Saddle Quandary

I have fond memories of Brooks saddles, just not under me. I have had friends who have ridden Brooks saddles and I have seen them working through the break-in period. Most did not have any real problems and were feeling happy after 60 or 70 miles or so. One of my cycling buddies did have a problem, but then part of it was his riding apparel. He would not invest in padded cycling shorts and the seams in his regular shorts chafed pretty badly and an infection set in. Enough said except that it took over a year for his saddle to even start to feel comfortable. Anyway, I was reluctant to buy a saddle that had a break in period, even if it was supposed to be the most comfortable saddle ever.

Now for the good news......Brooks now has their most poplular saddles available pre-aged. Pretty much just hop on and ride with no or very little break in required. It is slightly more expensive than the regular Brooks saddles, but it is a very resonable increase for no break in period. The bad news is that the pre-aged saddles tend to wear a little faster than the regular saddles due to the pre-aging process.

I think that the Brooks flag ship model B17 Standard might be good for you as a road and tour saddle. It comes in three colors, black, honey, ans green. You might also look into the B15 Swift if you want a sportier look.

Here is a link to Brooks website so that you can take a look at all of the saddles that brooks makes.brooksengland.comShop CategoryPage.aspxOpen ↗

Just note, these saddles are fine leather products and require the same care as any other fine leather products which is a little more than saddles made of synthetic materials. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. I have been to their site and basically, that's why I'm here. Unsure as to which would be best. The road saddles appear to be the ones that might actually look best while the touring saddles (B17) look like they might be better for the long haul ride wise. And the ones with Titanium rails.....the price takes your breath away! Any way you go, the break in period comes into play. This does make me a bit anxious but after that, most say they won't ride anything else. Hoping someone will reply and say, "I ride a Brooks ____ and this is my experience".

Hi doctorold, this is a saddle I used in the 70's (when I always rode without padding) and used just last year on a 80km ride. They used to be called Super Courier, but now there called Cinelli Unicanitor Saddle ... http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=54865

This was and is a very comfortable saddle and I never experienced chaffing with this seat. It is also very light :-)

I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I'll add my two cents. I own a Brooks B17 which I have not ridden very many miles on. It was bought new, not pre-aged. So far, there's no problem, so I'm anticipating that as I regain my conditioning for longer rides, the saddle will go along with that, so to speak. The saddle that I have ridden the most miles on, over 5 years ago now, is the Performance Titanio. I'm not sure if it's still available. The Brooks B17 is recommended for riding with drop bars, rather than upright. The Rivendell site has some more info on Brooks saddles, but it may be the same as on the Brooks site. Velo Orange sells some saddles under their brand that are similar to Brooks.