Well,

Post a general query over at the brooks site and you can count on a sarky, non informing response from whoever is handling their customer service over there.

Basically, I just want to know what the weight limit is on a B17. I am looking at doing some 1 or 2 day trips outside of Tokyo so just want to use a largish saddle bag. After a week of waiting I get this:

"Q> What would you say the weight limit is for your Glenbrook bag on a B17 Standard saddle? and thanks!

A> I would say that so long as you are not planning to transport rocks, products made rainforest trees or dense metals such as lead, your water bottle, lunch, jacket and spare innertube should be in little risk of exceeding the weight limit."

Now this may make for great internet FAQ reading but is of zero value to what I was looking to learn.

So, perhaps the other tourers out there can tell me what they have safely hung off the back of their b17 in terms of general weight?

And thanks,

Ray

Hahahahhahahah

Thats awesome. Sorry it irked you though.

I use a large Sackville Saddlebag from Rivindell. Its about 30 liters and holds almost everything I tour with. To my knowledge it is the largest Saddlebag made to work with the brooks saddle. I always over stuff it. It has never had a problem and neither has the Brooks saddle. I would guess that my rear bag weighs between 15-20 pounds. Not too sure really but that includes my sleeping pad, cooking stuff, sleeping bag, tent, and food. Oh ya, tools and clothes usually go in there too. It does use a rear rack to support some of the weight as recommended by Rivindell. However, I believe that is merely to support he bottom of the bag from sagging into the rear wheel and to help prevent swaying.

Really, I doubt you could find a bag/gear combo that would really overload the brooks. Unless you are transporting uranium or something...

I think Brooks gave you a pretty good answer.As far as I know nobody has measured the max weight load of saddlebags and saddles.There made to carry you and your gear,
Don't put sharp objects in them that could poke holes and cause tears and you should be able to put just about as much weight in them that you want.

Haha! Holy cow, someone was having a bad day. Imagine someone telling you that in person with a British accent. What a tool.

I would guess you can pretty much put whatever you want in there. I havn't stuffed a saddlebag with stuff, but I've strapped things to the saddle rails and never had a problem. The only saddle rails I've seen bend were on a 35 year old Brooks, and they were being torqued.

I kinda like that response ... much better than the usual legalese.

As a yank who lived in britain for a number of years, I would say that that is a typically British response, and should be thought of as friendly albeit a bit condescending ("listen yank, my local pub is older than your country").

If you need a translation, it would be something along the lines of: "thats a silly question for which we have no definitive answer due to a lack of specific testing for the situation queried. Despite the fact that you are American, pretend you have some common sense and try to use it when loading your saddle and bag. By the way, cheers for that whole WWII thing, we will never forgive you for coming to our aid, tut tut tut etc."

Based on the size of some of the asses I see perched on a brooks... I'd say quite a bit.

That's almost it!

It will handle the weight of anything one would reasonably want to put into it that you can fit into it unless you want to stuff it with especially-dense material (eg, depleted Uranium).

The translation: "anything you want as long as it isn't too weird"!

Yeah, I think the response you got was fine. Basically, Brooks is confident that you can hang whatever the hell you want off their saddles (short of rocks and lead bricks). If your saddle breaks (it won't), forward the response back to them with a photo of your broken saddle and I bet you get a brand new saddle in the mail.

Honestly, I can't think of anything you could hang off a brooks big enough to break it but small enough to keep from resting on the rear wheel or rack. Like someone else mentioned, there are some very hefty riders out there on Brooks saddles. I don't know what you weigh or what you're planning to put in your saddlebag, but I think your spokes/wheels are going to break well before your saddle.

Hardly a professional business reply lol. Refreshing to know a human is on the other side of email. I found it quite funny and would have even if it had been sent to me. Humor is a good thing,we need more in this day and age.
I understood clearly what he was saying,it will carry all your everyday biking stuff no worries.

More than everyday biking stuff. I load my carradice camper longflap up with my 2 weeks of grocery shopping which tops 30 pounds, and no problems with the brooks yet. Admittedly, the ride to the grocery store is about 1/10 of what most folks will do in a day of touring, but nonetheless.. I plan to use only the saddlebag and a small handlebar bag for a 3 week trip I am going on next month. If I needed to move some rocks around, I would certainly not hesitate to toss them in the bag too, although it seems that the folks at brooks advise against it.

I've loaded my Nelson Longflap (with the flap extended) full of books. Not sure how much it weighed, but I'd guess at least 30 pounds. Rode 13 miles with those books...

I wouldn't hesitate to carry anything I could fit in there. I'd just be careful not to damage the bag with sharp edges/corners etc.

I have several Carradice bags, believe me you will not like riding with an overloaded bag. I suspect your tolerance for weight will be lower than what the bag can handle. I have loaded mine well into the 30# range and was more than happy to get the few miles home to unload it. BTW like the response from Brooks...

Aaron

One of the perks of selling bicycle parts.. political correctness doesn't turn pedals or get bikes built. Nice and refreshing to see this kind of thing.

I like their response!

Thanks for the replies guys. As I mentioned, it makes for good reading of their FAQ in the typical British style of humor but has no value in terms of what I wanted to know. At the time it was specific to a saddle/bag combo that would of both been from them. I've since changed my mind on the bag choice however, but will stick with the saddle of course.

Thanks again to those who gave honest opinions. Should of come here to begin with. It's not a lack of understanding of British culture (Naturalized Citizen) and/or I hope not a lack of sense of humor on my part. But at least for me, the fact remains that when you live in a part of the world where you ship in all your bicycle goodies, its expensive to make mistakes on choices. Well, it helps if you get answers on the things your looking to purchase.

Anyways, done with this now and going to assume that a comfortable amount of weight on the two may be about 7/8 kg according to some of the responses. I've always been a rack/pannier guy but have wanted to try out a largish saddle bag.

Cheers

Ray