B17 alternatives

[Brenton Eastman]

I have a B17 on my Sam that I love. 12 years old and showing very little wear. It's the last thing I think about on all-day rides.

I bought a pre owned "broken in" C17 for my Roadini build and I think I'll pass it along. Just feels like it will never be comfortable.

Anyone here have other saddles they enjoy? Maybe something lighter weight and/or more modern looking, while still having all day comfort.

If not I'll just get another B17 and be content!

[mikel...@juno.com]

Rivet Pearl saddle is close to a B17

[rlti...@gmail.com]

I love the B17 and the non-leather saddle that equals it in comfort for me is the WTB Pure V saddle. They now make the Pure but that one felt slightly different to me. I stashed a few of the Pure V’s away since they are harder to find. This is the one I like:

I do have the WTB Volt on one bike and that one is also very comfortable so far. Mine is the Cromoly medium width version. They do make ti and carbon railed versions as well.

Robert Tilley

San Diego, CA

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 23, 2024, at 8:55 PM, Brenton Eastman <brenton...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a B17 on my Sam that I love. 12 years old and showing very little wear. It's the last thing I think about on all-day rides.

I bought a pre owned "broken in" C17 for my Roadini build and I think I'll pass it along. Just feels like it will never be comfortable.

Anyone here have other saddles they enjoy? Maybe something lighter weight and/or more modern looking, while still having all day comfort.

If not I'll just get another B17 and be content!

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[Luke Hendrickson]

I encourage you to try a Berthoud Aspin. Wide like a B17, but with a narrower nose/front end that leads to a sportier saddle and less thigh rub. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also exceptionally beautiful. 

[Brian Turner]

While I still have a couple of well-loved and trusty B17s in service, I am now a loyal Gilles Berthoud convert. I’ll second Luke’s recommendation on the Aspin (or Aravis if you’re feeling na$ty). They’re gorgeous saddles, the thicker leather doesn’t “hammock” like Brooks sometimes can, and everything is replaceable/rebuildable. Plus, they are a great company to deal with.

Brian

Lex KY. 

On Jan 24, 2024, at 1:22 AM, Luke Hendrickson <phendr...@paulpath.net> wrote:

I encourage you to try a Berthoud Aspin. Wide like a B17, but with a narrower nose/front end that leads to a sportier saddle and less thigh rub. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also exceptionally beautiful. 

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[Ron Mc]

Silly me, never considered there was an alternative to Brooks.  

I'm backed up, with a couple stashed Select and L/E saddles I bought for $99 close-out.  

But if I was in the saddle market, I'd go to BikeTiresDirect and buy a B17 Special at their discount.  

[Chris Halasz]

I've enjoyed many a B17 Champion Special, and a few not, and only a few B17 standards. 

NOTE: I'm six foot tall, 165lbs, with a 13cm sit bone width. I run a few times a week and do a couple of 25 mile rides each week, and shorter rides for errands, etc. Long way of saying I'm not real wide and there's not much mass on me. 

I've also got an Ideale Daniel Rebour in my stash, which is said to have superior water resistance. Never tried the water resistance, though. It is also very nice. 

I never had good luck with the Berthouds. Like sitting on granite. Hard hard hard. No break-in. Tried three different ones. Gave up. Ditto for the Brooks C67 (the Cambium version of the B68). The C67 also had a very wide nose, which did not work for me - I guess I've got developed adductors or something. 

 I recently bought an LHT and have a more Albatross/Tosco-type upright position on the bike. I tried a bunch of Brooks and Specialized and Ergon saddles, all 155+mm width. 

There is one that I settled on, that is really fantastic for me: The Ergon Mountain SMC in a women's medium/large. I think it's about 160mm at its widest, and weighs 300g, so maybe a half pound lighter than a B17, and to me,  just as nice. It was about $70. There's a picture on the Rivbike site with what I think is the same saddle on Roman's Sequoia: 

https://www.rivbike.com/blogs/news/romans-59cm-sequoia-86-5cm-pbh

A note about saddle width: leather saddles have those beautiful rivets. The rivets, for me, reduce the functional width of a saddle. Here's a photo of a 155mm saddle mated to a 220mm wide saddle. Their 65mm difference is minimized by the rivets, and their functional width is similar: 

Both those saddles (Brooks B68 and Ergon SR3-L) are available for purchase if anyone's interested! 

- Chris 

[Matthew Rebmann]

The Aspin is 18mm narrower than the B17- If you're trying to be comparable then the Aubisque/Vars/Mente City saddles would be a lot closer in dimensions. Aspin is 157mm, B17 is 175mm, and the Aubisque is 180mm. I nearly selected selected the Aspin myself but my friend pointed out the measurements to me. Stacked on top of each other the Aubisque and B17 are barely any different. Side note: the Berthoud saddles are gorgeous and the leather is top notch.

