Which Brooks saddle?

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NicksGarage said:
I bought a B33, which is one of the biggest ones they have. I tried it on my Basman but couldn't get it to work right with the odd seat post on that bike so I didn't get much ride time on it. Here it is on the new frame but it's not rideable yet. The biggest problem with this seat is that if you're on the heavier side, you have to tighten the seat clamp to where you think it's going to break off and then tighten some more. Also look at the B190 although it doesn't fit some bikes because of the double-decker springs in back. You might also look for a Lepper Primus saddle. Hard to get in the states but a real comfy ride. A friend has one on his Ruff Tango.

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I know this is an old thread but I bought a b66 for my new schwinn and it also has the seat post that is narrow at the top I flipped it upside down and it fits perfectly so you don't have to over tighten it


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I have a B73, its really comfy but if I had to buy again I would get one with the round coiled spring instead of the spring at the front now, its a PITA to adjust and can slacken its self off, I dripped on some Loctite to stop it but now the whole bolt spins in the spring and as they don't have an allen head bolt I cant grip on to the domed end to adjust any further, but looks and comfort are fantastic but rear sprung only next time unless I get a beefier one with a different front, or a lepper as they are half the price!
 
I have a bad back and a skinny butt. B190 on my cruiser and B67 on my Townie works well for me. YMMV.
 
Nice saddle, Cam. Looks good. What's the hand like? Is it smooth and leathery, like a Brooks, or styro/cardboardish, like the various contemporary knock-offs?
 
Bicycle808 said:
Nice saddle, Cam. Looks good. What's the hand like? Is it smooth and leathery, like a Brooks, or styro/cardboardish, like the various contemporary knock-offs?
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If you mean the actual leather, it's smooth....thick and smooth. Mind you MY hand is often cardboardish...:cool2:
 
powerwagon63 said:
On a related note does anyone replace the leather on these? I have one in good shape but without the leather part.

Marc
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If you watch the youtube movie on how they are made, they steam the leather in molds to set the shape. Who else would have a mold? No one. Maybe you could mail the rails back to the factory (in England?).
 
BITD, Selle Anatomica was offering to recover Brooks frames, but i just checked their site , and they're apparently out of that game now...

There;s a guy named Rudi on bikeforums who was doing this, and i got the impression from some threads there that he was doing it for other folks and charging for it, but i don't know if he's still doing it, or if it was only "bro deals" fr ppl he knew.... but you might look into it. His handle on BF is RHM.

rickpaulos said:
If you watch the youtube movie on how they are made, they steam the leather in molds to set the shape. Who else would have a mold? No one. Maybe you could mail the rails back to the factory (in England?).
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I once thought about trying to recover a dried-out Brooks with a good frame. My plan was to form wet leather scraps from a saddlery by using a plastic seat as a form and putting them into a vacuum sealer bag. I think it would have worked, too, but I gave the frame away beforehand.
 
Cam, how has the Lepper been riding? I have the PHAT version of that one with the 4 columns of springs across the back. I am planning on using it for VerBoten.
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I also have this Brooks B135 that was part of my Fugsley trade
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I've been wanting to try sno-seal on the underside of a brooks but I can't find my jar of it. Anyone ever try it? Stuff works awsome on plain old leather boots.
 
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kingfish254 said:
Cam, how has the Lepper been riding? I have the PHAT version of that one with the 4 columns of springs across the back. I am planning on using it for VerBoten.
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I also have this Brooks B135 that was part of my Fugsley trade
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I have 3 now, 2 Lepers and a Phat. I'm quite happy with them.
 
I've been building up my collection.
I started with a b17 that at first I hated and almost put it for sale here. I roughed it out and It started breaking in nice and i really like it.
I also picked up a couple of those b72 used, they don't seem to bad.
I recently picked up a flyer and that thing seems as hard as steel. I'm not to eager to break that one in.
 
