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#31
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Which Brooks saddle?
On Feb 28, 9:37 pm, Michael Press wrote:
In article , John Forrest Tomlinson wrote: On Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:32:58 -0800 (PST), "P. Chisholm" wrote: +2. I tried 2 Brooks saddles. One of the zillion dollar limited edition and numbered titanium Swallow and also a Swift. I got them because of their looks and 'religion'. I tried and tried to use them, break them in, adjust them, screw with them and didn't find true happiness about Brooks until I sold them. I thought you had to ride a Brooks for a decade or two, or at least five years, before it would be broken in for you and feel comfortable. You shouldn't bad mouth the saddle just because you can't make a *real* committment. You repeat a well-worn and incorrect tale. I ride stretched leather saddles. A brand new saddle is comfortable from the moment I first use it. Hence, the statement that a stretched leather saddle needs breaking in is not always true. Categorical statements about what saddle is best serve nobody well. Indeed. I don't prefer Brooks now, but I rode them for years and can attest that they should be comfy and feel good after the first few hours of use. They should fit out of the box fine other than simply feeling hard like a pair of shoes that just need a couple miles to break in. If they don't work out the first couple days, they never will. In my opinion, a Brooks is never as comfortable as it is in the first week you ride it. Exception being the Pro, which has thicker leather, so doesn't suffer the downhill march as fast. |
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#32
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Which Brooks saddle?
On Feb 28, 10:47*am, John Forrest Tomlinson
wrote: On Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:32:58 -0800 (PST), "P. Chisholm" wrote: +2. I tried 2 Brooks saddles. One of the zillion dollar limited edition and numbered titanium Swallow and also a Swift. I got them because of their looks and 'religion'. I tried and tried to use them, break them in, adjust them, screw with them and didn't find true happiness about Brooks until I sold them. I thought you had to ride a Brooks for a decade or two, or at least five years, before it would be broken in for you and feel comfortable. You shouldn't bad mouth the saddle just because you can't make a *real* committment. tee hee |
#33
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Which Brooks saddle?
In article
, landotter wrote: On Feb 28, 9:37 pm, Michael Press wrote: In article , John Forrest Tomlinson wrote: On Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:32:58 -0800 (PST), "P. Chisholm" wrote: +2. I tried 2 Brooks saddles. One of the zillion dollar limited edition and numbered titanium Swallow and also a Swift. I got them because of their looks and 'religion'. I tried and tried to use them, break them in, adjust them, screw with them and didn't find true happiness about Brooks until I sold them. I thought you had to ride a Brooks for a decade or two, or at least five years, before it would be broken in for you and feel comfortable. You shouldn't bad mouth the saddle just because you can't make a *real* committment. You repeat a well-worn and incorrect tale. I ride stretched leather saddles. A brand new saddle is comfortable from the moment I first use it. Hence, the statement that a stretched leather saddle needs breaking in is not always true. Categorical statements about what saddle is best serve nobody well. Indeed. I don't prefer Brooks now, but I rode them for years and can attest that they should be comfy and feel good after the first few hours of use. They should fit out of the box fine other than simply feeling hard like a pair of shoes that just need a couple miles to break in. If they don't work out the first couple days, they never will. In my opinion, a Brooks is never as comfortable as it is in the first week you ride it. Exception being the Pro, which has thicker leather, so doesn't suffer the downhill march as fast. That must be the secret to my success: always run the Brooks pro. -- Michael Press |
#34
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Which Brooks saddle?
On Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:47:55 -0500, Kenneth wrote:
On Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:30:58 +0000, Phil W Lee phil(at)lee-family(dot)me(dot)uk wrote: If you want to make leather pliable, you need to use oil, not water. Water will drive the natural oils out of the leather and make it hard, so it's more likely to crack. I am not making any suggestions about how best to break in a Brooks saddle, but... With your comments above, you are simply incorrect: In fact, in their process of manufacture, Brooks saddles are molded to shape originally by wetting them. When they dry, they retain the shape of the mold. No "natural oils" are driven off by wetting the leather. Those were all removed in the tanning process. In a sense, that's what leather is - animal skin, without the oils. Indeed, any leather can crack if it is flexed while it is too dry, and that is the reason that oils of various types are often added after the leather item is made. Again, that's what they do when they make a Brooks saddle. All the best, It's why cows don't crack in the rain. |
#35
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Which Brooks saddle?
Which Brooks model would be advisable for a guy who weighs 215 pounds?
Should I prefer one of the models with helical springs at the back? Would one of the "aged" models give me a headstart on comfort. General advice and personal anecdotes equally welcome. Andre Jute Brooks saddle going onto this bike: *http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/Andre%20Jute's%20Utopia%20Kranich.... I didn't take the time to read every reply, so I don't know if anyone mentioned another leather saddle brand: Selle An-Atomica. Like a number of older guys, I have a slightly enlarged prostate. I purchased a Brooks B-17 and while it was comfortable under the sit bones, it hurt too much under the prostate to keep riding it in the hopes that it would eventually break in. An LBS employee mentioned the Selle An-Atomica, and despite the relatively high price ($160ish, IIRC) I took the chance and ordered the Titanico model. Since I weigh in around 190 lbs, I got it with the Clydesdale leather laminate. Through a few hundred miles so far, I've been very happy with it. If you want leather and the Brooks style but need the soft tissue relief, take a look. |
#36
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Which Brooks saddle?
landotter wrote:
On Feb 26, 10:04 pm, Andre Jute wrote: A writer sits all day. My bum gets awfully tired. When I go on my bike, I want my bum soothed, or at least not further bruised. I'm thinking of getting a Brooks saddle to replace my Cheeko 90, which is getting a bit tacky. (The alternative is to recover the Cheeko 90 in honey leather of which I have plenty, though I don't know how it will stand up to weather as it is off indoor Swedish furniture we trashed so I could use the seasoned wood for my geribike experiments.) I ride an hour a day, two hours a day for longer rides, never more. Total mileage in the order of 2000m/3200km per year, creeping up slowly. Which Brooks model would be advisable for a guy who weighs 215 pounds? Should I prefer one of the models with helical springs at the back? Would one of the "aged" models give me a headstart on comfort. You should get the color you find most pleasing--because you'll be thinking and obsessing about it all the time as you slip forwards and back, adjusting tilt, and driving yourself mad with saddle futzery. How come? I had Brooks Pro for many years and it was a peffect saddle. I did not experienced problem you described at all. Or, you could just get a proper modern saddle with a nylon shell, adjust it dead level, and never think about it again. 'Proper modern saddle' is a 'dead saddle' to me ;-) -- PoZdR ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++ "More experienced cyclists learn to "get light" for a fraction of a second while going over rough patches; newbies tend to sit harder on the saddle, increasing the risk of pinch flats." Sheldon Brown: 1944 - 2008 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++ |
#37
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Which Brooks saddle?
P. Chisholm wrote:
On Feb 27, 12:16 pm, Andrew Price wrote: On Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:46:59 -0800 (PST), landotter wrote: If you can't get your Brook saddle in the correct position then you are incompetent. Spoken like a religionist. The most logical reason for a Brooks being uncomfortable is the poor design. Slip down,so you angle it up, when you angle it up, it presses your bits. Indeed. Been there, done that. The best thing I ever did was throw out the Brooks saddles and replace them with a Selle Italia SLR-135 on one bike and a Fizik Arione on the other. Never looked back. +2. I tried 2 Brooks saddles. One of the zillion dollar limited edition and numbered titanium Swallow and also a Swift. I got them because of their looks and 'religion'. I tried and tried to use them, break them in, adjust them, screw with them and didn't find true happiness about Brooks until I sold them. They work for some, they do not for others. YMMV but a panacea for a comfy ride in all cases they are not. SSM Rolls, no complaints.... You started from wrong models. -- PoZdR ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++ "More experienced cyclists learn to "get light" for a fraction of a second while going over rough patches; newbies tend to sit harder on the saddle, increasing the risk of pinch flats." Sheldon Brown: 1944 - 2008 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++ |
#38
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Which Brooks saddle?
Per Andre Jute:
I ride an hour a day, two hours a day for longer rides, never more. Total mileage in the order of 2000m/3200km per year, creeping up slowly. Which Brooks model would be advisable for a guy who weighs 215 pounds? You need to determine your ichial tuberosity spacing before making a choice. Sit on a block of styrofoam or even a sheet of paper on a fairly soft rug until you can see the two dents. Center-to-center distance between the dents will help pare down the saddle choices. Should I prefer one of the models with helical springs at the back? I use both, but am partial to un-sprung combined with a sus post because of the greater durability off-road. Springs are 100% adequate for road use. The B-72's very small springs are my favorite, but they do tend to break with too many bumps, as in off-road use. Would one of the "aged" models give me a headstart on comfort. In my experience, no. They're all pretty good right out of the box unless you get one with extra-hard leather. I buy from a place that lets me return a saddle if I don't like it and have had to return one out of about a half-dozen that I've bought so far. If you settle on a B-17, ping me. I've got a couple hanging on the wall since I went to a wider saddle. -- Pete (Broad Butt) Cresswell |
#39
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Which Brooks saddle?
Per Andre Jute:
I also want springing front and rear. I'd consider a sus post instead. Brooks are making the 210 with solid rails now. I think you'd get substantially lower weight. -- PeteCresswell |
#40
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Which Brooks saddle?
On Mar 2, 12:49*am, wrote:
Which Brooks model would be advisable for a guy who weighs 215 pounds? Should I prefer one of the models with helical springs at the back? Would one of the "aged" models give me a headstart on comfort. General advice and personal anecdotes equally welcome. Andre Jute Brooks saddle going onto this bike: *http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/Andre%20Jute's%20Utopia%20Kranich... I didn't take the time to read every reply, so I don't know if anyone mentioned another leather saddle brand: Selle An-Atomica. Like a number of older guys, I have a slightly enlarged prostate. *I purchased a Brooks B-17 and while it was comfortable under the sit bones, it hurt too much under the prostate to keep riding it in the hopes that it would eventually break in. *An LBS employee mentioned the Selle An-Atomica, and despite the relatively high price ($160ish, IIRC) I took the chance and ordered the Titanico model. *Since I weigh in around 190 lbs, I got it with the Clydesdale leather laminate. Through a few hundred miles so far, I've been very happy with it. If you want leather and the Brooks style but need the soft tissue relief, take a look. Thanks for the info. I had a good read but I wasn't ever going to order a 170mm wide saddle of any description for that price just for an experiment; I'm not a racer or even a partifularly athletic cyclist; I just ride to work up a sweat and keep my heart pumping. I'm not in trouble with my prostrate (yet). It is merely that I didn't like conventional saddes and was happy for five years with a Cheeko90 seat, now showing a bit of wear, which I took from bike to bike. Recently I rode a couple of times on some good Italian gel saddles I also have, and the sky didn't fall in. So I thought that, as an alternative to getting the Cheeko recovered, I'd try the famous Brooks (don't particularly remember the names of the leather saddles of my youth so this may or may not be my first Brooks) and see how it works out. I ordered a Brook B73 before I saw your post. Thanks for taking the time to share. Andre Jute Visit Jute on Bicycles at http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html |
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