Brooks Saddles are they really that good.

[jags]

Wow fantastic shot bet you weren't even thinking at that time if your saddle was comfy or not.
if your saddle is giving you problems after weeks of riding  get rid of it ,i went through 5 saddles old and new until i got the fizik alanti, bingo at last a comfy saddle never had a problem since.
are you lads wearing quality padded shorts sure thats half the battle.

[nztony]

bet you weren't even thinking at that time if your saddle was comfy or not.

Jags,

You are right, I wasn't thinking of the saddle at the time! I was just thinking "just keeping pushing those pedals" over and over!
It was the 1000m (kilometre) Time Trial, and it was/is a brutal event - extremely hard. A six hour, 160km training ride was easier - no joking.

Tony

[John Saxby]

Tony -- great foto!

As for your Brooks saddle,

after 2500kms I would have thought it would be broken in by now

-- for sure. Mine was good out of the box two-plus years ago, and after 300 kms or so to get the fine adjustments right, I didn't think about it any more.  Seems to me that your instinct to go back to the Selle is sound. You and the saddle may have changed in the intervening years, but if it once worked well, that seems a good enough reason to renew acquaintances.  And as one of the posts mentioned, you shouldn't have too much difficulty reselling your B17 -- there's a fairly strong demand for those saddles.

Between the suggestions from Jags and Kiwi Pete, you have a couple more options to explore as well.  Gets expensive, I know, but those points of contact between body & bike--saddle, pedals, bars--have to be right if you're going to enjoy touring.

Good luck!  J.

[jags]

Tony i can well believe it was torture .when i was talking to Phil Collins about track riding at that level Olympic standard ,he said it was pure torture and not always worth it ,his training  like yours was mental.but hey great memories

if you can get your hands on the FIZIK ALANTI give it a try it is a CLASS saddle.

[Andre Jute]

I just can't believe that you didn't chuck a saddle that isn't right at 500m or a 1000m, Tony. And for sure, at 2500m, if it hasn't cuddled up to you and licked your nose, you're never going bond with it. You've given the legend a fair go, so sell it on, get something you can sit on and forget about forever.

To anyone contemplating a Brooks who haven't had one before, it's been said a couple of times already in this thread, but it is important enough to say again: you don't choose a Brooks saddle by the model your pals like, you chose one that is wide enough for your own, individual, personal sit-bones and, furthermore, the more upright you sit, the wider your saddle has to be.

[energyman]

The MAN hath spoken.

(or just put a sheepskin cover on a B17 and enjoy rides again)

[nztony]

Thanks to everyone for your advice - I persevered for almost 2500kms as I didn't want to chuck it out until giving it a fair go, but the consensus is that I've been more than fair. I did a 4 day, 3 night mini tour a couple of weeks ago for 300km, so it is usable, and I am off for something a little bigger next week, so I'll not change to something new until after that, as at least I know the Brooks is usable, even if not wonderful. Then it will be a toss up between a Sellia Italia Turbo, a Specialized and a Fizik!
Many thanks everyone,
Tony

[NZPeterG]

Kiwi Pete,

I'm only a couple of kms short of 2500km on my new Thorn and namely my Brooks B17 and I don't want to make knee jerk decisions, but so far I'm not loving my much vaunted Brooks. I don't want to discount it but after 2500kms I would have thought it would be broken in by now. In the short time I've owned the bike (and saddle!) I've done a lot of 5-1/2 - 6 hour rides on it, so I'm giving it every chance to break in, but it just isn't really doing it for me. To  cut a long story short, I'd love a suggestion at what Specialized model saddle I may want to look at, and please don't be shy, give me a recommendation and I promise no complaints if I were to choose it and didn't like it. Although I am very seriously considering going "back to the future" and getting an old Sellia Italia Turbo from Wiggle*, seemingly the same model they produced in the 1980s and I used and loved on many bikes.

My best recommendation for a saddle is that you don't notice that it is there and the Turbos were like that.

So far I have resisted the temptation to change from the Brooks, but I think I've given a fair old go?

Many thanks
Tony

Hi Tony,
I like on most of my Bikes a Specialized PHENOM COMP GEL, But Specialized has a 90 day try and change on there Saddles.
You need to have your Sat Bone's Sized up to work out which seat fits, NOTE: this is Sat Bones NOT Your Size the Saddles come in 130, 143, 155, and 168mm wide! For Women and Men, we sell Men Saddles to some Women and Some Women's Saddles to Men 
Go see the Team in Burkes Cycles (I have shopped in there for a number of years when down your way  )
I have find that the new Brooks broke in for me after only a few days riding, Not as good as back in the 1980's 
If you would like a few more Brooks I can Sale you all of my one's But note: one (two) are Limited Editions!
One is the B17 SELECT WORLD TRAVELLER 2012 (the Year I died in Africa) and One is SWALLOW LIMITED EDITION 2005 still new and not been one a Bike  (cost too much and going up)

All the Best Kiwi Pete..

[nztony]

Kiwi Pete

Thanks for your thoughts and recommendation - I will take you up on it and make a visit to Burkes Cycles and see if they can sort me out and with a 90 day trial, you can not be fairer than that, and I am not the kind of person to abuse that kind of offer. As for buying your old Brooks, I find the one Brooks I own one too many, so I won't be taking you up on your kind offer. I wonder if they do 90 day returns on their shoes - I bought a pair of Specialized Rimes recently for $300 and they are not my favourites either. I have an older pair of Specialized shoes that has a couple of holes in the uppers, which I have taken to the shoe repairer the other day, so hopefully I can go back to my old favourites soon.
many thanks
Tony.

[fossala]

To anyone contemplating a Brooks who haven't had one before, it's been said a couple of times already in this thread, but it is important enough to say again: you don't choose a Brooks saddle by the model your pals like, you chose one that is wide enough for your own, individual, personal sit-bones and, furthermore, the more upright you sit, the wider your saddle has to be.

This is true, depending on the drop I have on a bike depends on the saddle. But I've used 2 brooks saddles and found the both comfortable as long as they where on the right bike (tried my pro on a level saddle to bar bike and didn't enjoy the ride so picked up a b17 and it was good, still is).