brooks b17 leather thickness

[email hidden] (vincent chiao) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

how thick is the leather on a brooks b17 typically? i have read people
here saying that it is thinner than a brooks pro and "thinner than
they used to be." but the leather on my black b17 is a quarter of an
inch if it's a millimeter. it looks to be 2x as thick as the leather
on my swift, which is also, after only 300 miles or so, far more
comfortable.
i'm asking b/c i've ridden the b17 about 1000 miles and it is not soft
or indented at all. it's hard as a rock and the *exact* same shape as
it was new. so it's a mystery to me when people start talking about
their b17's "conforming to their sit bones" and being "supple." i've
been using "lexol" (a leather conditioner i got in a leather goods
store) to condition it periodically, with no discernible results.
i understand that different people are comfortable on different
saddles--i'm just curious if all b17's are this thick and this
stubborn, or if mine is from some kind of freak cow.
thanks!
vincent.

***********************************

I have 3 of the B-17's

One measures .215" and the other 2 measure .190"

I love them.

Lewis.

*******************************

RE/

Quoted message said:

One measures .215" and the other 2 measure .190"

Measuring just forward of the Brooks logo, I get .16, .18, and .19" on ,y 3.
--
PeteCresswell

....> > how thick is the leather on a brooks b17 typically? ...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

i'm asking b/c i've ridden the b17 about 1000 miles and it is not soft
or indented at all. it's hard as a rock and the *exact* same shape as
it was new. so it's a mystery to me when people start talking about
their b17's "conforming to their sit bones" and being "supple." ...

***********************************
I have 3 of the B-17's
One measures .215" and the other 2 measure .190"
I love them.
Lewis.

I have 2 B-17's, 3 Pros, and a B72. All vary in thickness of the
leather. Each vary in how comfortable I find them to be. I had a
third B-17 that was towards the thick and hard end of the spectrum and
after extended attempts at breaking it in through riding finally gave
up and sold it, with a warning to the buyer of what my experience had
been with the saddle.

I bought my first Brooks B-17 from Andy Muzi 25 years ago, and it has
been in nearly daily use since then. It's showing some signs of age
but is the most comfortable saddle I own.

Every Brooks saddle is unique. Every person is unique. If you want
to ride a Brooks saddle I would suggest trying several and seeing if
one feels comfortable to you. In my experience if it isn't
comfortable when new it is less likely to be comfortable over time
with use. Others may have different experiences but that has been
mine.

Sheldon has a nice page on leather saddles at

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/leather.html

Bill Putnam

I'd be interested in other observations but I don't think that the
saddle looks all that different even when it is broken in. It is just
that after breaking in some areas give under weight more easily than
others.

I've got a b17 that seemed to break in within a few rides. I rode my
brooks pro for about a year without being comfortable until I really
went nuts with the Lexol. And by nuts I mean I used about 4 - 5
ounces of lexol on it over several days. After that its just heaven
and has been that way for quite awhile.

By the way, Brooks doesn't recommend ounces of lexol or oil baths,
but alot of people report using these techniques succesfully.

[email hidden] (vincent chiao) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

how thick is the leather on a brooks b17 typically? i have read people
here saying that it is thinner than a brooks pro and "thinner than
they used to be." but the leather on my black b17 is a quarter of an
inch if it's a millimeter. it looks to be 2x as thick as the leather
on my swift, which is also, after only 300 miles or so, far more
comfortable.
i'm asking b/c i've ridden the b17 about 1000 miles and it is not soft
or indented at all. it's hard as a rock and the *exact* same shape as
it was new. so it's a mystery to me when people start talking about
their b17's "conforming to their sit bones" and being "supple." i've
been using "lexol" (a leather conditioner i got in a leather goods
store) to condition it periodically, with no discernible results.
i understand that different people are comfortable on different
saddles--i'm just curious if all b17's are this thick and this
stubborn, or if mine is from some kind of freak cow.
thanks!
vincent.

vincent chiao said:

how thick is the leather on a brooks b17 typically? i have read people
here saying that it is thinner than a brooks pro and "thinner than
they used to be." but the leather on my black b17 is a quarter of an
inch if it's a millimeter. it looks to be 2x as thick as the leather
on my swift, which is also, after only 300 miles or so, far more
comfortable.
i'm asking b/c i've ridden the b17 about 1000 miles and it is not soft
or indented at all. it's hard as a rock and the *exact* same shape as
it was new. so it's a mystery to me when people start talking about
their b17's "conforming to their sit bones" and being "supple." i've
been using "lexol" (a leather conditioner i got in a leather goods
store) to condition it periodically, with no discernible results.
i understand that different people are comfortable on different
saddles--i'm just curious if all b17's are this thick and this
stubborn, or if mine is from some kind of freak cow.
thanks!
vincent.

mine broke in after 250 odd kays - because it got wet and stretched
slightly - although this stretch contracted somewhat as it dried. I
started a 20 kay ride in drizzle - thinking the same as you - what
exactly do all these people mean by 'broken in'. By the time I got there
it had these indentations in it. I wondered if I'd ruined it but it
seems Ok x thousand kays later, and have only tensioned it once a small
amount. Now I keep it covered with an Aardvark brand seatcover, which I
would recommend if in a damp climate. After about 6 months I also
adjusted the seat tilt up at the front one increment which helped
comfortwise as the middle sags under your weight. All in all a very good
quality and beautiful saddle. It irks me slightly that it has to stay
under cover. I use shoe polish and a brush on mine every thousand kays
or so. No scientific basis for it - I had some shoe polish.

Retro Bob said:

OK... old thread, but I've been out of town. I think thinner is
definitely a feature. I'm not sure whey the pro's are thicker with
that in mind. A thin B17 lasts just about forever, so I don't see
any advantage to a longer break-in thick leather.

My B17 is the Narrow model. I'm not fond of the wider "Standard".
Recently I picked up a B15 Narrow, which appears to be identical
to the B17 Narrow.

The B17s that I've seen had leather just about as thick as
my Pro, but the B15 I had was considerably thinner. I had
to throw the B15 away a couple weeks ago as the leather split
and ripped almost all the way across the middle of the saddle.

Retro Bob said:

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 07:40:34 -0800, Peter <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The B17s that I've seen had leather just about as thick as
my Pro, but the B15 I had was considerably thinner. I had
to throw the B15 away a couple weeks ago as the leather split
and ripped almost all the way across the middle of the saddle.

I may be misunderstanding Brooks evolution, but I always had the
impression that the B17 was the forerunner of the Pro and that the
earlier ones (pre-72ish?) may have had a more Pro like thickness.
I've run across some folks selling older saddles that they claim
say "B17" and "Pro" on them but I've never personally fondled one
to check it.

My Brooks seats are from the '70s, so they may have changed
the thicknesses since then.

Quoted message said:

FWIW, my B17 and B15 narrow's both measure in at a smidgen over
4mm thick.

If you haven't taken that B15 to the dump yet, I'm looking for a
Brooks badge off an older saddle that still has a readable name.
Let me know, I'll pay your postage or send you something as an
exchange.

Unfortunately the badge had fallen off years before already -
and as I recall, it hadn't been readable for a long time
earlier.