I've tried breaking in a B17 saddle for the past 150 miles and have given up. Sit-bone comfort is excellent but perineal discomfort is awful. I don't believe any amount of break-in will result in comfortable riding. I've used proofide and followed recommended break-in procedures. Recent rides were without bike shorts (just compression shorts) and with the saddle almost level. If I nose it down any more I'll slide forward. I also ride with handlebars slightly higher than my saddle. I'm seriously eyeing the B17 imperial but am concerned that the cut out may not be large enough. I've ridden many miles on a Selle Respiro and some on a Terry Butterfly, both of which have very pronounced perineal channels. I know there isn't a simple answer and will probably need to try the B17 imperial for myself but to those who have experience with Brooks Saddles, do you think the B17 imperial offers a reasonable possibility for improvement in my case?

Mitch

How low do you ride? The only times I had perineal discomfort was when I was hunched over a lot. No amount of varied seat exploration solved it, but when I brought the handlebars closer, and was a little more upright, it eased the pain. My Brompton which is a bit more hunched, I notice a bit of perineal pressure, but so far it's not painful.

Almost level sticking up or down?
How stretched out are you?
Would a shorter stem, perhaps angled upward take some of the forward pressure off?
Mitch your really not offering a lot of info.
What bike are we talking about and what handlebars?
Just compression shorts doesn't sound like a lot of padding and 150 miles is way to soon to give up as your saddle is no where broken in yet.
You say 150 miles but what duration have the rides been?
15 ten mile rides or two 75 milers?
Between 200 to 500 miles is closer to reality for many whilst for some their saddle is comfy out of the box.
Oh and what are these so called break in procedures.
Brooks, the manufacturers recommend only riding and none of these tomfoolery ideas of minx oil or tenderising with a baseball bat.

I'd put a level on the damn thing and give it a few weeks of riding 20 miles a day with it level.
I think if your sit bones are comfy then its maybe a stretching out too far issue and try shortening your position to put more weight toward your sit bones and less towards your junk, hence my mentioning a shorter stem, angled upward, or bars with more rearward throw/sweep.
Bars higher than saddle is recommended so your on the right track there.
I wouldn't rush it as many don't get on with the Imperial either.
When you adjust the angle of the saddle do it in increments and give it time as you'll likely still be tender from your last discomfort for a matter of days.
I'd start riding with padded cycling shorts or at least normal shorts and seamless underwear to offer up a bit of padding compared to plain compression shorts to break in a saddle of any persuasion.

rotate your hips back more to take the pressure off those parts of You.

I had a regular B17 for a short time, and now am about 500 miles into a B17 Imperial. For me it relieves pressure on my tender bits that I felt with the regular B17. I can see that just now it is breaking in, although I did not find it uncomfortable from the start. All body shapes are different, so FWIW and YMMV.

Thanks everyone. I don't think this is a bike fit question at all. That's been dialed in by myself, my bike fitter, and the last 10,000 miles of riding. I don't think I'm bent over too much or stretched out too far. Without going into the gory details, it may have to do with my anatomy following prostate surgery which was years ago. At this point, I really don't think the B17 is for me. I'll leave this as an open question for those who have made the switch: Does the B17 Imperial offer noticeable perineal relief compared to the B17 or is the cut out too narrow? Thanks Tindow, for relating your experience. That is very helpful.

Mitch

I have used the imperial for many years now and are very happy with it. I don't have experience with a B17 though to compare it to but I use a Swallow and still get some discomfort on some rides. I have found the imperial has sagged a lot but it is still comfortable and I haven't stretched it out by tensioning it.

I haven't tried a Brooks saddle in years, but did notice that I was having that same numbness/ache in the perennial area. I switched to a Selle SMP TRK saddle and that discomfort is completely gone. The B17 Imperial does look a lot cooler and certainly is better than most saddles that come with complete bikes now days.

My Imperial is fairly new. I am concerned that due to the lack of material in the middle that if may sag faster than a standard B17.

For me, these saddles are not interchangeable. Have a regular B17 on a bike Friday with handlebars level with handlebar to or slightly above saddle - comfortable for me. The imperial is on a trek 520 with handle just below the saddle and slightly longer top tube - equally comfortable. Imperial seems more comfortable in a stretched out riding position.

5450 mi on an Imperial in about 2 years and no sag problem

Just don't get carried away with the proofhide after the breakin

Doing testing of new SQlab 610 Active Fitness saddle. It has sort of a shelf for sit-bone area with scooped-out perineal area & the nose is rec'd to be kept horizontal (or perhaps tilted up very slightly). Furthest ride so far is 40 km, the design seems to be quite kind to perineal area. Fietsbob rec's to tilt hips back a bit, that might certainly work fine for many people; OTOH isn't hips-forward (apart from saddles) the more ergonomic style? IE in weightlifting one is supposed to keep hips forward; also the better racers I see usually seem to keep hips forward.

On harder efforts or after a fair # of kms I find the lower back wants to curl up & I try to fight that to minimize lower-back strain. SQlab 610 takes a bit of getting used to, one has to remember to sit fairly far back to keep on the comfy "shelf". Weird thing is that the saddle seems to encourage hip-forward style, doing that seems to feel more comfortable & stable. Don't know if SQlab did this on purpose but I like it.

SQlab bit about how their saddles are designed to avoid perineum pressure:

SQlab - Numbness of the genitals, ergonomics, bike saddle, ergonomic

Thank you everyone. I ordered the B17 Imperial from Nashbar using their 20% discount and free shipping. We'll see how it goes. Given the sit-bone comfort of the standard B17, I'm hopeful it will work out. Cyber.snow, I did try the Selle SMP TRK at one point as well as a number of WTB saddles etc. etc. I'm a 60 YO guy who rides fairly upright so that probably makes saddle comfort more of a challenge. For some reason the Selle athletic respiro has worked out the best for me even though it has a lot of padding. Hopefully, the Brooks will do even better. For those interested, the Brooks is going on a Soma Double Cross but I do have Fuji Touring the saddle could be used on. Both bikes are set up the same.

Mitch

I the B17 felt instantly perfect once I tipped the nose up above horizontal just a tiny bit. I think it might encourage my sit bones to stay towards the back of the saddle. At least give it a try before you change out.

Sounds to me like it's a fit problem with the new saddle (it's still new at 150 miles). Brooks saddles are higher than some others, so you might need to drop the seatpost a few mm. Likewise, if you're feeling uncomfortable pressure on the perineum, it might be time to rotate the nose down a few degrees. Yeah, I know, "everybody" says to tilt the nose up a bit on Brooks. But "everybody" isn't riding your bike, so adjust it to fit you, even if that means doing things differently.