B-72 crack-up

[James McGregor]

I found the source of the annoying squeak I've been hearing the last few weeks!

This is a Brooks B-72 that I've had on my Hunqapillar for the last 4 years.  I got it used, but it seemed fine.  I ride a fair amount of trails, but nothing super gnarly.  I weigh 175 lbs and try to "ride light" and stand my way through the bumpiest stuff.

An early-summer camping trip that included trail riding ended with the last 5 or so miles being pretty squeaky, but I didn't notice anything else amiss, no hard impacts or anything like that.  I've done short rides since then, some squeakier, some less so.  I finally took a look last night and saw a broken frame rail.  Then I took the saddle off the bike and one broken frame rail was suddenly revealed to be three!  The one I initially saw was outside the seat sandwich, the other two were hidden inside the sandwich. 

[James McGregor]

Here's a close-up for the metallurgically-minded.

[James McGregor]

For the 4 years I've been running this saddle I've used a 3-D printed sandwich adapter made with glass-filled nylon, printed from an STL I found on Thingiverse.  It seemed to fit fine.

[James McGregor]

I always figured the leather would be the first part to go, since it had some cracking around the back rivets. So now what?  For the moment, I've got a terrible old foam-cushioned saddle on there.  I gotta get through a vacation next week that will include some riding, but nothing epic.  In the longer run - anyone ever replace the frame on a Brooks?  It looks like I could order one for $25-ish plus shipping.  Or I could get another B-72 used - a new one is a little spendy for me right now.

[Armand Kizirian]

Just contact Brooks, I'm sure this is not an ordinary occurrence, see what they say and if they offer a replacement. 

[George Schick]

Hmm...yes, of course contact Brooks.  But looking at the pic's of those rails and the marks on that 3-D printed sandwich adapter made with glass-filled nylon, printed from an STL I found on Thingiverse, I wonder if that was indeed a part of the problem.  The cracks and breaks of the rails seem to run along the same lines where they fit into that adapter clamp, which would normally have been an aluminum alloy in a saddle clamp like this. By all means contact Brooks, but I'm still skeptical about that "printed" clamp.

[James McGregor]

Entirely possible the adapter could be to blame.  They were hard to source, so I got creative!  The break on the bottom rails happened inside the clamp - right where you can see two marks on the adapter.  That's why I didn't notice those.  The break on one of the upper rails happened just outside the clamp.

[James McGregor]

One other thing I forgot to note before - it looks like there's also a crack where one of the rails meets the part of the frame that the saddle sits on

[George Schick]

The leather on the saddle appears to be badly cracked as well. I'd say it's simply time to call it to an end for this saddle and order another one.  But that's just my opinion.

[Ian A]

It seems more likely that there was a batch of steel with issues or the chroming process was off. I don't think it was the clamp or anything you did. Worth asking Brooks, but I would be surprised if it's still under warranty.  

C&L Cycles in Montreal, Canada are an authorised repairer of Brooks and the are very good at responding to all emails. Very nice company. I think they are C&Lcycles.ca or something like that (I'm on mobile). The website is in both French and English. I am fairly sure they will be able to tell you what your options are.

Good kuck!

Ian A KitimatBC

[Ian A]

Oh goodness. That sign off was supposed to read "Good Luck".As mentioned, I'm on mobile.

[Ian A]

https://www.clcycle.ca/en/our-services/brooks-repair/

[James McGregor]

Yeah, I had no warranty expectation - I got this one in a bin of free bike stuff from a neighbor probably 10 years ago!

[Doug Van Cleve]

Howdy folks.

In no particular order, I think part of the reason brooks doesn’t, Chrome a lot of saddle rails anymore is because there was an issue with hydrogen embrittlement. Chromed rails that weren’t properly handled, were more likely to break. Probably also cost…

I have a vintage Brooks pro that I got with bent or broken rails. I also have a set of rails that I got from a saddle that the top failed on. I also have the oversize copper rivets, and it’s all been sitting for over a decade. It probably can be DIY, except for maybe the nose piece. There are definitely places that can very easily swap the leather to a new frame, presumably, for less than replacing a saddle.

I do wonder if the 3-D printed saddle sandwich might have a loud enough flex, compared to the traditional aluminum ones, to at least make the cracking more likely?  Anyhoo 🤓

Regards, Doug

[Kim H.]

Contact Simon at Firth & Wilson Transport Cycles in Philadelphia, PA. He does Brooks saddle repairs. I am sure that he would give you some advice or direction in which way you should go with your Brooks B72 saddle. 

https://www.transportcycle.com/articles/brooks-saddle-repair-pg206.htm

1315 N. Howard St.

Philadelphia, PA 19122

(215) 425-4672

in...@transportcycle.co

Kim Hetzel, who owns a used Brooks B67S saddle. 

[Craig Montgomery]

Congratulations. You are now a select member of "The Damn Chrome Rails On My Brooks Broke Club". It's exclusive but not that uncommon especially before 2000 or so. I've broken two B17's. All before 2000. There was a while that you couldn't get chromed rails. Don't know if you can now. Doug is probably right...composition or lack of care in chroming. Riv replaced the first one that broke because there was a flurry of breakages. They hemmed and hawed on the second so I blew them off. Check out the date on your saddle. '79. Old Chrome. The leather is pretty dry too. My dad used to tell me I was so tight I could sit on a dime and tell you whether it was heads or tails, but in this case, even I would dump it. 

Craig in Tucson

[James]

Ha - thanks, Craig.  The saddle and I are the same age then, so I guess it had a good run.

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[Pancake]

This whole discussion has reminded me that I have a Brooks B-72 that I mostly rehab available for sale for $100 including with the little metal “sandwich” plus shipping (or pick up in north SF Bay Area).