's the breaks. It's happened to me many times.