How long did your Brooks saddle take to break in?

[Bruce Herbitter]

Mine required 300 miles. A new B17 went on the repainted Road Std at the beginning of the year and today, it felt noticeably better. I rode a Metric, sans a chamois in the shorts and it was fine. I'll give it a go for a century next weekend. This is the first time I actually kept track of break in time. My Selle Anatomicas are basically break in free, although they do feel better after about 50 - 100 miles. Btw, the Road Std is a wonderful bike. They come up for sale from time to time and aren't super pricey. I guess they're not especially rare. Worth a look at. Kind of a racy Waterford front end mated to a relaxed seat tube and long chain stay Riv rear section. Reynolds 753 frame and 531 fork. It's a sweet ride.

Bruce

[Ablejack]

Um, trick question. The real question is:

 Q. How long does it take your butt to break in while riding a Brooks saddle?

 A. Somewhere between your 50th and 100th mile, you own it. 

I'm curious about the Berthoud touring saddle too, but my Brooks is currently in such a sweet spot.

 

[RJM]

My regular old black B17 took no time at all to break in, comfortable from the start.  It has started sagging lately (they can take only so much of my fat butt) so I have tightened it up a little, but I fear in time I will have to lace it up or do something else to stop the sagging. 

 

The B17 special I bought for the Sam Hillborne has taken a little while to break in, I say about 250 miles.  It felt different than my other saddle at first but now it is pretty comfy.  I like the looks of the honey colored special better than the black, and the copper rails really make it go well with the orange Sam Hillborne.  I haven't had to adjust the tension of the leather at all and have about 1000 miles on it so far.  It has held up a bit better then the black brooks I have.  Great saddles.

[GeorgeS]

Over the years I have ridden on a lot of B-17's and Professionals and
a few Swallows. I think most people will agree that breaking in a Pro
or a Swallow takes a lot longer than a B-17 because the former seem to
be constructed with thicker leather. On the other hand, I've had
B-17's that were fairly comfortable from the start and some that
seemed to be well broken in after 500 or so miles. I believe that
there is a lot of variation in the leather used in B-17's and
particularly in those being produced under the new ownership. My
sense is that the B-17's of 10 or 15 years ago are just stiffer out of
the box than the current crop.
GeorgeS

[charlie]

I had a Champion Flyer that broke in on a 50 mile ride. My black B17
took 500 miles and I have another B17 (Honey color) that still feels a
little stiff after more than 500 miles (I lost count). I am currently
riding a VO springer (similar to a Champion Flyer) on my geared
bicycle and its stiff as a board. I think the new high mileage B17's
with the undyed leather are better especially if you are over about
180 pounds. I don't remember ever breaking in my old B17 when I
weighed 170 lbs., 30 years ago.

[davidfrench]

I'd have loved to bring my opinion and say how bad my brooks felt under my butt for miles and miles but some bastard saved me from the pain of this useless hype and stole it downtown SF while i was at the movie theater for Tintin with the kid...
I wish long long miles of butt pain to the one who " inheritated" it...

[robert zeidler]

Just completed a 200k on a Specialized Avatar. 6'6", 230. Supreme comfort. I'm pretty sore but not where I sit.
Plus I drove home with the bike on the roof rack, in a pretty good rain. No worries about it getting ruined.
Just sayin'

On Sunday, March 25, 2012, davidfrench <nydavi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'd have loved to bring my opinion and say how bad my brooks felt under my butt for miles and miles but some bastard saved me from the pain of this useless hype and stole it downtown SF while i was at the movie theater for Tintin with the kid...
> I wish long long miles of butt pain to the one who " inheritated" it...
>

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[Earl Grey]

The honey B17 Special on my 2009 Sam now has 2.5 years on it (and
maybe 4000 miles?), and seems ready for a bit of tightening, as the
sag is getting quite noticeable. I remember thinking it took a while
to break in, at least 500-1000 miles (I am around 170 lbs). I have a
new brown B17 Titanium on my 2011 rSogn, and it seems to be more
comfortable right out of the box, though it hasn't broken in (changed
shape) noticeably yet, after perhaps 400 miles. The plain black B17 on
my tandem, which has been there since 2008 and a few thousand miles
still doesn't really seem broken in, but is reasonably comfortable.

Has someone come up with a standard for when to tighten Brooks, as
overtightening seems to be the surest way to kill one? It would be
easy to measure the sag relative to a straight line (string) from nose
to tail, so it would be nice to have a ball park figure, i.e. if more
than 2 cm of sag, tighten until reduced to 1cm.

