Cycling things that you wish were still available

[froze]

As I am the troll who kicked off this Brooks discussion, my experience of them is that they are fine for rides of a couple of hours.

But I found that my arse was the limiting factor on longer rides, not my legs. After an all day ride I'd be in such pain that I couldn't sit even in a comfy chair. Once I'd changed my saddle my range increased dramatically.

With Brooks a person either loves them or hates them, odd thing is most touring people prefer them, so there must be something good about them\, but not all touring people love them, so again it's a love hate thing. I just bought the new Candium(sp?) model, haven't had a chance to ride with it though to break it in, but I like the all weather idea of it, not sure about the idea of comfort with it. I had a B17 that got destroyed in an accident, I didn't have it long enough to do a tour for days on end to see how comfortable I would be on it, but I was always worried about the leather getting damaged if it got too wet; I had a cover for it, but I didn't like the way it behaved while riding on it.

But it seems that slowly more and more touring people are gravitating toward the Selle Anatomica cut-out saddle, these people are saying are comfortable straight out of the box? hmmm, I don't know. But I have heard that they may break in too fast and may only last 10,000 miles or so, so a person needs to buy the one-step-up stiffer saddle than what they recommend for a person's weight on their website if you want to make sure it lasts a lot longer, but then you will have a longer break-in period. Again, it is leather, so care has to be taken to prevent water damage, though Selle claims they weatherproofed them, not sure if I buy that though, after all, it is leather.

I forgot to mention something. the Selle saddle is completely replaceable as parts, or even the leather wears out, by the home user, just order whatever you need and fix the saddle yourself. Brooks can't do that.

 

[Dogtrousers]

With Brooks a person either loves them or hates them, odd thing is most touring people prefer them, so there must be something good about them\, but not all touring people love them, so again it's a love hate thing. I just bought the new Candium(sp?) model, haven't had a chance to ride with it though to break it in, but I like the all weather idea of it, not sure about the idea of comfort with it. I had a B17 that got destroyed in an accident, I didn't have it long enough to do a tour for days on end to see how comfortable I would be on it, but I was always worried about the leather getting damaged if it got too wet; I had a cover for it, but I didn't like the way it behaved while riding on it.

But it seems that slowly more and more touring people are gravitating toward the Selle Anatomica cut-out saddle, these people are saying are comfortable straight out of the box? hmmm, I don't know. But I have heard that they may break in too fast and may only last 10,000 miles or so, so a person needs to buy the one-step-up stiffer saddle than what they recommend for a person's weight on their website if you want to make sure it lasts a lot longer, but then you will have a longer break-in period. Again, it is leather, so care has to be taken to prevent water damage, though Selle claims they weatherproofed them, not sure if I buy that though, after all, it is leather.

I forgot to mention something. the Selle saddle is completely replaceable as parts, or even the leather wears out, by the home user, just order whatever you need and fix the saddle yourself. Brooks can't do that.

Interesting. Selle Anatomica isn't one I'm familiar with. I'll look them up.

Incidentally "Selle" means "saddles" in Italian. "Selle" is not a brand. There are tons of brands with this word in their name, such as Selle Italia, Selle Royal (who own Brooks and Fizik), Selle SMP (what I use - suits me well), and, to add to the list ... Selle Anatomica

 

[froze]

Interesting. Selle Anatomica isn't one I'm familiar with. I'll look them up.

Incidentally "Selle" means "saddles" in Italian. "Selle" is not a brand. There are tons of brands with this word in their name, such as Selle Italia, Selle Royal (who own Brooks and Fizik), Selle SMP (what I use - suits me well), and, to add to the list ... Selle Anatomica

Keep in mind, I do not own a Selle Anatomica, so I have no personal experience with that saddle, but you can read reviews and get an idea, and all the ones I've read have been positive, and if my Brooks Camdium(sp?) doesn't work out then I will look into that saddle.

 

[cadseen2]

I've got two of them.

Haha all my 6 bikes are Disc Free, but it will be limiting to buy a new one without them now :-(

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

A time machine so that I can get the genuine bits for the 1926 Humber.

 

[Fredo76]

Other than my youth, strength, and my sprint, and the country I grew up in, not much in particular. Instead, I'm going to post something that I wish existed back then. I used to ride a well-broken-in Brooks Pro saddle, that I bought for $8 from a Schwinn shop that didn't know what they had - they were $40 over here even that long ago, in the '70s. It was much better than the plastic Unicanitor saddles that were the lightweight rage, but my crotch was my limiting factor in training. If I went on a long ride one day, I would often skip the next day's ride due to soreness.

I can make do without brifters, 12-speed cassettes, 2 lb. frames, and tubeless tires, etc. But I really wish someone had invented the 'crotch cradle' like a Selle SMP TRK has, fifty years ago:



Convex vs. concave - what a brainstorm!

 

[Saracenlad]

I miss those sloppy leather straps that used to keep your Sturmey Archer hub shiny bright.

Made mine from an old leather belt. Superb.

 

[Saracenlad]

Other than my youth, strength, and my sprint, and the country I grew up in, not much in particular. Instead, I'm going to post something that I wish existed back then. I used to ride a well-broken-in Brooks Pro saddle, that I bought for $8 from a Schwinn shop that didn't know what they had - they were $40 over here even that long ago, in the '70s. It was much better than the plastic Unicanitor saddles that were the lightweight rage, but my crotch was my limiting factor in training. If I went on a long ride one day, I would often skip the next day's ride due to soreness.

I can make do without brifters, 12-speed cassettes, 2 lb. frames, and tubeless tires, etc. But I really wish someone had invented the 'crotch cradle' like a Selle SMP TRK has, fifty years ago:

View attachment 683082

Convex vs. concave - what a brainstorm!

Brooks foe me. LE - JOG and no problems at all.

 

[Saracenlad]

Not on this bike but on that saddle.

 

[matticus]

Not on this bike but on that saddle.

Trigger's Broom??

 

[kingrollo]

cartilage in my knees

 

[gbb]

Hubs with oiler pots on them with the old spring loaded flip up lids.
I used to have the free'est spinning wheels as a kid, we used to have competitions to see who's would spin longest.

 

[Drago]

Those little loops made from bristles that hung round the outside of hubs and kept them clean and shiny.

 

[fritz katzenjammer]

Good quality metal fenders that fit like they belong without two days of screwing around to fit them and another three days of getting them to stop rattling.

Bikes built to last a lifetime.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Good quality metal fenders that fit like they belong without two days of screwing around to fit them and another three days of getting them to stop rattling.

Bikes built to last a lifetime.

I can order those here, thankfully. Most of my bikes use them.