Curing a Brooks sprung saddle of squeaks and creaks

[ian m]

Has anyone had this issue and been able to fix it? I have a very new B17 flyer (with cutout) that is just too noisy and it really grinds my gears. I'm having difficulty finding the origin, it sometimes sounds like it's the actual leather, sometimes the top of the springs where it meets the saddle frame, and sometimes the higher set of rails that runs parallel to the frame rails. The only thing I haven't tried is messing with the bolts on the springs, wondering if I should remove and grease everything but I'm worried that may be more difficult than it appears. Thoughts or suggestions??

[Kim H.]

@Ian,

I saw this on the Facebook Brooks Saddles page most recently. It just might reveal some some solutions to your problem.

https://www.facebook.com/share/jFw2y3AMKPoLxF3H/

Kim Hetzel

owner of a Brooks B67S on my Clem, who loves the sounds of the squeaks, like an old buck board wagon.

[Joe Bernard]

Many years ago I mentioned a squeak on my Brooks to Grant and he said, "Sometimes they squeak." I never thought about it again! 

On Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 10:23:30 AM UTC-7 ian m wrote:

[ian m]

I would take "sometimes it squeaks". Right now it's more of a "sometimes it doesn't squeak".

[ian m]

@Kim

That looks like just the thing I was looking for, thank you!

[Kim H.]

You are more than welcome, Ian.

Kim Hetzel.

[mikel...@juno.com]

I have an older Schwinn seat that squeaked. i sprayed frame saver on all the pivots underneath and its been quite ever since

[Brian Turner]

Whenever my leather saddles have developed squeaks and creaks, I open up the Proofhide or Obenauf’s and slather globs of it around all the places where leather and metal meet. Then, I take a hair dryer or low-heat gun and melt the waxy stuff so that it oozes in and around all those contact points.

That usually solves it for a couple of years.

Brian
Lex KY

> On Sep 24, 2024, at 2:46 PM, mikel...@juno.com wrote:
>
> I have an older Schwinn seat that squeaked. i sprayed frame saver on all the pivots underneath and its been quite ever since
>
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[ian m]

Just in case anyone searches for this topic in the future I thought I'd put this info here from the link Kim shared.

I’ve used Brooks Flyers and more recently a B67, and they all produced a lot of creaking, masking other bike noises I want to be aware of. I’d oiled the springs and Proofhided the places where the leather is over a metal surface. All of these efforts produced minor or very temporary results. I recently ran across an older blog on a touring website that made a real difference for the B67 I’m now using.

The blog recommended inserting a nylon washer at point A, between the nose of the rail that attaches to the upper end of the springs and the metal flange that is part of the fitting through which the tension bolt is threaded. Instead, I inserted a small square of dense polyethylene (cut from a windshield washer fluid bottle) at point A. That made a big difference, but there was still some noise, so before the next ride I used WD 40 spray grease on points B, taking care to avoid overspray on the underside of the saddle. That silenced the saddle. I put 40 miles on the B67 today and heard only silence.

The triangular rail that attaches to the upper end of the spring is subject to rotational forces as I pedal, and the noise apparently resulted from the torque at point A and vertical movement at points B. Inserting a nylon washer at point A may be the best solution, but I think it might require partial disassembly of the spring attachments to make the insertion, so I used a thin, dense polyethylene strip which I could get into place using a small screwdriver as a wedge to separate the surfaces at point A. The grease at points B may have be to be frequently replenished, and perhaps even the polyethylene strip, but I’m OK with that. And altogether, there may be other ingenious solutions. But identifying the source of the problem was a Godsend.

I was able to squirt some grease in the A and B points at work and my commute home was gloriously squeak-free. I think a long-term fix would involve removing the rail that attaches to the upper end of the spring and wrapping or plasti-dipping the rounded portion that rubs at A and B, but I still don't know if disassembling the springs/rails is an easy fix or a mistake to be avoided. Would love to hear from anyone who has attempted such a thing.

[Eric Marth]

Some good tips here. I'd like to point out that the pasted cure mentions "WD 40 spray grease." Please note, this is different than the standard formula WD-40 you see everywhere, which is a solvent. I find standard WD-40 isn't good for anything. I'm anti-WD-40. 

The spray grease mentioned is a lubricant under the WD-40 label. Check your hardware store for a spray grease if you are undertaking a sprung saddle silencing solution using the instructions above. If you use standard formula WD-40 your relief will be temporary at best, it doesn't hold up as a lubricant. 

Cheers,

Eric 

[Patrick Moore]

I'm curious whether beeswax, melted and dripped onto possible squeak points, might work. Beeswax is very sticky compared to, say, paraffin wax -- which makes it a lousy chain lubricant but is probably the reason Rivendell used to sell little chunks of it and advise that it works as a thread locker.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1565d170-0488-43c0-b384-0eae018f9fa3n%40googlegroups.com.

--

Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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[Kim H.]

@Ian,

I would mention the author of " Squeaking sprung saddle remedies" by Douglas Crockett at the end of the copied text from above.

Kim Hetzel.

.

[Davey Two Shoes]

Mine definitely squeaks but it is my favorite saddle of all time. Its just part of the choir that is my bike. Like the hum of nobby tires on pavement or the sometimes noisy bottom bracket on the way home from a muddy ride.

[Feldspar Palimpsest]

I’ve found that adding a small dab of white lithium grease or something like Parks grease to all points of metal-to-metal contact generally takes care of this. The most critical area appears to be the nose. Loosen the adjusting screw, apply there, and re-snug.