Bicycle808 said:
My wife has a B67s on her bike, and the dang thing is so squeaky that it makes me wanna cry when we ride together. She doesn't seem to mind, though.
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Trick for that is to lube the adjustment bolt. Quick spritz of WD cured that on my B67 which was my first Brooks last summer. I schmeared it with the proofide before riding on it and it's always been real comfy.

Too bad they don't still make the B72 with the chrome rails.
 
Dr. Tankenstein said:
I'm a fan on the B72.
Not as 'built up' as some the heavier models, but that single coil gives a nice amount of spring without any side-to-side deflection.
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I've got one cheap if anyone iS buying;)
Actually, I've got a plan for it...

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Bicycle808 said:
So, us56456712, what saddle do you like to rock?
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I use anything, usually junk or what came with the bike. I recently rode 60 miles on my mountain bike with an asse axe saddle that came with it without problems. I must have a tough tush as I don't have problems. Some of my bare pan 1930s seats can be a little rough at anything over 10 miles but usually a fine adjustment makes it some better. I never had any luck with Brooks saddles as it is too wet here and they get destroyed, even with a cover. I notice a lot of used ones on eBay look like mine did with dents and humps and with the sides wowed out. They were comfortable until they got wet and then they were ruined. I don't take care of stuff so I need something that lasts. Vynal is final. I do have a leather Ideal on my Peugeot that I have managed to keep dry. It was NOS that I got on eBay for $30. I was very surprised to see it so reasonable last winter so I did a buy it now. The quality of the vintage Ideal seems on a par with Brooks. I only take this bike out in real nice weather as it is a pretty pristine vintage classic road bike. I have a cheap Chinese leather seat that is on a vintage path racer. I got some fake Brooks badges from a motorcycle supply company. Motorcycle dudes put the fake badges on their leather bags. They are inexpensive, made in India and hand painted by what looks like 9 year old kids with vision problems, but they always fool people into thinking it is the real thing. I scorched the Chinese saddle to age it so it fits with the aged look of the bike. You can see a little of the scorching at the front of the saddle in the first picture. The heat wrinkled and warped the leather so I won't do that again but it looks olds. To keep this Chinese saddle from stretching out I dipped it in melted paraffin. It comes out rock hard so it looses it's ability to form to your body, but it won't stretch or deform either. It will crack if you try and bend or reform it after it has been wax hardened. You can leave it in the rain, ride through puddles, works great if you don't mind riding on a rock. It pored rain for our annual classic bike ride this August. My son rode this bike 15 miles in the rain and the wax hardened Chinese saddle is the same as it was before the ride. It stayed outside all day in the rain after the ride as we had an afterglow beer bash. I even put it away wet in my rafters. DO NOT wax harden a quality leather saddle as it will not be comfortable, will not form to your body and it my crack with prolonged use.

Faux Brooks
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powerwagon63 said:
On a related note does anyone replace the leather on these? I have one in good shape but without the leather part.

Marc
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I have not replaced the leather on a Brooks but I have removed the rear rivets when the nose adjustment is all the way out. I loosened up the adjuster all the way and stretched the leather as far as I could and put in new rivets. I drilled new holes forward of the old ones in the leather and put scratch awls and small phillips head screwdrivers in the new holes and pried the leather back until the new holes alined with the original seat frame holes. I then installed new rivets, removing the screwdrivers one at a time. The leather goes a little way back so you have to put in an extra long rivet at an angle to get the holes to line up. I did this with 2 different Brooks saddles and didn't get very good results. Whatever the factory uses to stretch and hold the leather for riveting is much more effective than anything I could come up with. What happened in both cases is that I had re stretched the leather was that I had to adjust the nose tensioner all the way out to get it tight. It was tighter than it was before but it didn't give me much more service. I did this maneuver twice on one saddle. I couldn't get it to stretch again for a third try. I even tried getting the leather wet so it would stretch but no go. I only tried once on the second saddle. I got another month of daily riding out of them this way. I finally threw them both away as they were unsalvageable. This was in the 60s. Hard to replace as you can't get it tight enough or straight very easily.
 

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