New Project '59 Experto Crede

[bikeworkshop]

And 'N-old' to me B17 saddle, been broken in, reset with hot water, dried, re-tensioned, proof ride, and ready for rear end shaping.

Some people will come to blows about the correct method of transferring ownership,
so to speak, of a Brooks saddle .

Mostly men of a certain age

 

[Jez Nemeth]

Needs a new one really -maybe next month...does feeel like wearing somebody's used sox...well, sox worn in a place that sox simply should not be worn.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Needs a new one really -maybe next month...does feeel like wearing somebody's used sox...well, sox worn in a place that sox simply should not be worn.

I'm buying a used B17. Let you know how it goes...(thanks KermitGKona88 )

 

[Jez Nemeth]

There's a few barely used Brooks B17's out there where folx have tried to get on with them and found they couldn't -I love 'em personally, not fully sure why. Piece of hide stretched across a slightly flexing Steel/Ti frame, and once over the breaking in period, rear end joy.

Not for everybody -A mate loves Flite's, another needs a spongy landing site..Peeps say B16 Cambium is so comfortable, have one on the Malvern Star Oppy C7 and can't get on with it, it's shaping me, which is surely the wrong way round, personally i find it like sitting on a brick - they are excellent by all accounts, but we're all different.

Nothing like a worn in leather Brooks though, they suit the Hetchins well I think -original was a Pat.Pending 50's Swallow, wired, which has split in the usual places. Love to replace the leather on it, have thought of sacrificing a B17 narrow to do it. Got a very early B17 on the Selbach, tried Swallows/Swifts/B17's. Not tried the sprung models -Flyer and Conquest, or B67's, look heavy, but maybe more comfortable still? And the odd ones with the curly-wurly springs and 4 bars, pardon me here, sure they work fine -but can't help being reminded of private hair. ...Mansfield and a few others too...

At the 100 mile mark what would you want to be sitting on to not be feeling that deep bruising that comes with long distance saddle soreness and dreading the next unavoidable pot hole?

Gilles Berthoud's look awesome mind for a modern bike.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

There's a few barely used Brooks B17's out there where folx have tried to get on with them and found they couldn't -I love 'em personally, not fully sure why. Piece of hide stretched across a slightly flexing Steel/Ti frame, and once over the breaking in period, rear end joy.

Not for everybody -A mate loves Flite's, another needs a spongy landing site..Peeps say B16 Cambium is so comfortable, have one on the Malvern Star Oppy C7 and can't get on with it, it's shaping me, which is surely the wrong way round, personally i find it like sitting on a brick - they are excellent by all accounts, but we're all different.

Nothing like a worn in leather Brooks though, they suit the Hetchins well I think -original was a Pat.Pending 50's Swallow, wired, which has split in the usual places. Love to replace the leather on it, have thought of sacrificing a B17 narrow to do it. Got a very early B17 on the Selbach, tried Swallows/Swifts/B17's. Not tried the sprung models -Flyer and Conquest, or B67's, look heavy, but maybe more comfortable still? And the odd ones with the curly-wurly springs and 4 bars, pardon me here, sure they work fine -but can't help being reminded of private hair. ...Mansfield and a few others too...

At the 100 mile mark what would you want to be sitting on to not be feeling that deep bruising that comes with long distance saddle soreness and dreading the next unavoidable pot hole?

Gilles Berthoud's look awesome mind for a modern bike.

A friend of mine has such a peculiar arrangement of bones in his a*se parts that he had to cut a hole in his B17 to ease the agony - as well as fitting an extension to one pedal to move it further out.

 

[Jez Nemeth]

Always noticed that most Brooks nose cones always start twisting with age, only seen a few that didn't - mine always twist to the right, the one I've just "reset" the twist was to the left. I know my right leg is shorter than the other by almost an 1/2" -two knee breaks, and full lower break across Tib + Fib at different times. And a few foot bones too on that side -and that's my good leg! Point is we're all different, bodies are different -so there should be evidence of individual riding style left on a saddle which moulds to yer shape over time. Might help in knowing where issues are -I'd like to know. Walk with a limp, but interested in getting most out of a ride.

I'm assuming Brooks set the 'Grain' of a Saddle Hide to run front/back. So maybe if both legs were the same length, and foot angles were playing at the same game there'd be little no twist evident?

So is it like a pair of shoes? When you look at the heels from the back, side-by-side over time you can see by the wear and scuffing how unevenly you walk and where most of the pressure and lean is put in your gait?

Tell a lot from a pair of shoes. I'm guessing you can tell a lot about someones riding from wear on a Brooks saddle.

Q's?:
How do you measure yer 'sit bones'?

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Always noticed that most Brooks nose cones always start twisting with age, only seen a few that didn't - mine always twist to the right, the one I've just "reset" the twist was to the left. I know my right leg is shorter than the other by almost an 1/2" -two knee breaks, and full lower break across Tib + Fib at different times. And a few foot bones too on that side -and that's my good leg!

I'm assuming Brooks set the 'Grain' of a Saddle Hide to run front/back. So maybe if both legs were the same length, and foot angles were playing at the same game there'd be little no twist evident?

So is it like a pair of shoes? When you look at the heels from the back, side-by-side over time you can see by the wear and scuffing how unevenly you walk and where most of the pressure and lean is put in your gait?

Tell a lot from a pair of shoes. I'm guessing you can tell a lot about someones riding from wear on a Brooks saddle?

Q's?:
How do you measure yer 'sit bones'?

Phone a good friend

 

[Foreigner]

Always noticed that most Brooks nose cones always start twisting with age, only seen a few that didn't - mine always twist to the right, the one I've just "reset" the twist was to the left. I know my right leg is shorter than the other by almost an 1/2" -two knee breaks, and full lower break across Tib + Fib at different times. And a few foot bones too on that side -and that's my good leg! Point is we're all different, bodies are different -so there should be evidence of individual riding style left on a saddle which moulds to yer shape over time. Might help in knowing where issues are -I'd like to know. Walk with a limp, but interested in getting most out of a ride.

I'm assuming Brooks set the 'Grain' of a Saddle Hide to run front/back. So maybe if both legs were the same length, and foot angles were playing at the same game there'd be little no twist evident?

So is it like a pair of shoes? When you look at the heels from the back, side-by-side over time you can see by the wear and scuffing how unevenly you walk and where most of the pressure and lean is put in your gait?

Tell a lot from a pair of shoes. I'm guessing you can tell a lot about someones riding from wear on a Brooks saddle.

Q's?:
How do you measure yer 'sit bones'?

alu foil on top of a cardboard piece on a lowish (so you knees are pointing up) flat surface, sit on it and two dents will form. Tape measure and you have your sit bones numbers

 

[Jez Nemeth]

Ok -CTC Centre to Centre measurement -Or could middle to centre doubled, Towel/cardboard...

I see they measure in Metric, my butt is in Imperial -shouldn't make a difference though.

 

[Jez Nemeth]

What they don't say on the vid is 'relaxed' or 'clenched', I get two very different measurements

Q's?: Once you have the measurement, how do you relate to a saddle?

For instance let's say for arguement's sake somebody's sit bones are 165mm -ish.

That's pretty close to the edge/metal frame for comfort of a say, a Brooks B17 isn't it? (175mm W )
And be better off with a wider saddle B68 type thing? ( 205mm W )