taximan
senex crepitu iuvenis cordi esse
- Location
- Whitby North Yorkshire.
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taximan
senex crepitu iuvenis cordi esse
- Location
- Whitby North Yorkshire.
aged 65 you say.Methinks a Spa saddle might be better value.At 65 you might not have time to break a Brooks in
I have a couple of Spa saddles which I find to be OK, but definitely not as good as a brooks'
hoopdriver
Guru
- Location
- East Sussex
Clearly you got a bad one....No they don't ! The leather on mine split after only 50 years
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Hover Fly
Lazy so and so
- Location
- Besides the lake, beneath the trees
Some nice-looking Sella Italia leather saddles here, not bad prices
https://www.planetx.co.uk/brand/q/Selle+Italia
https://www.planetx.co.uk/brand/q/Selle+Italia
All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
I have a Brooks B17 and now a Spa Nidd (copy of B17). Like all good cycle points of contact I am not aware of them even after five hours cycling.
Deafie
Guru
- Location
- So good they named it twice
I have a Spa Nidd Ti, it has 2000+ miles on it and it is as rock hard today as when I got it. My B17 was comfy right out the box
Yes, go for it. Had a B17 for 15 years and a Ti B17 for 2 years. Long since given up padded shorts. Had a Spa for a while but couldn’t get on with it. My older b17 took a lot of breaking in, maybe 1000 miles until either me or the saddle had reached a compromise. The Ti Brooks was fine from day 1 although seems thinner leather. There is a lot of variation in natural leather but I suspect they have become thinner over time as their clientele have changed.
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
Brooks saddles are not all the same.
A Swift was too narrow for me, and was horrid, a B17 Std is a bit too wide and is merely OK, but a Team Pro is just right.
A large part of breaking in a Brooks for new users isn't breaking in the saddle, but just getting used to riding something hard. Once you are used to them, a break in period is neither necessary, nor very noticeable. I once did an 18 hour, 250 mile ride as the first ride on a Team Pro, apart from 3 or 4 quarter mile loops round the block getting the position just right.
They don't last for ever, with current models lasting less well than those produced 20 or 30 years ago.
I find that the leather splits where it flexes at the end of the cantle plate. What I've heard is that it's cattle going to slaughter younger that they used to before Mad Cow.
With a Brooks, you will be able to replace a dead saddle with a new one the same, unlike plastic saddles, where if a comfortable saddle dies, it will have been replaced by a different or redesigned model when you look for another.
Last time I replaced a saddle, I got a Gilles Berthoud Aspin instead, which is just as comfortable, and is showing every sign of lasting longer than the Team Pro so far (7 years).
A Swift was too narrow for me, and was horrid, a B17 Std is a bit too wide and is merely OK, but a Team Pro is just right.
A large part of breaking in a Brooks for new users isn't breaking in the saddle, but just getting used to riding something hard. Once you are used to them, a break in period is neither necessary, nor very noticeable. I once did an 18 hour, 250 mile ride as the first ride on a Team Pro, apart from 3 or 4 quarter mile loops round the block getting the position just right.
They don't last for ever, with current models lasting less well than those produced 20 or 30 years ago.
I find that the leather splits where it flexes at the end of the cantle plate. What I've heard is that it's cattle going to slaughter younger that they used to before Mad Cow.
With a Brooks, you will be able to replace a dead saddle with a new one the same, unlike plastic saddles, where if a comfortable saddle dies, it will have been replaced by a different or redesigned model when you look for another.
Last time I replaced a saddle, I got a Gilles Berthoud Aspin instead, which is just as comfortable, and is showing every sign of lasting longer than the Team Pro so far (7 years).
