Ti Brooks, or not Ti Brooks?

calvjones

Hiya

Considering perch for my new olde skool steel framed Italian wonder. Am undecided whether the extra £80 or whatever for the Ti railed Swift or Swallow is worth it?

Wheels, bar & stem already bought and going with Alloy Centaur for the 'look' so can't really transfer the £ savings to gram savings elsewhere...

Views?

Ta

Cal

giant_man

Slightly off topic but I think the alloy is better shaped on the Athena crank personally but it's your bike and your budget of course ...

calvjones

giant mancp wrote:

Slightly off topic but I think the alloy is better shaped on the Athena crank personally but it's your bike and your budget of course ...

Yeah but crappy carbon-wrap levers! :? Otherwise it would be 11 speed

andyp

Get a San Marco Regal, it'll look better and be as comfortable.

amaferanga

Brooks saddles are absurdly overpriced these days, even the B17. I'd go for something else.

giant_man

calvjones wrote:

giant mancp wrote:

Slightly off topic but I think the alloy is better shaped on the Athena crank personally but it's your bike and your budget of course ...

Yeah but crappy carbon-wrap levers! :? Otherwise it would be 11 speed

Yes indeed.

calvjones

andyp wrote:

Get a San Marco Regal, it'll look better and be as comfortable.

Nice saddle, wrong colour!

DaSy

They do the Regal in several colours including brown suede, smooth black or white leather and textured black leather.

I have the brown suede one on my Look KG171 team, and it is a great saddle, resonably priced, and pretty much the correct era for an 80's or 90's bike.

calvjones

DaSy wrote:

They do the Regal in several colours including brown suede, smooth black or white leather and textured black leather.

I have the brown suede one on my Look KG171 team, and it is a great saddle, resonably priced, and pretty much the correct era for an 80's or 90's bike.

Weird? Must have misnavigated the website; will look again

calvjones

Got it now: thanks, they do look nice (as does the Rolls)

DaSy

Here it is - http://www.sellesanmarco.it/en/Vintage/Saddles/110/Regal.html

And a write up here - http://road.cc/content/review/10258-selle-san-marco-regal

careful

I bought a Ti Swift after finding that none of the usual suspects (flite max, Rolls etc) are really comfortable on long rides and that they dont last. So I went back to the saddles I used to ride as a lad (only they are now a bit lighter). After the usual 1000 or so miles the Brooks is now superbly comfy. Whether the extra for Ti is really worth it depends on your funds but I just couldnt bring myself to add all the extra weight of a standard rail Brooks. I am well happy with my choice.

Gav2000

andyp wrote:

Get a San Marco Regal, it'll look better and be as comfortable.

I can't agree with the comfort comment, I suffered with my Regal for a while but it never improved. I can still remember a very painful 90 mile ride before I finally took it off.

Gav.

Chip \'oyler

careful wrote:

I bought a Ti Swift after finding that none of the usual suspects (flite max, Rolls etc) are really comfortable on long rides and that they dont last. So I went back to the saddles I used to ride as a lad (only they are now a bit lighter). After the usual 1000 or so miles the Brooks is now superbly comfy. Whether the extra for Ti is really worth it depends on your funds but I just couldnt bring myself to add all the extra weight of a standard rail Brooks. I am well happy with my choice.

I have a Ti Swift on my summer carbon bike. It's the most comfortable saddle I've had - and I've been riding over 20 years. I'm now thinking of sticking a non Ti version on my winter bike. Once they're bedded in they fit like a glove.

ugo.santalucia

It's a no from me...

If you want an old school saddle, get a real one, on E-bay you should find some Selle Italia Turbo of the late 80s which are top notch and for much less. Brooks is the leather equivalent of Rapha or Assos, in other words overpriced and totally unnecessary

otherwise get a 21st century saddle, some of them are not bad at all. I have a San Marco Zoncolan which is excellent, Fizik Arione is also a very good saddle. I also have a Selle Italia C2 on my winter bike, very traditional design, very comfortable and very cheap

Chip \'oyler

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It's a no from me...

If you want an old school saddle, get a real one, on E-bay you should find some Selle Italia Turbo of the late 80s which are top notch and for much less. Brooks is the leather equivalent of Rapha or Assos, in other words overpriced and totally unnecessary

otherwise get a 21st century saddle, some of them are not bad at all. I have a San Marco Zoncolan which is excellent, Fizik Arione is also a very good saddle. I also have a Selle Italia C2 on my winter bike, very traditional design, very comfortable and very cheap

I've tried loads of saddles, even a Turbo. None of them come close to a Brooks for comfort. So in my opinion they are necessary, and the price you pay is for a British craftsmen handmaking each one.

andrewjoseph

Brooks saddles for me too. If i could afford Ti I'd get one, but a B17 narrow on road and mtb does me fine.

I got fed up of paying £80 plus for a fizik gobi that lasted 8 months (I went through 3 in 2 years). A brooks b17 was guaranteed for 2 years and only cost £25 (at the time). One saddle is now nearly 4 years old, and the other is 3.

Prices have gone up now, but what price comfort?

ugo.santalucia

Chip \'oyler wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It's a no from me...

