Brooks B17 Break in Times

mandie

I have replaced the saddle on my Dawes Galaxy with a Brooks B17. Never having used one before I was wondering what sort of milage one need to do to break the thing in.
Brand new out of the box it wasn't particularly uncomfortable on the 30 mile ride I did today, but it was that comfortable that I would want to set off on a fortnights tour on it at the moment.

So if any one could give me an indication of the sort of mileage I should expect to do before acheiving "armchair comfort" © I would be grateful

rrsodl

I don't think you can get a one answer to this question. If you read all the post on this topic you will find from 0 miles to never. Some people called themselves as having a brookes friendly backside and needing no miles at all to have a comfortable ride, others claim that they tried the saddle for 1000 miles before giving up.

My personal experience was about 200 miles - it is very important that you get the correct position of the saddle, so be prepared to ride and see what feels good and comfortable. The first day I install my saddles ( I have two, B17 Special and Team Pro ) I positioned it as close as the position of the old one and then went out for a ride and made several adjustments before I was happy with the saddle position.

Rick

JHcp

As Rick says it depends on you and your derrière. I have the Champion Flyer which is basically the same as the B17 but with springs. I reckon mine took about 400 miles to acquire the shape of my derrière.



The picture above shows a brand new Champion Flyer and below one that has done about 1100 miles.




Notice the saddle has acquire a couple of dimples where my sit bones are.

As Rick says it is important to adjust your saddle to get the correct fit, also after the saddle beds in so to speak and acquires those dimples, you may need to raise it a little bit.

To aid the breaking in, give the saddle a good coating of the Brooks Proofide after each ride and don't use anything else.

Lastly get one of the Brooks saddle covers to stop the leather from getting soaked by the rain.

vernonlevy

mandie wrote:

I have replaced the saddle on my Dawes Galaxy with a Brooks B17. Never having used one before I was wondering what sort of milage one need to do to break the thing in.
Brand new out of the box it wasn't particularly uncomfortable on the 30 mile ride I did today, but it was that comfortable that I would want to set off on a fortnights tour on it at the moment.

So if any one could give me an indication of the sort of mileage I should expect to do before acheiving "armchair comfort" © I would be grateful

All three of my B17s were comfortable from day one. They became more comfortable with use.

Not everone gets on with B17s.

Tourist Tony

vernonlevy wrote:

All three of my B17s were comfortable from day one. They became more comfortable with use.

Not everone gets on with B17s.

Exactly the same with my three.

mandie

Tourist Tony wrote:

vernonlevy wrote:

All three of my B17s were comfortable from day one. They became more comfortable with use.

Not everone gets on with B17s.

Exactly the same with my three.

This is what I was hoping. As I said, straight out of the box it wasn't uncomfortable on a 30 mile ride. It felt about the same as the Rolls that have used in the past. And was considerably better than a lot of saddles I have tried.
So basically The more I ride the bike the better it should become.
Thanks guys.

BrookeHender

I have a B17 and it remains as new after 2,000 miles (no dimples). Not uncomfortable, but not yet what I would call broken in. Covered in the rain and treated with Proofide regularly. Seat position critical though. I still don't want to change it though as I love it and the honey goes well with my Super Galaxy.
It really does seem to depend on the individual saddle.

inaperfectworld

in my experience the saddles vary hugely. my first b17 narrow has done near 2,000 miles and felt dreadful to start, like a plank of wood but the second at about 300 miles is equally comfy and the sit bone depressions and flex are much the same. just done a 40 mile ride on a new b17 standard and this feels comfy from the off. even thought he first saddle still feels hard i tried the old gel saddle for comparison and it was dreadfully uncomfortable.
so they vary, but i think if you can happlily do 30 miles on a new saddle it would be fine for a tour

Mark Appleton

Mandie, one solution to the initial Brooks breaking-in issue that I've never seen mentioned is to simply stick a snug-fitting gel cover over the top for the first few hundred miles. The saddle will still naturally mould itself to your shape but meanwhile you'll have some added protection.
You'll soon be able to dispense with the cover and make a relatively smooth transition to the now nicely contoured leather. No doubt a heretical practice to some but worked a treat for me on a B17.