Quote Originally Posted by sundial View Post
The upside to using a Brooks 'S' saddle is that it forces you to sit on the widest part of the saddle rather than perch on the nose.
And the downside of that for me was that I couldn't shove the B17S back enough to stop feeling I was holding myself up with my hands, my weight centered to far forward. So yes, the 'S' Brooks forced me to sit on the widest part of it- but with my sitbones literally perched on the back metal frame edge of the saddle. But this was not because it was a shorter saddle- but rather because the rails were so much shorter that the saddle can't be adjusted back much at all. When i got the B17 instead, I could shove it back a whole 'nother 1.5 inches, and I felt way more weight balanced. I don't perch on the saddle nose whether I'm on an "S" model or a 'regular' model- that would feel way too far forward for my center of gravity. I guess all our bodies are different.

I wouldn't have a problem if they marketed the S model simply as a short saddle. But I do have a problem with it being promoted as 'the woman's version' of Brooks saddles. I suspect that not that many women actually do well with the S model because of the super-short rails and their resultant drastic limitation in fore-aft adjustment, and the flowing skirt factor is not really an issue for the average woman rider.
I didn't find the B17 to be any narrower than the B17S in the sitbone area.
(later I switched to the B68 because I realized my sitbones were even wider than i first thought. Pure bliss ever since. )

I always wondered why they figure men need a longer saddle nose, when in reality they have more 'stuff' up front that might have to 'duke it out' with a longer saddle nose!