Which Brooks - B-17 or Team Pro??

Hi Everyone,

After reading many posts you crazy women have talked me into a Brooks.
(that and I have decided that most women's seats are inherently evil and have to be designed by who ever came up with high heels and push up bras!! lol )

Anyway- Have a Jamis Nova cross bike, I am average sit bone person (I was told I would take a specialized 143) and have my seat level with my bars. Also I ride on the hoods, but on descents, I go into drops.

I just cant decide which of the two would be best for me....:confused:

Any thoughts are appreciated.

gracias!

The question is what are the differences between the two saddles?
I know the B17 and the B17S, but know nothing about the Pro, except maybe it has fancy rivets? Are there dimensional differences?

Do you have an actual sit bone width measurement?

The nice thing to have is outside of one bone to outside of the other, and then add a cm or 2 to each end. (my sits are about 170mm, add a cm to each end gives me 190 or so, I ride a B67 and everything fits!)

The back half of the Brooks has a fairly wide (maybe 1.5cm?) metal plate/frame on the underside that the leather is anchored to, and you don't want to end up sitting on the metal frame. You want to be planting your sit bones on the suspended leather to the INSIDE of the frame.

(in other words, the outer edge of cantle is a safety margin and gives you wiggle room, but isn't for spending your sitting time on.)

LisaSH had a B17-S that she was sitting on the metal frame too much. (pardon my grammar) The saddle is still nice and all, but you don't get the indentations into the leather that form to your bones or get the fab-o comfort of being on the suspended leather. She could tell you how that went. (she and I have wide sit bones, so don't go thinking you can't fit a B17!!! It depends on size.)

If you order from www.wallbike.com you'll have 6 months to try out the saddle. That will give you plenty of time to find out where your sit bones land and if you have the right saddle.

I just moved from the B17S to the B17. I have plenty of sit bone room (but that's a very individual thing). I have the saddle level with the bars, and spend some but not a lot of time in the drops. So far so good. The S was just too short for me - it ended and therefore placed weight where I didn't want weight placed.

I've been *very* happy with Wallingford FYI.

The Team Pro is narrower than the B-17, I think. I have pretty narrow sitbones for a woman, and it would be my favorite saddle if it would work on my road bike. (It doesn't have enough forward/aft adjustability so I can't get it positioned right even with a seatpost with lots of setback.) For comparison: a Terry Butterfly is too wide for me; I ride a Fizik Vitesse, which is also fairly narrow.

Hi Everyone ~

Thanks for responses!

The team pro is 160mm by 260, and the b-17 is 170mm by 280.

I am guessing my sit bones are 143 since I was measured and the guy at specialized said that I took a standard 143 Specialized.

Here is an excellent side by side comparison:
http://www.wallbike.com/Various.html
http://www.wallbike.com/pros.html

Some forums and sellers say that if you spend much time in the drops that you should not use the b-17. But there are people out there that use it and get in drops just fine so go figure.

I did see after more reading that the team pro is not as adjustable forward and back motion as the b-17. So it looks like I will have to go with the b-17 because I am somewhat of a freak with a 51cm bike and 5'4. I have to have my seat all the way forward towards the bar.
So that answers that!

Was doing a search and came across an English add, it was great!
An English model, thin , more on the pale side, with a bigger "bum" was on her bike, totally naked back side shot. Old cobblestone streets, late at night, picturesque. It completely made the point, this saddle is so comfortable that you can ride it naked! LOL. I loved it. I wanted one bad then with visions of Lady Godiva danced in my head. Good thing I'm not in my twenties anymore... (winks mischievously) !! heh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godiva

Ok, thanks again to all of you.

Just to warn you, you might find out with that sizing problem that no Brooks is going to work for you. None of them have as much forward/aft adjustability as most other saddles do. I could not make a Brooks work on my Bianchi, period.

The saddle stork dropped off my beautiful black special large copper rivets b17...
and it was love at first sight.

BUT I could have that sizing prob ...(cries softly over coffee)

I just can't tell yet. After the conditioning phase, I put her on my pony, and its positioned all the way forward... but I cant tell if my sit bones are hitting or not..(still sliding around, even after conditioning, or just cant feel through my extra padding) I will have to wait and see and get her out of the barn a few more times before I decide...

I already have a short stem so that would be out of the question.
Perhaps much more yoga to lengthen my torso? Or a chiro to stretch me out? lol
Feel free to send prayers and good mojo my way..:)

Pixie,
When I first started riding, I got a very short stem and had my saddle all the way forward, all because I felt the reach was way too long.
I have found that the more miles i log on my bike, the more my core muscles strengthened and stretched, and the more I felt I needed to extend my "cockpit".
Now, one year and about 4,000 miles later, I have a longer stem and my saddle is shoved all the way back... and I wish I could shove it an inch further back still.

Don't underestimate how much your body will strengthen and stretch as you ride more miles. ;) :p

Lisa SH
Wow! I am certainly going to do that.
Did you push yourself back to lengthen or just let it happen naturally when you clocked a lot of miles?

This is ground breaking news, and much much appreciated!
:p :D