If you want an old school saddle, get a real one, on E-bay you should find some Selle Italia Turbo of the late 80s which are top notch and for much less. Brooks is the leather equivalent of Rapha or Assos, in other words overpriced and totally unnecessary

otherwise get a 21st century saddle, some of them are not bad at all. I have a San Marco Zoncolan which is excellent, Fizik Arione is also a very good saddle. I also have a Selle Italia C2 on my winter bike, very traditional design, very comfortable and very cheap

I've tried loads of saddles, even a Turbo. None of them come close to a Brooks for comfort. So in my opinion they are necessary, and the price you pay is for a British craftsmen handmaking each one.

Maybe you are right... but... 200 pounds or so for a saddle which weighs twice as much as some good quality and reasonably comfortable ones... I don't know... I suppose the saddle is a very personal choice

calvjones

I already ride Swifts on 2 of my bikes and am very happy with them... Although realising the swallow ti is £260 makes a steel rail mire likely :shock:

plug1n

I bought a Ti Swallow about a year ago.

Overall I'm very disappointed at the wear and stretch, about half the adjusting screw is already gone. Only got wet once and I dreied carefully and re-proofide'd.

An old steel Professional from ~1990 is only about a 1/4 used up.

Maybe it's my 90KG but I've given up on Brooks for now, shoul;d really complain to them as at is less than 1 year old.

I'm equally as comfortable on a Charge Spoon and an SDG Formula FX (very firm but somehow comfortable).

ugo.santalucia

calvjones wrote:

I already ride Swifts on 2 of my bikes and am very happy with them... Although realising the swallow ti is £260 makes a steel rail mire likely :shock:

260 pounds for a saddle is out of this world... even considering it's allegedly "UK manufacturing"... it just doesn't make sense. It's a piece of leather with some metal, same as the other saddles

Anyway... your money... but considering you want to fit Centaur and Brooks, wouldn't it make more sense to fit Chorus and a Selle Italia C2 for the same price (and comfort)?

calvjones

ugo.santalucia wrote:

calvjones wrote:

I already ride Swifts on 2 of my bikes and am very happy with them... Although realising the swallow ti is £260 makes a steel rail mire likely :shock:

260 pounds for a saddle is out of this world... even considering it's allegedly "UK manufacturing"... it just doesn't make sense. It's a piece of leather with some metal, same as the other saddles

Anyway... your money... but considering you want to fit Centaur and Brooks, wouldn't it make more sense to fit Chorus and a Selle Italia C2 for the same price (and comfort)?

No. I'm minimising carbon on what is quite a trad steel Italian frame (inc. BBB elite silver stem & bars). Centaur is the highest you can go without icky pretend carbon brake levers.

ugo.santalucia

calvjones wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

calvjones wrote:

I already ride Swifts on 2 of my bikes and am very happy with them... Although realising the swallow ti is £260 makes a steel rail mire likely :shock:

260 pounds for a saddle is out of this world... even considering it's allegedly "UK manufacturing"... it just doesn't make sense. It's a piece of leather with some metal, same as the other saddles

Anyway... your money... but considering you want to fit Centaur and Brooks, wouldn't it make more sense to fit Chorus and a Selle Italia C2 for the same price (and comfort)?

No. I'm minimising carbon on what is quite a trad steel Italian frame (inc. BBB elite silver stem & bars). Centaur is the highest you can go without icky pretend carbon brake levers.

Ok, then if you want to stick to your rules, you should get a period saddle, and I can definitively recommend a Turbo, which was the must-have saddle of the eighties, especially if you find the Bernard Hinault edition. An overpriced Brooks won't make it more period and certainly not more Italian.
That said, if you want this Brooks, buy it, I think it doesn't make sense, but hey, oh, if that makes you happy...

tenor

I still use a Turbo on my commuting bike and refuse to admit that it is every bit as good as the Aliante on the 'best bike'.

bluedog99

Hi, thinking of buying a Selle Italia Turbo saddle , does anybody have any experience of these.. Cheers.

daviesee

calvjones wrote:

No. I'm minimising carbon on what is quite a trad steel Italian frame (inc. BBB elite silver stem & bars). Centaur is the highest you can go without icky pretend carbon brake levers.

Athena :?:
Alloy Athena is what I am getting as the next group set for the Master.

Edit:- Just noticed that the original thread is 3 years old. Things have changed on the Campagnolo front since then.

Hoopdriver

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Chip \'oyler wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It's a no from me...

If you want an old school saddle, get a real one, on E-bay you should find some Selle Italia Turbo of the late 80s which are top notch and for much less. Brooks is the leather equivalent of Rapha or Assos, in other words overpriced and totally unnecessary

otherwise get a 21st century saddle, some of them are not bad at all. I have a San Marco Zoncolan which is excellent, Fizik Arione is also a very good saddle. I also have a Selle Italia C2 on my winter bike, very traditional design, very comfortable and very cheap

I've tried loads of saddles, even a Turbo. None of them come close to a Brooks for comfort. So in my opinion they are necessary, and the price you pay is for a British craftsmen handmaking each one.

Maybe you are right... but... 200 pounds or so for a saddle which weighs twice as much as some good quality and reasonably comfortable ones... I don't know... I suppose the saddle is a very personal choice

Where are you paying 200 pounds for a B-17 may I ask?

Brooks comfort and durability are legendary. To be sure, comfort is subjective and individual, but there is a large body of very happy long-term Brooks saddle users out there, myself included.. I think they are well worth the money and whatever the modest weight penalty happens to be.