Saddle upgrade

Walter Mitty wrote in news:3cpnl4F6r99tlU2@uni-
berlin.de:

Sources for this?

I've never known a purchaser of a Brookes regret it.

Google this NG for lots

Expensive? All relative : but not for me considering the materials,
longevity and craftsmanship & history of a Brookes Saddle.

Man the Brooks fanatics are worse than benters

wrote in
oups.com:


Walter Mitty wrote:


I've never known a purchaser of a Brookes regret it.


I regret three of them.

To give more detail, I was sorry two of my bikes came with Brooks
saddles - a Brooks B-17 Narrow and a Brooks Professional which
claimed to be pre-softened. And I was more sorry the wider B-17
Standard I bought as a replacement for the Narrow was was also
uncomfortable.

I tried valiantly to make those saddles work, for years. For me,
they just didn't do the job.

- Frank Krygowski

All your fault Frank, you were obviously issued with a defective ass.

Mountain Bike Review www.mtbr.com (I think is the url) has hundreds of
reviews and opinions on most saddles.

Peter Cole wrote:

wrote:

Get a Brooks B17 and all saddle discomfort will disappear. They are
THE most important piece of equipment to add to a bike

Lots of people have had lots of bad experiences with lots of Brooks
saddles. They're expensive, hard to buy, and by no means a panacea.

I wouldn't say I've had a bad experience but I prefer a modern saddle. A Brooks
can be very comfortable indeed. Once it wears in it feels like it's not even
there -- if you're in the sweet spot. But if you're not, it's definately
substandard. Personally I tend to vary my position a bit. I'm in the sweet
spot just part of the time, so the Brooks doesn't work well for me. Plus there
are maintenance and care issues not present with modern saddles -- breaking it
in, keeping it sealed, dry, adjusted, etc. What a pain.

So for some people they're great, but they're definately no panacea. Give me a
Flite or clone any day instead. (I'm now riding a Flite-like Terry.)

BTW, I can't think of a saddle more universally loved than a Turbomatic.
Unfortunately they're hard to find these days, especially without obnoxious
logos and embroidery.

Matt O.

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 15:20:48 +0200, Walter Mitty wrote:
Peter Cole wrote:
wrote:

Get a Brooks B17 and all saddle discomfort will disappear. They are
THE most important piece of equipment to add to a bike


Lots of people have had lots of bad experiences with lots of Brooks
saddles. They're expensive, hard to buy, and by no means a panacea.


Sources for this?

I've never known a purchaser of a Brookes regret it.

Expensive? All relative : but not for me considering the materials,
longevity and craftsmanship & history of a Brookes Saddle.

A couple of people in this newsgroup had complaints with their
purchase of Brooks saddled (I'm not one of those). One managed to get
it exchanged but I don't know about the other(s). It was on this
newsgroup within the last year. I remember it because one person who
couldn't use the Brooks used a Selle instead and I couldn't stand the
Selle (painfully too narrow for me). I didn't argue the point because
they were happy with their saddle and I happy with mine. :-)

--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only)
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II)
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog

Walter Mitty wrote:
Peter Cole wrote:
wrote:

Get a Brooks B17 and all saddle discomfort will disappear. They
are
THE most important piece of equipment to add to a bike


Lots of people have had lots of bad experiences with lots of Brooks
saddles. They're expensive, hard to buy, and by no means a panacea.


Sources for this?

I've never known a purchaser of a Brookes regret it.

Expensive? All relative : but not for me considering the materials,
longevity and craftsmanship & history of a Brookes Saddle.

Google it. It's been thrashed to death on these forums. A substantial
number of people find the Brooks saddles to be the worst things they've
ever tried. Count me as one of them. I tried a "Professional" for 1,000
miles of summer riding, in every conceivable tilt angle, it nearly
crippled me. Then I swapped it for a B17, same thing, not as bad. The
Professional gave me the worst case of numnutz -- scary bad -- and
saddle sores. The B17 was almost tolerable, but not nearly as
comfortable as a any $10 OEM saddle I've tried.

Brooks saddles are like hammocks, they are a leather sling. I need a
flat saddle. Brooks are just all wrong for me. I couldn't ride 50 miles
comfortably with my B17, swapped with my sister for her Selle Italia
Tri-matic. She loved it, I did a 250 mile brevet a week later with no
soreness, numbness or break in. I know lots of people who love Brooks
and lots who hate them, there seems to be no middle ground.

wafflycat wrote:

I swear by a Terry's Liberator, but as I'm a girly, my sit bones are
likely
to be totally different to yours ;-)

I was fixing up a beater, and the only saddle in the parts bin was a
fem-specific mountain bike racing saddle that I had bought my wife
years earlier. That thing was *tiny*. I thought "no way", my wife
*hated* it, it'll never work for me (I'm 6'10", she's 5'7"). I put it
on my bike. It's not bad, not bad at all. Go figure.

I didn't have too much luck with a Liberator, too cushy, not flat
enough, & without fenders you get splashed in a rather startling place.

"Edward" wrote in message
oups.com...
I too am going through the same problem, and have done a little
research. Apparently Specialized has a 30 day return policy for their
saddles. Has anyone tried the Avatar or Alias saddles yet ? I also here
the Terry Fly is good.


I am a Brooks saddle guy myself.
Once I went Brooks, I could never go back.
Nothing else works as good as a Brooks for me.

On 21 Apr 2005 07:49:47 -0700, wrote:


Walter Mitty wrote:


I've never known a purchaser of a Brookes regret it.


I regret three of them.

To give more detail, I was sorry two of my bikes came with Brooks
saddles - a Brooks B-17 Narrow and a Brooks Professional which claimed
to be pre-softened. And I was more sorry the wider B-17 Standard I
bought as a replacement for the Narrow was was also uncomfortable.

I tried valiantly to make those saddles work, for years. For me, they
just didn't do the job.

- Frank Krygowski

Do you still have them?


Life is Good!
Jeff

"Peter Cole" wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
Get a Brooks B17 and all saddle discomfort will disappear. They are
THE most important piece of equipment to add to a bike

Lots of people have had lots of bad experiences with lots of Brooks
saddles. They're expensive, hard to buy, and by no means a panacea.

They are by no means hard to buy. Nashbar sells the complete line, including
the Sparrow. If one of the largest mail order houses has them they're not
exactly rare... :-)