Brooks saddle for cycling,was BROOK amplifiers Lincoln

Forwarded from rec.audio.tubes. -- Andre Jute

Patrick Turner wrote:

wrote:

On Mar 27, 5:38 pm, wrote:
Of course they're Brook amplifiers, not Brooks. -- Andre "Mr
Precision" Jute

Cause I wouldn't want to be thought of as a calloused cyclist (like
Patrick) sitting on a leather Brooks saddle for real men who know how
to manage pain. -- Andre "The Hedonist" Jute

The Brooks saddle is a very decent British invention and a google search
will reveal some details.
I have them on the two bikes of 3 that I ride most of the time.

Their principle is that you sit upon a peice of stretched leather,
and this has wonderful properties of damping vibrations from the road,
and providing a support to pelvis bones which contours under bones
immediately.
One can shift around a bit on a Brooks, and it always "fits".
I had a procession of plastic and foam crap saddles and found they
caused
lots of saddle sores and discomfort.
The Brooks changed all that, and I could ride 300km in a day
and not get off with a sore arse, or have one while on.

They do suffer from poor build quality.

Each of the two I have had for 22 years and probably done
100,000 km upon have eventually broken the 5/16 inch adjustable
leather tensioning bolt under saddle nose.
I have had to replace these with 10mm mild steel bolt and nut.
It's a mod that takes me 30 minutes as a skilled and well tooled up
tradesman.
Also the rivets pull loose in the tensioned leather, so I have replaced
these
with 1/4 inch gutter bolts with filed down screw slot ridges to avoid
gradual ripping of riding sorts.

So once you get decent leather fastening into service, and decent
tension bolting,
they are the best saddle by far.
So far this year I have averaged 200km+ per week.

I did a fast 51km in 1:34 two weeks ago to see if I could get near my
"age standard" for the 40km or 25 mile time trial.
Apparently I did, and it seems I am not ageing as fast as the rest of
the
riding population. I could never get near the age standard
when I was in my early 40s, probably because so many
very good riders are still strong and still riding at 40, and their
fastest times determine the "age standard".
But I can now get better than the age standard at age 61.
Most of the guys who were so good until about 45 must have dropped right
out.
The course I chose is a multilane highway running north of Canberra,
the Federal Highway, between Watson and Lake George. There is a fine
wide
"breakdown lane" away from the traffic, and no traffic lights or
roundabouts
and very few places where any traffic enters or leaves, so yone can go
like
greased lightning, and not worry about being run over.
I chose early sunday morning with little traffic and very light wind,
temp about 20C.
The course has approx 400metres of rise in uphills going out,
and 300metres of rise returning. Maximum gradients are
less than 6%, with an average in mid hill of 4.5%.
I dunno how much faster I'd have gone if it was flat
which favours good times.
But I was comfortable, and could keep pressure on myself to
pedal all around the circle, and down hill as well.
I was sore in the knees until a day after, but not in the arse.

And my ancient custom made steel framed bike with 753R tubing feels
sublime.
I do have new Mavic D profile rims and 32 spokes per wheel and
very ordinary 25mm Vitoria clincher tyres.
I used to have much lighter Mavic wheels and tubular tyres glued on
and flattened blade spokes to do time trials 20 years ago.
But it appears they must have done me little good if what I do now is
any guide.
I have standard race bars, with no "triathlon" bars for the time
trialing
to get arms and elbows within the smallest frontal area.
I'm using ordinary lycra shorts and a cotton top with junk in the rear
pockets.
I can't afford a special skin suit and special helmet; can't afford any
****in
special anything, except I do find time to ride, and ride fairly hard
whenever I go out.
I'm also using ancient shoes and pedal plates with leather foot straps
with toe clips.
I have installed 8 speed Shimano SORA index gearing, a change from the
old
down tube lever shifting I found I really liked.
The bike with its heavy Brooks saddle is maybe 11.5 Kg with a watter
bottle and pump,
and about 2Kg+ more than the carbon fibre bikes which are now
mainstream.
So, I'm pushing more weight than I need to but in fact it doesn't matter
much,
all the guys my age have real trouble keeping up with me.
A few of the guys in a "social" group I go out with sometimes
can get up hills slightly quicker than me, but they suffer on the down
hill and flats
where my weight assists or does not matter.
And I keep passing guys of 25 with all the latest crap they've spent
several thousand bucks upon.
But they got no Brooks saddle.
And BTW, having the inside of your lycra shorts lined with real fine
leather
also is a big plus; its the best; but now largely unobtainable cheaply,
and fortunately I have found a local shorts maker who
uses some synthetic junk which allows 130km at least without chafing.


Patrick Turner.

The rest is about vintage Brook tube amps; I leave it for those
interested. -- AJ

On Mar 22, 2:22 am, Andre Jute wrote:

Patrick Turner wrote:
Lincoln-Walsh made nice PP amps with CFB AND an IST driver tranny.
Back in maybe 1955. Its been done before.
But I only saw a LW schematic once, and have not seen an electronic
copy,
so LW might have gone broke or stopped production long ago
after not making very much.

Anyone have a copy of the Lincoln-Walsh amps?

I don't know about Lincoln Walsh amps, but those Brooks Amps people
are always raving about were designed by Lincoln Walsh. I can let you
have circuits and some specs for:

1. Brooks 12A 10W

2. Brooks 10C 30W

3. "HIGH QUALITY" class A1 30W design by Lincoln Walsh in Electronics,
July 1939 -- this is the advance guard of the famous Brooks Amps.

Let me know.

Andre Jute
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