Brooks saddles

Mark Alexander

Hi I'm building up a steel bike and thinking of getting a Brooks saddlefor my bike. I'm not sure which to get. I'm used to road saddles like Fizik so was thinking of a thin one. I haven't bought one before so can anyone give me some advice please?

StanwaySteve62

I bought a b17s recentley and would not go back to plastic saddles.
Got a super deal from fat birds dont fly

aberdeen_lune

Its a difficult question to answer as people come in all shapes and sizes. I have a Fizik Arione on my TT bike and my race bike. I use a Brooks B17 on my winter bike and think its a fantastic saddle. I went for the Ti version to keep the weight down. I think the Swallow and the Swift are good looking saddles too but I've never tried them. It really all depends on the fit.

Chip \'oyler

I have a Titanium Swift saddle on my best bike. They are a thing of beauty, superbly crafted and IMO the most comfortable saddles around. Just remember to proof it regularly when you first buy one.

ugo.santalucia

Arione is a long saddle, if you want a long saddle you have to go for the Swallow, which is very pricey, especially in the not so heavy titanium rails version. It's a beautiful piece of craftmanship, but in excess of 200 pounds it hits the wallet pretty hard!

The swift is very pretty, but it's not a long saddle and not much cheaper in the Titanium version

ColinT2

I would go for the B15 Swallow (three colours to choose from) and pay the extra for the titanium rails although the chrome version looks great as well

Mark Alexander

Aberdeen_lune wrote:

Its a difficult question to answer as people come in all shapes and sizes. I have a Fizik Arione on my TT bike and my race bike. I use a Brooks B17 on my winter bike and think its a fantastic saddle. I went for the Ti version to keep the weight down. I think the Swallow and the Swift are good looking saddles too but I've never tried them. It really all depends on the fit.

Your setup is exactly as I'm thinking of. my TT bike is Fizik Arione. road is std Felt. 2nd bike is the std Felt, cross bike is.. well.... battered to hell this is for the SS general bike the most comfortable saddle I have but battered and lets in water. I think it's time for a change and woukld suit.

It's a the most personal part of the bike I suppose.

Chris James

Mark Alexander wrote:

Hi I'm building up a steel bike and thinking of getting a Brooks saddlefor my bike. I'm not sure which to get. I'm used to road saddles like Fizik so was thinking of a thin one. I haven't bought one before so can anyone give me some advice please?

You can get the dimensions of the saddles from the Brooks site or Spa Cycles.

I wrote this to a different question about the differences between the models. A lot depends on what budget you have too.

---

I have a B17N on my audax bike. It is firm, very comfy, probably would look a bit out of place on a full on race bike though.

The Team Pro is similar with hand flattened, larger, rivets rather than the steel discs of the B17. I believe it also has a more rounded profile on top (the B17 is quite flat). The leather on the Team Pro is thicker I believe.

The Swift has less of a skirt than the Team Pro, so is a bit lighter. I would imagine the skirt provides at least some of the firmness a resistance to sagging in a leather saddle.

The Swallow has the skirt cut right back and the two sides connected together (tied) to prevent the resulting saddle being too spongy. I seem to recall the Swallow has longer rails too - setback can be an issue on Brooks.

Almost all of these have variants on rails (titanium, chromed, painted) and rivets (chromed steel or copper). The titanium rails are lighter (150g or so on the Swift) but quite a bit more expensive.

There are minor differences on width and length across the Brooks range, but the four models listed are similar to one another, with, I believe, the Team Pro being the shortest and widest.

As far as selecting which model, if you like the big rivet look and prefer the cheaper option then Team Pro would be good. B17N is narrow and long for racier positioning and budget with steel rails (but fairly hefty). The Swift is a thing of beauty, hand finished, but getting quite expensive (depending on which rails you go for). The Swallow is eye waterngly expensive, looks the most like a racing saddle but probably a racing saddle from the 70s!

Mark Alexander

Thanks for the replies. I have decided on the B17 narrow.

StanwaySteve62

Here's the brooks on my bike

andy46

looks smart.

nice kitchen too

keef66

The hinges on that right hand door need fettling though.

Isn't the B17s the ladies version??

StanwaySteve62

keef66 wrote:

The hinges on that right hand door need fettling though.

Isn't the B17s the ladies version??

Haha OCD on the hinges.
But no the B17s has the copper rails and slightly better finish on the leather side edge and is not a ladies saddle I'll have you know

keef66

This from the Brooks website "......The B17 is our flagship model, ideal for long distance spors touring, trekking and atb use. It has been on the market for over 100 years, being featured in as early as the 1898 catalogue . The model is available for gents and ladies: the B17 (gents) and B17 S (ladies). The Standard models feature black steel rails, the B17 Special features copper plated steel metalwork....."

So the B17S is the ladies version and the B17 Special has the copper plated rails

StanwaySteve62

Ah
I have the B17 Special then]