Like most here, I've found Brooks saddles to be my mainstay nowadays. But it didn't start that way.
Long ago, when I was racing, I went through the saddle musical chairs and found Avocet's 40R and the Selle Italia Flite to be the ideal saddles. I even traded expensive failed experiments for Flites and 40Rs. I eventually ended up with a nice collection, including two full-carbon (rails + shell) Flite. Grant will cringe at that. Heck, *I'll* cringe at that, even if I do still have one now (in box, unmounted). Following my salad days, I stopped riding for a few years due to work. I restarted riding when I discovered I had a double-chin (Who, me? What?!!) and had to do something about it. I then realized I didn't have to train for the next hammerfest or race anymore. I also found out that Flites and 40Rs (and 4" handlebar drops) are not compatible with the newer, heavier me anymore. The search for a new riding paradigm led me back to Rivendell's style* and Brookses. I started the Brooks addiction with a *Swift* because I was still in semi-denial about being a racer. That saddle almost had me swore off Brooks saddles entirely. It was painful before being broken-in and the break-in period was quite extended. But either my butt or the saddle (or both) got molded and it was all good after 4 or 500 miles of discomfort. Yes, the pundits were right. You needed to pay your dues. With the *Swift* experiment a success and the purchase of a more upright riding bike with essentially no handlebar drop, I tried the B17, fully expecting to suffer through another break-in period. But the B17 was wonderful out of the box! How can that be? And it got even more comfortable as the miles piled on. Padded shorts added to the comfort even more but normal shorts weren't bad at all! It was a complete revelation and I had became a closet evangelist! Quickly, the fleet got B17s outright or B17 retrofits. The only bike that I currently ride without a Brooks is my racing Seven with a Selle San Marco SKN and my mountain bike with a WTB SST (with the gonzo nose). The SKN is not uncomfortable but it shows its presence at about 70 miles. In comparison, I've ridden 200km brevets without even giving a thought to my bum or saddle while on a B17. But the SKN looks good on the Seven (style points!) and I don't really ride the Seven that much anymore. So now the count is this: Four B17s, two Swifts and a sprinkling of miscellaneous saddles. Of the Brooks-equipped bikes, only one has a positive handlebar drop (1") and the rest have their handlebar level or higher than the saddle. * back because I knew Rivendell from my college days, as a quirky and interesting outfit that didn't really had anything for me at that time. On Thursday, August 15, 2013 10:21:41 PM UTC-7, Michael wrote: > > Since I asked about shorts, I thought I'd ask about saddles, too. > > 1. What are the most comfortable saddles that you use? Please give the > full name of the saddle (like, don't say just "Terry saddle", if it was a > "Terry Liberator Y Gel saddle"). > > 2. Please state for which kind of riding you use the saddle (ex: > racing/touring/dirt/stunt/commuting/drops/upright, etc.). > > 3. On which of your bikes do you use the saddle (ex: > Riv/All-R/Lego/Cust/Ram/Rom/Red/Bomb/Ap/At/Bet/Yv/Sam/Hunq/Road/Glor/Wilb/Bler/Homer/Simp/Quick/whatever > > other models they make)? > > 4. Feel free to link to a pic of your saddle. > > Interesting to read about these things. > For instance, I read that someone stated they used their B67 or 68 > for bars-below-saddle riding, though contrary to its designed purpose, I > think. > > Always nice to hear that people are using gear outside the box with > success. > Helps keep perspective and not always buy into the "no you can't" gear > zeitgeists that are always flying around bicycle circles. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