Cheers,

Gernot

On Mar 26, 3:57 am, robert zeidler <zeidler.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just completed a 200k on a Specialized Avatar. 6'6", 230. Supreme comfort.
> I'm pretty sore but not where I sit.
> Plus I drove home with the bike on the roof rack, in a pretty good rain. No
> worries about it getting ruined.
> Just sayin'
>

[Ryan Ray]

I'm 6 ft 6 195 lbs and mine broke in too fast. It was slightly uncomfortable for about a day or two then really nice for about a year and just now is too soft for me.

I blame the Brooks saddle proof stuff and living in Seattle. The second I take off my saddle cover it starts raining every time.

Next saddle I won't proof at all and I will keep the serfas stretchy cover on all the time. It kind of looks like an Avocet and it only sightly less comfortable then riding bare.

- Ryan

[Bruce Baker]

I also have a B17 Special on my Sam and I would say no less than 500 miles.  Probably have about 2000 on it at present....

[Marc Irwin]

Mine have both been comfortable from the start and got more comfortable as time went on.

Marc

[Pam Ellen Hudson]

I bought a Brooks B17 (regular not women's) with titanium rails from a
few years ago. Whew!
I biked about 200 miles - still a rock. Before moving it to my
Brompton - I soaked it in Lexol (per Sheldon Brown)
knowing that I may destroy the longevity of the saddle - butter, pure
button. It's since been absolutely no problems - when
I loaned my bike to someone else - they still think it's a rock. But
to me - butter.

Interested in getting a women's version or maybe a B67 at some point
too.

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[BCDrums]

Was ready to go right out of the box. It's your keester that breaks
in, not the saddle.

BC
saddled

[cyclotourist]

My experience is similar. They always feel just right on first ride. I never understood the idea of breaking them in.

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Cheers,
David
Redlands, CA

**
“I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.”

[Philip Williamson]

I've only ever owned the one. It was fine from the get-go. I did have a stranger rap on it, look at my fixed gear setup and ask "what color is the sky on your planet." I thought that was fairly rude. I had a leather "Belt" (Fujitsu?) saddle for a long time, which was also fine, until the rivets started poking me.

 Philip

On Saturday, March 24, 2012 3:07:06 PM UTC-7, Fullylugged wrote:

[ascpgh]

I got my oldest Brooks on my Rambouillet the day before I met the trio
I was joining in Yorktown, VA to do a super light CC ride across the
country. Rational thought would have nixed that last second equipment
change, including a spanking new new B-17 Special. Thanks and trip
report submitted to RBW HQ afterward; Fantastic bike, blind faith,
awesome ride.

By Williamsburg, VA (13 miles) the saddle was like a comfortable club
chair for the rest of the ride. I had only just gotten bar height set
and the "fit" of saddle was resolved and off the radar. A good thing
as it was my desk chair for the next month and a half.

Still have that saddle on that bike and it serves my needs on both
faster club rides as well as long slogs. Its expected life span would
be longer had I prepared for protecting it from soaking sweat on that
XC ride. Soon found a plain shower cap in a country convenience store,
contingency resolved, but effects beginning to show.

Maybe a Brooks (never rained on) actually has a service life despite
the initial reaction and trepidations of first time users.

ANDY
Pittsburgh

[Aaron VanDerlip]

The B-17 and its closely related cousins use the stiffest leather
available from Brooks. Brooks also has a B-17 Aged model that promises
to be comfortable from day one. My experience with the Flyer and B67
is that these other saddles are much softer and ready to ride out of
the box. With the other saddles you can push down with a finger and
they leather has some give in contrast to the B-17 which more like a
piece of wood. A couple of hundred miles for the B-17 sounds about
right, being generous with the Proofride at the beginning will likely
speed up the process due to the oil content softening the leather.

Aaron


On Mar 27, 3:27 am, Philip Williamson <philip.william...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Jim]

I'm in the unique position of having a 42 year old B-17 on my old Schwinn SS from the early 70s, and a 4-month old one on my Homer.  The old one is significantly more compliant than the new one, and rides very comfortably.  I've been riding in 15 mile chunks or less, and been riding the new saddle to break it in, but if I were to do a longer ride, i'd probably swap in the old one.  The new one, though harder, hits my sitbones just right, it's quite comfortable for the types of riding I do, but I still think I'm going to take it off and slather up the inside surface with Oberhaufs to get just a bit more give to it.  I think if I could do that, it might be as comfy or even more comfy than the old one (the old one may just need to be tightened up some as well)

Jim in Boulder

[Tim]

I've broken in 2 Brooks. They feel like rocks to me when brand new. The first one took a couple hundred miles. It was my first Brooks and it's on my Homer Hilsen and it is the seat that has gotten my to where I say I will never ride anything else. The second one I broke in using Lon Haldeman's method, which can be found on his blog on his PAC Tour website. It involves soaking in warm water and massaging with mink oil, but it works great. One ten minute ride and it's broken in.

On Saturday, March 24, 2012 5:07:06 PM UTC-5, Fullylugged wrote: