Need reviews on Brooks saddle

[Pradeep Naidu]

Hey folks
I'm now planning to buy a Brooks B17 standard .. my sit bone width is 166mm.
My only worry is, my saddle is higher than the drops height.
As per Brooks website, it works well if the saddle and bar is of same height.
Can any one suggest if I can use B17 STD higher than the drops height?
Does any of you use b17.. or any other model in  leather..
Thanks suman, for giving me feedback on Brooks c17.

I'm actually looking for a leather saddle which should set in to my sit bone.

And where in Bangalore can I buy this.. I saw it on BOTS online.. But i don't want to place an order without feeling it.. I would rather want to visit a shop and touch and feel the saddle before making a purchase once in a life time..

Thanks in advance

[Prashanth Chengi]

I'm using a B17 Standard on my roadie. My saddle too is higher than the drops, though not by very much. I love it.

Just ensure that you don't use too much proofide. Use only in small quantities.

/Prashanth

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[Pradeep Naidu]

How high is your saddle?
Can you send me a pic if you can

[suman paul]

Hands on touch & feel in Bangalore may be difficult. Quite sometime back Suresh of Chennai got a range of stock when many people bought it. For B17 you can check with Sanjay. 

thank you & regards

suman

+ 91   9886300685

[berkeleydb]

I use a Brooks B17 Standard saddle on my Surly LHT. I think my saddle height might be bit more than the drop bar... will check. If there is a saddle vs drop bar height concern, I assume it should_not be specific to the Brooks saddle.

Having used the Brooks B17 Standard saddle for 2+yrs now, am wondering if it's a bit wide for my liking. Though there is a stem lenght reduction I first need to do on my bike, before I can get a better sense of the saddle geometry suitability. I believe there is a narrower version as well.

Rakesh at RR Cycles was trying to get some Brooks saddles. Did_not pan out, AFAIK. But check with him. If you run into me somewhere, you can look-n-feel my saddle. :)

I do need to apply that poofide thingy on my saddle... guess I have ignored that. Still, looks OK so far.

-{db}.

[berkeleydb]

Forgot to mention... not sure if I have felt the awesomeness of the Brooks saddle so far. Again, maybe after I do the stem adjustment, I will be in a better position to comment... no pun. ;)

But Rs6K is a bit steep, IMO. Plus if you are riding in India, various things considered, it is a bit risky to have a saddle that expensive. Any damage/vandalism can really hit you hard.

-{db}.

[Pradeep Naidu]

Hmmmm got it..
And one more question since you brought up the width . Will the side flaps rub against inner thigh when you pedal?
Is that something I should worry about?

[Prashanth Chengi]

Like I said, not much higher. 

[Pradeep Naidu]

I almost have the same height or little more.. will check up

[Shankar Shastry]

I have a Brooks B17 on my surly crosscheck. Hands down the best saddle. No need for padded shorts! I think happyearth has velo orange if you want to check it out in person.

[Praveen M]

Here is one more B17 with cutout. This is fresh from yesterday when I climbed Stelvio from Prato Allo Stelvio(north side) on my commuter.

When I was buying this, I remember reading B17 Narrow is suitable when the saddle is higher than the bar. Checkout their website.

[Pradeep Naidu]

Hi Shankar
I checked with happyearth, there's no stock mentioned on site.. but it's not that great price diff though.. in that case I want to buy the best one..
And yes.. I don't wear any padded shirts nor undies.. I think it will be the best suitable saddle for me
Hi praveen,
I wanted consider the narrow. My sit bone is 166 mm. Does it fit?

On 10-Jul-2016 1:18 PM, "Praveen M" <pravee...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here is one more B17 with cutout. This is fresh from yesterday when I climbed Stelvio from Prato Allo Stelvio(north side) on my commuter.

When I was buying this, I remember reading B17 Narrow is suitable when the saddle is higher than the bar. Checkout their website.

[Praveen M]

Don't know. Website says narrow is 151mm. May not be suitable.

[berkeleydb]

My saddle (top) is slightly above the drop bar. Unless I reduce my stem, I think I may not be able to say accurately about saddle comfort, as currently, I tend to slip forward in the saddle. (stem adjustment is long overdue.)

Re: side flaps rubbing against inner thighs -- your physiology would be one factor. And then, the pedal separation too, I suppose. I think on road bikes, pedals are closer, while on touring bikes/MTBs, they are further apart.

Btw, how did you measure your sit bones width? :)

-{db}.

[Pradeep Naidu]

I had been to BOTS sometime back to check my sit bones..
Sorry it is actually 155mm not 166..
I'm looking at Brooks team professional saddle. .
It's made for drops and slightly aggressive posture it seems.

[Arvind Ganesh]

I see Happy Earth mentioned a couple of times, so thought I might chime in and clarify. Our website is in the middle of an upgrade so it doesn't reflect all our stock at the moment. For leather saddles, we carry Brooks as well our own saddles (branded ABC) that are practically identical to VO's saddles (made in the same factory). We have the ABC Wanderer which is similar to http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/vo-saddle-model-3-touring.html

and we have the ABC Skipper which is similar to http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/components/saddles/vo-saddle-model-6.html

We have these in black and brown (no honey) and they are priced at Rs. 4800. As with all our products, they are orderable through your LBS. 

Regards

Arvind

[Pradeep Naidu]

Ahhhhh man.. lovely.. I will call the stores... thanks for the update

[udayak...@gmail.com]

I use a Brooks B17. Switched to it after having a horrid time with the factory saddle on my Specialized cycle.

I am mostly a  city rider doing a fair amount of city riding (~150k a week). And for this the saddle has served very well. Is it worth the 6K cost ? I really dont know, but it has saved my butt ! Maybe cheaper options will work too, but at the time I bought it I really did not have the interest to check them !

Hope this helps.

Uday

[berkeleydb]

Arvind -- Good to know about the ABC saddles. Nice pricing as well.

Pradeep -- I use padded shorts while riding... maybe that is why I have not felt the awesomeness of the Brooks saddle. :).

-{db}.

[Prashanth Chengi]

I use padded shorts too, but even with them, I think the brooks are great. They caused a bit of sore sit-bones before they broke-in, but once they did, it's been smooth sailing. I rode a 600 last week without any issues.

/Prashanth

-{db}.

[Pradeep Naidu]

Hi all
Thanks a ton for all your feedback..
I have ordered ABC wanderer.. from happyearth website...
Looks amazing in the first look... looks very similar to Brooks and costs half the price..4,800₹
Will give you all feedback post few months

[Prashanth Chengi]

Congratulations! It looks great, and I'm sure you'll find that it feels great too! I've heard some issues with Brooks, with horizontal splaying, and people fixing it by punching holes in the side and using strings/cable-ties/lace to pull the sides together. Find out if you need to do something similar to this.  Also, use only proofide or whatever is the recommended stuff for this saddle (proofide should be the best), but remember to use in small quantities, or else the leather will become overly supple and start sagging.  A small application is a must, but too much is bad.

/Prashanth

[Pradeep Naidu]

Should I use the proofide now or wait till it breaks in?

[Prashanth Chengi]

Use it now. It's needed for breaking in, but use in small quantity. Ensure you coat the entire under surface and the exposed edges. A very small application on top overnight, followed by a wipe-off is mentioned by brooks, but I think that can be skipped. After a couple of hundred km of riding, you should start to see indentations made by your sit bones. If the saddle squeaks or exhibits side splaying, when you push down on it, use the saddle spanner to slightly increase the tension. Just do enough to stop the squeak and side splay.

/Prashanth

[Pradeep Naidu]

Got it.. thanks Prashanth