My nose broke!

[JohnR]

I just called Brooks to confirm my order for the new part. No-one there just a recorded message saying the company were on their annual holiday for 2 weeks. No dates given so it could be 2 weeks from today or a week from today.
Web site doesn't mention holidays or being shut.

Poor service?

A bit late now that you've placed your order but Spa Cycles also sell the bolt https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m18b0s144p4550/BROOKS-64mm-Tension-Bolt.

[Matt2matt2002]

Thanks JohnR
Just a minute ago I received an email from customer service ( despite being closed for 2 weeks) saying my order has been declined.
When completing my order address I had added Ireland to the final line.
Apparently Brooks can't ship outside the EU. They said I'd receive a full refund.

I'll certainly look at the link to SPa that you gave me.
Much appreciated

Cheers Matt
From the ferry from Orkney to Aberdeen.

[Andre Jute]

TRIVIA:
I know a fellow who welded extra length into the hammock tension bolt for his Brooks saddle. So a broken bolt can possibly be repaired good as new, depending on where it broke, if one could find a highly skilled welder. The fellow who did it was Boeing tool designer and maker, by definition highly skilled. Not suggesting it, though; too risky, especially considering how little it costs to get a new bolt.

[PH]

A bit late now that you've placed your order but Spa Cycles also sell the bolt https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m18b0s144p4550/BROOKS-64mm-Tension-Bolt.

£7.50 for a bolt!!!
I may be showing my age but i think that was about the price of my first Brooks and I considered that an investment.

[Matt2matt2002]

A bit late now that you've placed your order but Spa Cycles also sell the bolt https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m18b0s144p4550/BROOKS-64mm-Tension-Bolt.

£7.50 for a bolt!!!
I may be showing my age but i think that was about the price of my first Brooks and I considered that an investment.

Best not look at the prices for new Brooks saddles now.
Many £140+
Frightening.

( inc postage it's £12.50 )

[UKTony]

I just called Brooks to confirm my order for the new part. No-one there just a recorded message saying the company were on their annual holiday for 2 weeks. No dates given so it could be 2 weeks from today or a week from today.
Web site doesn't mention holidays or being shut.

Poor service?

A bit late now that you've placed your order but Spa Cycles also sell the bolt https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m18b0s144p4550/BROOKS-64mm-Tension-Bolt.

Postage £5?!!
SJSC also sell the bolt for a bit more but their basic  postage is normally £3.50 so you might save especially if you’ve got other stuff you want from Thorn 🙂

[Matt2matt2002]

I just called Brooks to confirm my order for the new part. No-one there just a recorded message saying the company were on their annual holiday for 2 weeks. No dates given so it could be 2 weeks from today or a week from today.
Web site doesn't mention holidays or being shut.

Poor service?

A bit late now that you've placed your order but Spa Cycles also sell the bolt https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m18b0s144p4550/BROOKS-64mm-Tension-Bolt.

Postage £5?!!
SJSC also sell the bolt for a bit more but their basic  postage is normally £3.50 so you might save especially if you’ve got other stuff you want from Thorn 🙂

Argh! Just placed the order with Spa.
Good info though, so thanks.

Matt

[Andyb1]

It is not a bolt, it is a specially made part.  ‘Mass produced’ probably in a batch of hundreds, not millions.
It would not post as a letter as it would be too thick, so it would be sent as a small parcel, hence the postage cost.  Which would include someone spending the time to wrap it up and take it to the post office.
Personally I like spare parts to be available - which means someone has to make a profit in supplying them - not much profit in this part but thankfully it was available.

[PH]

Best not look at the prices for new Brooks saddles now.
Many £140+
Frightening.

( inc postage it's £12.50 )

Yes prices jumped when they were bought by Sella, they used to just be a good saddle, not a fashion accessory.  That isn't really a criticism, it's unlikely they would have survived without the takeover and change of image.  When my bolt broke, I rang customer services in Birmingham and they sent me two.   
I'm now on the Cambium C17's, the early models of these failed quite rapidly, though Brooks were good for replacements and quickly improved them.   They're not for everyone, two of my four were bought lightly used secondhand from riders who didn't get on with them.

[Matt2matt2002]

Many thanks folks.
New tension pin arrived from Spa yesterday and fitted today with aid from a You-tube video.
The pin fitted in easily since the leather was so loose.

Pictures to follow.

BTW, I had been using my old spare Brooks ( B17 - £145 new ! ) and hardly noticed the difference. At one point I thought I'd keep it on.....

I'm tempted to order and carry a spare pin. That way I know I'll never need it !!!!

Matt

[in4]

Glad that’s sorted for you pre-Thailand Matt.
I was wondering if tension and or proofide had played a part at all?

[Matt2matt2002]

Glad that’s sorted for you pre-Thailand Matt.
I was wondering if tension and or proofide had played a part at all?

Not sure of the cause. I was pleasantly bubbling along on Westray an island of Orkney mainland and suddenly things definitely didn't feel right saddle wise.
As I dismounted the tension bolt clip fell out onto the sand. The bolt was nowhere to be seen. Very strange.
I spent half an hour trying to work out what happened when. And searching the ground.
I had a ferry to catch back to Kirkwall so didn't spend as long as I would have liked looking around.
With no tension, I was sitting on the rails; not pleasant.it was a Friday, so popped into the LBS on Saturday. They said they could bodge it to get me through my short tour and that's what they did.
Excellent service.

Back to your question; I do proof the saddle on a regular basis and the tension looked ok before I set off.
So maybe it was old age. I must have used it for 9+ years on all my tours. Not sure of their ' life'.
Maybe I had over tensioned it?

Matt

[Prince of Darkness]

Had the same thing happen to my B17 Special a few years back. The replacement bolt was easier to fit than I had expected. I'm sure that I heard that they tend to break due to not being sufficiently tensioned.

[Andyb1]

I have looked in the past and did so again today for anything on how tight the adjuster nut should be and even the Brooks YT video does not really give any guidance.  It must certainly not be loose, but I was hoping that there might be some guidance from Brooks saying something like ‘tighten adjuster nut until bolt is snug, then tighten 1 turn more’.  Or 2 turns more…..

A year or so ago the adjuster nut on my Brooks Conquest kept coming loose and when I removed the bolt I could see that the bolt threads were badly worn from the metal of the saddle above the bolt resting on it behind the clip.  This wear was behind the loaded area of the bolt so would not have made it fail but it was putting load onto the bolt in a way it was not designed for.  I think this was happening when the adjustment became loose.  Maybe that is what happened to Matt’s saddle?
On the new bolt I added an extra nut that I use as a locknut against the adjuster nut - and looking at it today the bolt has no wear and the metal frame of the seat does not touch it.

I also occasionally lubricate the front end of the bolt as it must move a little in the nose of the saddle.

[Andre Jute]

I have looked in the past and did so again today for anything on how tight the adjuster nut should be and even the Brooks YT video does not really give any guidance.

The question isn't really how tight the adjuster nut must be but how tight the leather hammock is drawn. I don't have a reference (my default is to say, "Sheldon Brown!") but my memory and practice is "Factory tight, and not more than a quarter turn of the nut in any year, and don't mess around with it if not necessary." It is definitely possible to overstretch the leather -- and who knows whether the modern leather is as good as the forever leather of childhood memories of Brooks saddles with years of hard wear soldiering on into the generations.