Brooks proofide; is it just expensive dubbin?

[welsh dragon]

This kind of thread and post always makes me laugh. I have a saddle that cost £20 new, has covered over 16,000 miles and is getting on for 7yrs old, has never needed treating or adjusting, doesn't have to be stored in a special way, is comfortable for short rides and epic century+ trips alike and looks like it will probably last as long again. WHY would you even consider the bother of a Brookes over the alternative?

Because it is the most comfortable saddle ever. As others say you either have a brooks bum or you don't. I love my brooks and would never use anything else. And it takes just a couple of minutes once or twice a year to treat it.

 

[Brandane]

WHY would you even consider the bother of a Brookes over the alternative?

Because we're cyclists and we like to do things the hard way! The same way as car addicts wonder why we bother riding a bike when there's a much quicker, easier, and safer (maybe) alternative.

 

[welsh dragon]

[QUOTE 5208323, member: 45"]You know what they say. Who in their right mind would buy a saddle that stopped being cutting edge when the Peaky Blinders still owned the factory, which is as comfortable as sitting on an encyclopaedia, and which needs daily massaging with fairy breath to stop it rotting when the humidity goes over 10‰, when you can buy a saddle with none of those problems for £20?[/QUOTE]


I have ridden in the rain, hail, wind. Everything accept snow, and it is just fine. No problems at all. They are beautiful saddles.

 

[Vantage]

This kind of thread and post always makes me laugh. I have a saddle that cost £20 new, has covered over 16,000 miles and is getting on for 7yrs old, has never needed treating or adjusting, doesn't have to be stored in a special way, is comfortable for short rides and epic century+ trips alike and looks like it will probably last as long again. WHY would you even consider the bother of a Brookes over the alternative?

I believe all leather saddles suffer the same issues as a Brooks...they don't enjoy wet weather although my Nidd fairs better. However, and this is just my personal opinion having tried them, the other care free Chinese sweat shop manufactured saddles are basically just s**t.
Other people's bums may disagree.

 

[Drago]

There's a bloke at Brooks who buys wholesale tubs of Vaseline, who mixes in a teaspoon of machine oil, and then decants it into tiny tins and sells them for a huge mark up. In fact, the saddle manufacturing is a loss making part of their business and its the Vaseline that keeps them in the black.

 

[Ian H]

My three Brooks Professionals (two of them over 30 yrs old) had finally got to the point of being less comfortable, so I replaced them. As I'm not confident of Brooks' current QC and I don't like the Imperial, I experimented with Rivet and Berthoud. The Berthoud won. I sold the others for a reasonable sum.

 

[Alan O]

I've commented on this before, but I don't remember where the thread is now (and I can't remember what I said). I'm into leather care in other areas (nothing naughty, vicar, mainly just shoes, and I used to make leather razor strops). There are plenty of oil/wax based leather treatments which help keep leather supple, waterproof to some degree, minimize cracking and lengthen its lifespan - common cheap ones include dubbin, mink oil, neatsfoot oil. In my view, pick any of those three and they'll be just as good for a leather saddle's comfort and longevity as any more expensive products. I do use more expensive products for some shoes, but it's mostly because I think they give a slightly better look (and in some cases I want dyes in the products too).

Speaking of Brooks saddles, I'm definitely a convert to Cambium these days. Mine seems to have all the comfort of my old B17, with no breaking in and no leather treatments necessary - longevity is the only thing I can't assess yet.

I definitely do seem to have a Brooks bum, but I'm envious of those who can do long rides for years on £20 saddles. The closest I've come is a Charge Spoon, which I find very comfortable for 30-40 miles. After that I start to feel pressure building up and I'd say around 50 miles is probably the farthest I'd like to go in one day on it. I'll probably get a Cambium for the bike it's currently on, and move the Spoon to a bike only used for shorter rides. The Spoon is excellent value, mind, and seems well made.

As a final note, all my saddle thoughts are based on my never using bum pads. Finding a saddle that suits my bum so well I can comfortably ride all day on it without padding (as I can with my Cambium) seems like the ideal.

