Brooks Saddles are they really that good.

[phopwood]

I have been looking at theThompson Elite but I am concerned about how much I need to have exposed be for the bent, I tend to not have much post exposed.

Peter

[alfie1952]

I also have a Thomson elite, now transferred to my Sherpa, and reckon you need at least 130mm from the centre of the clamp,at the rails  to clear the slight layback. I am going to give Brooks another go with the Thomson seatpost, but will try with a b17. Though I did noticed leftpoole has a nice saddle for sale.....maybe !

Alfie

[alfie1952]

Was out today on the bike as it was lovely here in Edinburgh. Met an old friend and was telling him of my woes regarding the brooks saddle, he was  on his bike which was sporting a really nice black B17. Later on I received a text from another friend addressed to Numbnuts. Word gets around but no sympathy whatsoever...

Regards, Alfie

[Andre Jute]

Later on I received a text from another friend addressed to Numbnuts. Word gets around but no sympathy whatsoever...

What do you expect from cyclists, people who sat on Brooks saddles all their lives -- maidenly manners? Hell, they probably have drop handlebars too.

[jags]

Alfie the b17 champion special with copper rivets and rails is a cracking saddle, i think the leather is much thicker,only reason i think that ,a guy i toured with in france was on a ladies brooks (i ask you) but the leather was much thinner than mine .
i know theres a smart Arse answer coming up shortly
Controll yourself Andre.

[triaesthete]

Anto, any man over forty and not in padded lycra nappies could call himself a smart arse       

Peter. You are right to fear the bend on the Elite layback post if you don't have much post showing:  because,  it is literally a straight post bent backwards. The area just below the bend is slightly out of round as a result and most frames will not clamp it well in this area.

You can see a dimensioned drawing on the specs part of this page http://bikethomson.com/elite-seatpost-series/   but I would subtract at least 10mm from their claimed usable length. (A colleague of mine found this out the hard way but did get a refund in the end when his kept slipping when inserted to the theoretical limit.)

Other than that it's the best post you can get and allows quick and easy but also miniscule and controlled in situ adjustments that a Brooks needs.

Champion days
Ian

[macspud]

Here are the specs from their website:

http://bikethomson.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/002-Elite-seatpost-SB-dimension-sketch-for-websitecorrected-lengths-rev_D1-1024x785.jpg

[phopwood]

Looking at the link there would be enough out of the frame.  My seat rails are 132mm above the frame and the link shows 97mm so that would work.  It looks like the setback is only 16mm that does not seem very much to me, as when you look at a standard seatpost they appear to have some setback. 

Wiggle have them on sale at the moment for £48.99 with free delivery.  http://www.wiggle.co.uk/thomson-elite-setback-seat-post/

All the best.

Peter.

[julk]

If you want 30 or 40 mm of setback for a Brooks saddle here are some seatposts.
http://www.freshtripe.co.uk/Freshtripe/Seats%20%26%20Seatposts.html

[phopwood]

If you want 30 or 40 mm of setback for a Brooks saddle here are some seatposts.
http://www.freshtripe.co.uk/Freshtripe/Seats%20%26%20Seatposts.html


Yes that is much more realistic.

Peter

[Slammin Sammy]

If you want 30 or 40 mm of setback for a Brooks saddle here are some seatposts.
http://www.freshtripe.co.uk/Freshtripe/Seats%20%26%20Seatposts.html

Sweet!!

LURV the Velo Orange stuff! I've pimped my Trek 520 with some of their gear.

[John Saxby]

People ooooh and aaaah about some of the VO stuff I have--rando bars, Zeppelin mudguards & they ask where it's from. I just shrug, "VO -- in Joisey, don'tcha know."  Unless they're cyclists, they think I'm joking...

[NZPeterG]

I may be in the minority,but I just cannot get used to my Brooks saddle, it has been on and off more times than I can mention. Also I do not find it as comfortable as  the Specialized one I have on at the moment or my Selle Italia Flite I have on my other bike. So is it that people who ride Thorn or high class touring bikes  think it is expected of them to be shown to be riding a Brooks, or is it really as comfortable as people say. Also for the people who have more than one bike, do they all have Brooks, if not do they find that much of a difference in comfort whilst out and about on their other bikes.

Dan if this is in wrong spot please put it into the appropriate one.

Regards, Alfie

Hi Alfie,
It's No to Brooks!
Specialized make far better Saddles and I know as I work in a Specialized Bike Shop! I have been riding Brooks for the last few years (I started riding them in 1988? or 1989!).
I have a few seating in box's? OK I have only 6 Brooks!!
But how ride only Specialized No not because I work in a Specialized Shop! but because I can how ride for hours and still have body parts that work 

Kiwi Pete.......
 

[Templogin]

900 miles so far on my B17.  I had to put a gel cover on it for two reasons

Slippery as an oiled eel
Torturously hard on my butt

My Thorn came with a new Brooks, but I took it off and replaced it with a Rivet Pearl.  I put the cheap cycle shorts on and went for my first 10 mile spin on the Thorn and when I came back I could feel the blood rushing back to my man-bits, so I might have a ceremonial burning of the cycle shorts at the very least as the Pearl has been reasonable up to now.

As a former Honda Goldwing rider I have become used to some comfort, which I am unlikely to find in any cycle saddle

[nztony]

It's No to Brooks!
Specialized make far better Saddles and I know as I work in a Specialized Bike Shop! I have been riding Brooks for the last few years (I started riding them in 1988? or 1989!).

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

* http://www.wiggle.co.uk/selle-italia-turbo-leather-1980-saddle/
** I even used to use the Sellia Italia Turbo on my Track Bikes: