Come in B17 your time is up?

[mercalia]

I have used a Brooks B17 for atleast 40 years and have had no complaints. I have in fact 3 of them different colours, ,the standad black, a cherry and a tan coloured one ( now gone dark brown ) and none are what yiu call worn out , just a dumple where the sit bones are.

last few months have been finding it increasingly uncomfortable. I think the issue is a combination of my weight and the saddles design. too heavy. If I tighten the front bolt so there is no sag I lose the hammock effect and I hurt some where under neath ( ) if I loosen it then the sides splay out and chafe the groin. seems like I can't win. So I put on the unused saddle the dawes one down came with - nothing really special, has a gel top and carcass has various cutouts in the sitting direction into the plastic so that it gives a little ( a very little ), so the carcass isnt a solid bit of plastic . And it seems much better now.

I thought of adding some laces as Spa uses but then I think that would only transfer the probem to the top again.

So has any one else here grown out of the B17?

[rjb]

Me too. I had a B17 pro from when I was 18. Had a 10 year break from cycling between 25 and 35 but when I started again I couldnt get comfy on the saddle again. Persisted for a year before admitting defeat. I tried treating it with proofide, then neatsfoot oil in an attempt to soften it up a bit. I hadn't put on an appreciable amount of weight either, maybe 7 lbs over the years taking me to just over 9 stone, so weight wasn't an issue. I am now happy with most basic narrow saddles, hard not soft, all plastic and covered with lycra, leather, or pvc. And I am now over pension age.

[whoof]

I'd never bought one in 30 of years of ringing but this year I bought a second hand bike with one. It splayed out and rubbed my legs. So I laced it but only loosely, enough to stop it rubbing but it still sags when I sit on it.

[whoof]

Auto correct has twice changed riding in raging and then ringing! Last week I asked a builder to come and look at my proposed bewitched which was what auto correct turn new kitchen into.

[bikepacker]

From the age of 4 until well into my 50s I rode Brooks saddles. Then because of an Ischial Bursistis I could not sit on them. I do keep a couple of them in my garage and occasionally ride to see things have changed, but nothing has. Having tried out dozens of different saddles I have now settled on Selle Italia Man Gel Flow and find them fairly comfortable. Unless anything better comes along I will stay with these.

[eileithyia]

Yes I fell out of love with them a few years back, I had a particularly difficult one and no matter how much I rode it to and from work it never really became broken in.... around this time I ended up riding C2C on my borrowed MTB after doing a week at New Forest Cycling week on same machine... it was only when i saw one of the gents on the C2C easing himself on the saddle... and I had had no need to in 2 weeks... using the saddle that came with the bike... a Basic WTB... over time all my bikes have been converted to this saddle..

[531colin]

I'd never bought one in 30 of years of ringing but this year I bought a second hand bike with one. It splayed out and rubbed my legs. So I laced it but only loosely, enough to stop it rubbing but it still sags when I sit on it.

That's exactly what I do with mine...…..lace the bottom so the bottom edges curl in and can't rub, but lace loosely enough so that the top "gives" a bit.
All except one saddle which I would guess is 30 years old or thereabouts....its good thick stiff leather, 30 years of riding and it still just gives "a bit" and the sides don't splay out.....never tensioned it or anything. I don't think the leather is the same now.

[mercalia]

so at the moment I am using a C1999 Vetta Glider Comfort Flex saddle Any one ever had one here?#

looks some thing like this
but as I said at the start the carcass has slats cut away that you can see underneath that means the plastic base will give a little

seems like reviews not good. Any way seems better than what I have.

I would appreciate alternative gel type saddle ideas that arent weird like some I see on the Spa wesite

[bikepacker]

I would appreciate alternative gel type saddle ideas that arent weird like some I see on the Spa wesite

As I stated in my previous post I use one of these: https://www.selleitalia.com/en/saddles/man-gel-flow/

Planet X are doing a cheaper model with foam instead of gel which seems to be at a very low price: https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/SASIMAN/s ... a-man-flow

[mercalia]

I'd never bought one in 30 of years of ringing but this year I bought a second hand bike with one. It splayed out and rubbed my legs. So I laced it but only loosely, enough to stop it rubbing but it still sags when I sit on it.

That's exactly what I do with mine...…..lace the bottom so the bottom edges curl in and can't rub, but lace loosely enough so that the top "gives" a bit.
All except one saddle which I would guess is 30 years old or thereabouts....its good thick stiff leather, 30 years of riding and it still just gives "a bit" and the sides don't splay out.....never tensioned it or anything. I don't think the leather is the same now.

how many laces? and where abouts?

[Greystoke]

I had a B17, mine sagged, splayed out and I punched holes in it and laced it....never got on with it.
I've tried all sorts and have settled on a padded saddle with a cutout in it....no more "numb willy syndrome" either . Most comfortable saddle ever.....just under £20 from Halfords. Have them on both bikes now.

[rmurphy195]

I have two - a black one on my tourer which is about 25 years old (the saddle, not the bike!), and a brown one on the Brompton which is about 3 years old. Both are B17 standard.

I'm happy with both of them. Both were neatsfooted (the brown one before I read the instructions that said not to do so, it went a darker brown but seems OK)

My weight has varied between 85kg, down to 75kg, currently about 77kg. Obviously the black one looks a different shape to the other one!

[whoof]

I'd never bought one in 30 of years of ringing but this year I bought a second hand bike with one. It splayed out and rubbed my legs. So I laced it but only loosely, enough to stop it rubbing but it still sags when I sit on it.

That's exactly what I do with mine...…..lace the bottom so the bottom edges curl in and can't rub, but lace loosely enough so that the top "gives" a bit.
All except one saddle which I would guess is 30 years old or thereabouts....its good thick stiff leather, 30 years of riding and it still just gives "a bit" and the sides don't splay out.....never tensioned it or anything. I don't think the leather is the same now.

how many laces? and where abouts?

One hole about 1 cm from the saddle edge, drilled with a wood drill either side at the zenith of the splaying. Then tied underneath with a boot lace.

[Mick F]

Slightly off topic, sorry.

I have a Brooks Team Pro on both my main bikes. Lovely, and nice and hard too.
I was out today on Mercian up onto Dartmoor and back. For most of the ride of 28miles, I could hear a feint noise akin to a brake catching, but at crank rate, not wheel rate.

I suspected a pedal at first, then tried adjusting my position, and the noise went. I reckon it was the leather creaking. By the time I made it home, the noise had gone.

The saddle has done close on 40,000miles and gets a dose of Proofide every now and again - once or twice a year perhaps - but I think this very long spell of dry and hot weather is drying out the leather. I'll give it another dose before going out again, but top as well as bottom.

[pwa]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003C82Y2O/ ... 1299743189

I have one of these for putting holes in belts and the like. Mine is a very cheap tool, £5 or something like that, and makes a perfect neat hole. Why would anyone take a drill to a saddle when there is a proper tool for it?