 

[Drago]

[QUOTE 5208478, member: 45"]There's nothing more ugly and wrong than a beautiful modern bike with a Victorian lump of leather bolted to it.[/QUOTE]

Some might contend there's nothing more ugly and wrong than a decent Brooks saddle bolted to some horrible soulless machine made piece of two wheeled white goods.

 

[tyred]

This kind of thread and post always makes me laugh. I have a saddle that cost £20 new, has covered over 16,000 miles and is getting on for 7yrs old, has never needed treating or adjusting, doesn't have to be stored in a special way, is comfortable for short rides and epic century+ trips alike and looks like it will probably last as long again. WHY would you even consider the bother of a Brookes over the alternative?

The plastic saddle on my Brompton seems comfortable enough when I do short rides on it. I once did 85 miles on it and was in agony and pining for the comfort of a Brooks.

For me, nothing matches a Brooks for comfort.

 

[Alan O]

I got a Cambium for the gravel bike, as several friends had raved about them. It really doesn't suit my Brookes arse... it'll go onto the Brompton (used for shorter trips) and the nicely broken in B17 will move from Boudicca to the gravel bike.

That's interesting. I'm assuming it's that hammock saddles are what suit me best, but I guess for some people it's maybe the molding of leather over time that does it.

 

[Ajax Bay]

As @Dogtrousers has said (different thread): "the right saddle for a person is so personal"
I think the whole point about choosing a Brooks is that they (until these new ones) have always used leather and offer a little suspension, giving justa little where plastic saddles would not. For my long rides (eg end-to-end 9 x 110 miles), or touring 700km (3 days) or, last year, 1000km MP1K/1440km LEL and 2 x 600s, I sat on a 44 year old old Brooks 'Competition' leather saddle - does the business and no issues, and chats away during the ride to let me know it's there. The Brooks is a bit grazed now after a high speed 'off', though not terminal. I will save it for special long rides (eg West Highlands 1000 in 7 weeks time). I use Ko-cao-line dressing on it, once a year.

 

[Gravity Aided]

There's a bloke at Brooks who buys wholesale tubs of Vaseline, who mixes in a teaspoon of machine oil, and then decants it into tiny tins and sells them for a huge mark up. In fact, the saddle manufacturing is a loss making part of their business and its the Vaseline that keeps them in the black.

I think there's a mix of beef tallow, carnuba wax, beeswax, and paraffin wax in there. Makes proofhide interesting to both man and beast.

 

[GuyBoden]

A good film on Brooks' manufacturing:

 

[mikeymustard]

There are plenty of oil/wax based leather treatments which help keep leather supple, waterproof to some degree, minimize cracking and lengthen its lifespan - common cheap ones include dubbin, mink oil, neatsfoot oil. In my view, pick any of those three and they'll be just as good for a leather saddle's comfort and longevity as any more expensive products. I do use more expensive products for some shoes, but it's mostly because I think they give a slightly better look (and in some cases I want dyes in the products too).

mostly because I'm a cheapskate and felt proofide was overpriced, I looked [far too deeply] into this a while back when I acquired a couple of vintage Brooks saddles. The general consensus among leather workers and saddlers that I've either read or talked to seems to be that the wetter preparations, while nothing wrong with them per se, dry out quickly or are too easy to overdo and spoil the leather. The harder ones like proofide contain tallow and/or lard to 'feed' and condition the leather, and some sort of wax to give it a degree of waterproofing (albeit small).
Of course, proofide should be used on a new brooks because anything else might invalidate the warranty. How they can tell I do no know, but I wouldn't fancy testing their abilities!

I use a conditioner from Sedgwick's, not because I think it's better but cos it was what my local saddlery sold. It does the trick and it was quite cheap. I've used it on several saddles, a satchel, bar tape, a purse and my work boots, and the 65ml pot is only half used after 2 yrs

Edit: oh, and the one thing I actually started writing this for and got way laid is, not all dubbin is the same; someone gave me some that came from a shoe shop and I wouldn't even put it on my nasty old rugby boots!

 

[Pale Rider]

I couldn't find my tiny 'free' pot of Proofride so I whacked on some neutral shoe polish which I've had for close to 40 years - last used on my oh-so-stylish grey loafers.

The polish didn't do the saddle any noticeable good - or harm, but I felt better having done something.