[John]

I love my B17s but could never get along with C17s. I've come to appreciate the dorky comfort of Ergon grips (GA3) so figured I'd give their saddles a try. I played around with their saddle selector for a while and eventually landed on an Ergon SM Comp in small/medium, which they bill as for "All-Mountain/Trail, Cross-Country/Marathon, MTB-Touring." I've now got them on my hardtail, fat bike and winter bike that stays inside for riding the rollers. They'redefinitely on the modern end of the spectrum and I think roughly 250g lighter than the Brooks. Could be worth a look!

John in Minnesota

[Douglas Johnson]

Brenton Eastman wrote:

>Anyone here have other saddles they enjoy? Maybe something
>lighter weight and/or more modern looking, while still having all
>day comfort.

Jumping in on this discussion: Does anyone here have experience
with the Brooks Team Pro Saddle?

I have a leather Idéale racing saddle inherited from my father,
who bought it in the 1970s. Still frankly hard as a rock (must
have been made from an old, tough cow). I've wondered if the Team
Pro is similar in shape and feel to the Idéale.

--
Douglas Johnson
Savannah, Georgia, USA
d...@panix.com

[Ryan Frahm]

B-17 user her but still never 100% happy with them. I recently tried the cutout version and find it to be a huge improvement over the standard B-17. I have tried the several saddles over the years, the Berthoud is so close but not quite the right fit for me. The Aspen being slightly too narrow and the Aubisque slightly too wide. I tried the Ergon SMC Core on several recommendations and have never sat on anything more uncomfortable. For me, the cutout B-17 is the winner so far. 

[Patrick Moore]

Does anyone remember the once common Fuji "Belt" saddle? I rode one for about a year on a Fuji Royale "12 Speed" before I decided that leather style was less important than rearside comfort.

For some reason -- IIRC it was shaped like a B 17 -- the "Belt" didn't chafe and poke as much as the B 17s or Champion Flyer, and I recall that it did not require the fiddly attention to tilt -- I think I tilted it slightly nose up as with all my saddles -- but it was about as giving as a concrete park bench. But very sturdy (and stiff!) leather. The single Ideale I used (hot-rodded last chromo-main-tube-model Specialized Crossroads Cruz) was much the same: not as tilt-fussy but like a wooden bench, and also too wide as was the B 17.

Query: Who else likes the original-issue Flite?

[Eliot Balogh]

Selle Anatomica

Specialized Bridge Sport or Mimic (not comp)

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[ascpgh]

I was shopping for a longer lasting saddle than post-Selle Italia B-17 among RIvet models after meeting Deb Banks at the  Philly Bike Expo and picked the Diablo on dimensions.

Turns out either my rear end is an odd measuring device or saddles cannot be compared effectively by simple linear dimensioning. Turns out to be the latter and why Rivet has a 364 day return/exchange policy. I traded for and ended up loving the slotted Pearl. 

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Guy LeVan]

I’m a fan of the Berthoud Aubisque saddles and have two - one of the only saddles I’ve used that is comfortable right out of the box.  Lots to choose from out there, saddle wise, but for leather saddles, I really dig the Aubisque. Replacement leather tops available, and high quality craftsmanship- what’s not to like?  

[Nick Payne]

On Friday 2 February 2024 at 8:19:05 am UTC+11 matthew...@gmail.com wrote:

The Aspin is 18mm narrower than the B17- If you're trying to be comparable then the Aubisque/Vars/Mente City saddles would be a lot closer in dimensions. Aspin is 157mm, B17 is 175mm, and the Aubisque is 180mm.

I'll second the recommendation for the Aubisque/Vars/Mente (all three have exactly the same top: the Vars has Ti rails, the Aubisque stainless steel rails, the Mente the same but is cheaper as the top is fastened with rivets rather than bolts, so can't easily be replaced when needed). I have three of them on various bikes, two Vars and one Mente. I've been a user of Brooks Pro and B17 since the 1970s, but the Berthoud saddles are more comfortable for me.

Nick Payne

[Nick Payne]

p.s. Here's a quite interesting video showing the manufacture of the Berthoud saddles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0OeHK6sVEw.

[jad...@gmail.com]

I have two C17 and one B17 and ultimately the bikes that end up going on the longer rides ie 80-110 mile 18-20mph rides are the bikes with the C17's.  It took me a few longer rides to gel with the C17 but now they are my favs.  If you have not given your C17 a chance on a couple longer rides maybe give it a try.  took just a bit for the texture to not be so grippy on the bike shorts. I have a standard c17 and the C17 special. 

[Marcus B]

I've tried the Selle Anatomica Titanico saddle which is great but I felt like it hammocked me too much... almost to the point where it was "too broken in".  

I went back to the B17 and I definitely plan on trying the Aspin on my next build.