Have Brooks discontinued several of the available colours for their Cambium saddles?

[John_S]

Hi All,

Does anybody know if Brooks have discontinued several of the available colours for the Cambium saddles? I saw that they have recently released a new version of the Cambium called the All Weather and I’m wondering if in the wake of this new release they have discontinued several of the colour options that were available on the rest of the Cambium range?

I recently tried a Cambium C15 on a loan saddle and I couldn’t quite get on with it. However in the wake of that I tried a very old saddle that I had which was closer to the dimensions of a C17 and got on better with that. Therefore I’m thinking about potentially buying a C17 carved saddle. However when I looked at the Brooks website they seem to have gone a bit more in the Henry Ford direction when it comes to colours in that you can have any colour that you want as long as it’s black.

http://www.brooksengland.com/en_uk/saddles/cambium.html

However for my bike I’d have wanted either the Natural (which I’ve seen), Rust (which I’ve not seen yet) or Slate colours but not black. Now that I’ve looked at the website apart from the standard C15, C17 and C19 there doesn’t seem to be many or any colour options with the carved versions. I had in my head that there used to be colour options with the carved saddles as well or have I just completely made this up in my head?

Thanks if anybody knows.

John

[andrew_s]

Slate and natural are available if you buy now rather than take a while to decide.
eg
https://johnatkinscycles.co.uk/m2b0s288 ... C17-Carved
https://bellsbicycles.co.uk/collections ... c17-carved
or Amazon UK

Presumably, if Brooks do take the Henry Ford position, the resale value will be higher if you don't get on with it and want to sell it on.

[Psamathe]

The "standard" Cambium saddles seem to be available in (some) different colours. It's the "All Weather" ones that seem to be "black". I thought the standard ones were pretty "all weather" so I wonder what the difference between standard and "all weather" actually is. and interestingly, the "All Weather" models seem to be cheaper than the standard models!

Ian

[Samuel D]

The All Weather model appears to have a plastic cantle (“frame”) instead of metal. Does that include the rails? Hard to tell. At any rate, the use of plastic for these structural parts has incurred a weight penalty.

I don’t like mixing natural materials like rubber and cotton with plastic any more than I have to, but normal people probably have no such objections.

[PH]

The All Weather model appears to have a plastic cantle (“frame”) instead of metal. Does that include the rails? Hard to tell. At any rate, the use of plastic for these structural parts has incurred a weight penalty.

I don’t like mixing natural materials like rubber and cotton with plastic any more than I have to, but normal people probably have no such objections.

It's more synthetic all round with the top covering in nylon rather than cotton.

[Heltor Chasca]

The other option is to buy a natural cambium and hand dye it. I did this quite easily but you need to take the cambium off the rails as the salts in the dye will affect the metal.

Mine was strange got forward as I went from white to black. Other colours may feel Nash differently l Usual vagaries of dyes and the material apply.

[Psamathe]

The All Weather model appears to have a plastic cantle (“frame”) instead of metal. Does that include the rails? Hard to tell. At any rate, the use of plastic for these structural parts has incurred a weight penalty.

I don’t like mixing natural materials like rubber and cotton with plastic any more than I have to, but normal people probably have no such objections.

It's more synthetic all round with the top covering in nylon rather than cotton.

The "All-Weather" model has plain solid steel rails and fibreglass nose and backplate whereas the "standard" Cambiums have hollow steel rails, as well as steel nose and backplate.

....
It's more synthetic all round with the top covering in nylon rather than cotton.

It also has a softer rubber.

Ian

[Samuel D]

Thanks, Psamathe. How do you know this, by the way? The Brooks website has beautiful fonts and pictures but less useful information than I’d prefer.

[Psamathe]

Thanks, Psamathe. How do you know this, by the way? The Brooks website has beautiful fonts and pictures but less useful information than I’d prefer.

I wondered about the difference. "All Weather" C15 sounds "better" than just "C15" but the "All Weather" version was cheaper - so I wondered why and contacted Brooks.

Ian

[John_S]

Morning All,

Thanks for the messages which are much appreciated.

Hi Andrew_S, thanks for the links. I'm going to ask my LBS first just to see if they can get the C17 carved in either natural, rust or slate but if they can't order one if it does turn out that Brooks have discontinued them I'll use the links that you've sent. Thanks for your help.

Hi Psamathe, that's a good point about the new All Weather ones because like you I thought that when they originally launched the Cambium saddles at least part of the point of them was that they were low maintenance and all weather as they could take exposure to the elements better than the leather saddles and without the need for as much maintenance and proofing etc.. That's exactly why the Cambium appealed in the first place because I commute all year around in all weathers and the bike is out in the open when I'm at work. Therefore it's a bit confusing now that they launch a new specific all weather version. I have seen that the new all weather saddles are just all black only. However looking at the Brooks website it also seems that lots of the other versions are now only available in black as well when I'm sure there used to be more choice. According to the Brooks website there seem to be colour choices available on only the standard C15, C17 and C19 and everything else, including all of the carved versions, are black only now.

Hi Samuel D, thanks for your message and for pointing this out. Like you say this will all be subjective and in the eye of the beholder but I'm like you and I don't fancy the idea of a plastic frame if that's what it is on the all weather version. However it will appeal to others if it's helped to bring the price point down.

Hi PH, thanks for your message and perhaps they've introduced the nylon top for a bit more durability than the cotton top in all weathers over time when continually exposed to the weather but I'm not a materials expert so I'm not sure and I'm just guessing.

Hi Heltor Chasca, thanks for suggesting this option. I'll have to hold my hand up and say that I've never dyed anything before, other than getting things mixed up in the washing machine every so often and turning something the wrong colour, but I'll bear that in mind as an option. However the problem might be that Brooks seem to have stopped doing the C17 carved in the natural colour and so now that it's black only it would be as easy (or perhaps even possible) to dye another colour.


Cheers for all of your replies which are helpful and much appreciated.

John

[Psamathe]

...
Hi Psamathe, that's a good point about the new All Weather ones because like you I thought that when they originally launched the Cambium saddles at least part of the point of them was that they were low maintenance and all weather as they could take exposure to the elements better than the leather saddles and without the need for as much maintenance and proofing etc.. That's exactly why the Cambium appealed in the first place because I commute all year around in all weathers and the bike is out in the open when I'm at work. Therefore it's a bit confusing now that they launch a new specific all weather version.....

From my correspondence with Brooks re the standard C15 "The organic cotton will be fine in the rain. However, if it rained all night, the saddle might be wet in the morning. However, it will not damage it. The saddles have been coated to be water resistant yes."

Ian