Brooks Saddle tension lesson

[BSWP]

My wife's new Brooks came with a wrench, and as one of my saddles had been sagging a bit, I did the very natural thing - I tightened it up! Wouldn't you?

Ah, but in taking away the sag, I made the seat much, much firmer, in fact too firm, a point that was driven home to me on yesterday's Brevet - my ischial tuberosties were not happy with the newly-hard seat.

Lesson for me: A sagging leather seat is also a seat that is absorbing impact from potholes and pavement seams. It's okay to tighten the seat a bit, but not too much, lest I turn it into a frat house paddle board.

- Andrew, Berkeley

[Ron Mc]

actually, I backed off my daughter's new saddle a bit

the idea being to make it as soft as it can be while she's breaking it in, and will tighten later as needed.  

My Selle AnAtomica has been crazy, though - it has really sagged in the first 150 miles (most in the first 8) requiring frequent tightening. I heard that need is supposed to slow down, but if it does wear out, I'll replace it with a Brooks.  

[Reid]

I got a Selle Anatomica a few hundred miles ago. The "tension" thing has me confused. After the saddle began to sag a bit, I tightened it as per instructions. After the next couple rides, I noticed that the tension bolt was just flopping around loose. Tightened it again and the same thing happened. And again, etc. So, does one just keep a close eye on the bolt and just keep tightening it every ride until it stops loosening up or until the saddle self destructs? Any advice most appreciated.

Reid

[Ron Mc]

Brooks have reverse (LH) threads so you stretch the saddle by turning clockwise.  Selle bolt is RH thread, so you stretch the saddle by turning counterclockwise.  

[Bill Gibson]

Well, tension is usually not needed. Less is more. The leather will stretch, and will not recover. Eventually, you will max out the bolt, left or right threaded, and it will be time for a new Brooks (As they used to say). New Brooks may not have the leather of the ones from 60 years ago when new, and may not last as long as those legendary Brooks. But, they can still be good, and there were always lower quality Brooks. Especially when I started riding with passion in the late 1960's. I've heard you can buy a Brooks made from a premium level organic old cow leather, thicker and maybe cut only from the best part of the hide, but all things must pass. Still, maybe we are beyond the era of heroic and misguided saddle soakings in oil, and oven heating. Does anyone park their bike outdoors all the time anymore? I don't. That used to be a saddle killer, too. Less is more, but keep it dry, and ride ride ride!

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Bill Gibson
Tempe, Arizona, USA

[Rex Kerr]

> Does anyone park their bike outdoors all the time anymore? I don't. That used to be a saddle killer, too.

A few days ago I saw a beautiful bike with Brooks leather saddle, S&S couplings, chrome fenders, the works, just sitting out locked to a bike rack in the rain, with no cover over the saddle!  I couldn't believe that anybody would do that!

On topic, though:

Some topic from the venerable Sheldon Brown:

http://sheldonbrown.com/leather.html

>  In almost every case that I know of where someone has tried to adjust the tension with this nut, the saddle has been ruined. My advice is to leave it alone.

I've taken his advice for years and my oldest and most used saddle is still going strong after about 15 years of use, though it has been laced per his advice.

[Ron Mc]

http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/zadels/index_en.html - this guy has a nice write-up on several leather saddles.  He makes two observations, one about an older Brooks killed with short-term exposure to the weather.  The second being there is no difference in the leather thickness or quality between any Brooks saddles, by current model, or by age.  

[Bill M.]

Don'try to tension an SA to imitate a Brooks. They are made to have some hammock effect. Keep it taut enough to stay off of the seat post clamp, but not too much tighter. Mine sagged quite a bit at first, but it finally stabilized with a bit of bolt left. Getting the tilt right is very important.

Bill

[Ron Mc]

my Selle is cruising right along - it doesn't need tensioning now - it's most certainly stabilizing - it sagged an inch in the first 8 miles.  

[Steve Palincsar]

On Thu, 2013-06-27 at 17:15 -0700, Ron Mc wrote:
> http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/zadels/index_en.html - this guy
> has a nice write-up on several leather saddles. He makes two
> observations, one about an older Brooks killed with short-term
> exposure to the weather. The second being there is no difference in
> the leather thickness or quality between any Brooks saddles, by
> current model, or by age.

Well that last comment is obviously not correct. The Aged feels soft
from the start and sags almost immediately and after a fairly short
while requires lacing, while even in his reviews many of the other
models have leather that is described as "hard." I've not seen one, but
I would expect the "Select" models to take as long to break in as the
Team Pro models of 30 years ago.

[Ron Mc]

that still doesn't relate to thickness or leather quality, but a specific leather treatment

[BSWP]

All due respect to Sheldon, may he rest in peace, the tension nut can work just fine.

If the seat is too soft or too firm, a small adjustment can correct for it. I tightened mine too far, it became uncomfortably hard, I have backed it off a bit, and now it's just right - firmer than two weeks ago, but still springy and absorbing many of the bumps on the road.

- Andrew, Berkeley

[Ron Mc]

have a different dilemma here.  My daughter's new Imperial is almost soggy on one side, and hard as nails on the other.  I'm keeping the hard side slathered in Brooks goop,  and it drinks it up, but no progress is evident.  

[Deacon Patrick]

Odd. This was too easy and I couldn't resist, but probably should have. Here goes. You sure it's the saddle and not that she's half a hard arse (from you) and half far kinder (from her mom)? Genetics can show themselves in some amusing ways. Grin. Ducking now.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Bill Gibson]

That lack of symmetry might be cause to contact the distributor, if the saddle isn't comfortable. That's a sign that the leather was cut from a part of the hide that wasn't Ideale...;

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[Ron Mc]

that would be the other way around - her mom is the marathon runner and pirate

[Deacon Patrick]

Ahhhhhh. See, it's all making more sense now, aye? Grin. Course, that theory about the saddle being cut from the wrong side of the hide isn't bad either.

With abandon,

Patrick 

[Ron Mc]

of course she has her mom's mitochondria.  

[Johan Larsson]

I've seen people saying that this model stops sagging about when the tension screw is maxed out.

Johan,
Sweden

[C.J. Filip]

Fiddled with the tension bolt once.  Firmed it up the seat for a hundred miles or so then stretched back out.  

Now I keep it firm with Riv twine laced through some self-made holes (B17 Standard).  Ever once and a while the twine abrades through or rots.  Suppose if I had raw hide I'd use that.