How long did it take you to break in your Brooks?

[farrellcollie]

When oiling the underside, do you take the saddle off the bike?

Once I get a brooks set in the right position (I have 4) I try to never take it off - I find it a giant pain to get them adjusted correctly. Ijust try to smush some proofhide in there as best I can.

[mimitabby]

Lisa, my 30 year old Brooks is soft like a good leather jacket!
so never say "NEVER!"

[chort]

I don't necessarily care if it's soft, i just wants some marks on it from my sitbones!!

I am LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVING it thought. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.

[RoadRaven]

Tiptoes in to the edge of the thread where IFJAne was...

I have never ridden a Brooks and this question comes from a completely ignorant (- as in complete lack of knowledge about -) perspective on Brooks saddles...

I hear you all say they are comfortable and that I cannot dispute (and would not consider disputing)
I just wonder why you choose a Brooks when there has been so much research gone into designing saddles for the various pelvic types?

Do Brooks even have a cut-out, or a moulded/indented groove? (My ignorance extends to the fact that I have never seen a "real-life" Brooks, just pics here on TE)

The way I chose my saddle was by looking for the words "women's specific" in a style that I had seen women roadsters (like Sarah Ulmer and Onone Wood) ride...

Tip toes out again, hoping I haven't nudged anyones "offended triggers"....

[mimitabby]

you're not going to offend me.
All this research; not sure if i agree. when you sit on a seat at home, do you need a cutout? If your posture is good, your crotch is NOT pressed into the saddle, your sit bones are. and they are more or less designed to hold the weight. The brooks saddle gives your sit bones a great spot.
If your objective is to get the lightest saddle possible; and i know a lot of folks are there; they're going to carve away that nice spot for your sit bones; so instead you are sitting on... all that delicate tissue; and yeah, then you sure do need a cutout or you can forget the joys of sex!

[chort]

With all the seats I have tried in the past (cut outs and no cutouts) my soft tissue was always smooshed and hurt like h3ll. I'd be soooo sore when I got back from even a short ride - 10 mile ride... and I'm sure my dh was sick of hearing about it. I'm experiencing no pain with my Brooks - just on the sitbones still, but that is waaaaay better than the soft tissue.

[RoadRaven]

Hey Lisa, thanks for that great and detailed response.

The seat I use on both my bikes is a Dolce, it is marketed as "women's specific" and has a good cutout (though the packaging called it a "love channel" hahahaha).

I know alot of the seats sold to women are tooooo soft and "juicy" and "smooshy". I hate those, they feel uncomfy the second I sit on them.

I am thinking of the Brooks saddle in jeannierides new bike thread on her bicycle. It looks so different to mine, and I don't think I could be comfy on it.

My current seat is only marginally wider than my partner's and sons' saddles (wider sit bones of course) and only a tad softer. Not much in it. They have those skinny hard saddles like we just saw so often on le Tour (though my partner is refusing to cut the nose of his Italia (?) like Cancellara has on his!)

But then I read about people wanting to have indents in the leather on their Brooks from their sitbones and it really has me wondering about Brooks and about how others find comfort on a bike.

I mean, its obvious it is the right saddle for many women here, there are lots of Brooks fans. So I am not trying to say i am right or my saddle is better. Far from it. I am just intrigued, thats all...

Thanks for both answering - and Chort, I think the "sitbone" pain happens regardless as you get used to riding the distances. i don't think its so much the sitbones per se hurting, its the muscles in your butt getting used to taking all your weight on two points...

[RoadRaven]

you're not going to offend me.
All this research; not sure if i agree. when you sit on a seat at home, do you need a cutout? If your posture is good, your crotch is NOT pressed into the saddle, your sit bones are. and they are more or less designed to hold the weight. The brooks saddle gives your sit bones a great spot.
If your objective is to get the lightest saddle possible; and i know a lot of folks are there; they're going to carve away that nice spot for your sit bones; so instead you are sitting on... all that delicate tissue; and yeah, then you sure do need a cutout or you can forget the joys of sex!

Sorry Mimi, when I was in here this morning I somehow completely missed your response!

I think there is a fundemental difference between sitting on a seat at home, and sitting on a bike. On a bike you don't have a back rest, arm rests or the ability to change where your butt rests. Therefore all weight bearing is centralised onto one area and the only way to alleviate at that is to stand as you cycle or to get off the bike.

I'm trying to think of an analogy, and the best one I can is comparing your slippers, or your favourite old casual shoes... very comfortable for moving round the house or with your mates at a mooching pace... but if you go hiking (in NZ we say tramping) you want firm, tight fitting boots. If you wear your favourite sloppy shoes, you'll be blistered and chaffed before you reach the first hut.

So it is with saddles - you need a bike seat on a bike - not a sofa - you want something that will be comfortable but not allow so much movement you move and get chaffed/blistered.

Now, before anyone gets annoyed with me for saying Brooks are sofas, that is NOT at all what I am saying - I'm just trying to clarify what Mimi was wondering (ie, why we don't need a cutout in our sofas!).

So saddles develop to afford the best comfort for the type of riding and it dawned on me today that perhaps the Brooks saddles go best on bikes where the riders are more upright... would this be a correct assumption?

Perhaps Brooks are best suited to those of who are upright in there position, as opposed to riders like me whose bars are lower than the saddles and who place our weight forward and low...?

Oh, and Mimi, for me its not about weight in the saddle, its comfort.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

So saddles develop to afford the best comfort for the type of riding and it dawned on me today that perhaps the Brooks saddles go best on bikes where the riders are more upright... would this be a correct assumption?

Perhaps Brooks are best suited to those of who are upright in there position, as opposed to riders like me whose bars are lower than the saddles and who place our weight forward and low...?

I think that there is a certain amount of truth in this. However, as in most generalizations, there are MANY exceptions.
I think it is generally more difficult to find ANY saddle that is comfortable for long distance riding in a low down racing posture. We can see ample proof of that from reading TE forums.
The simple fact is that the low-bars racing position is not designed for long distance comfort at all- it's designed for racing, not for doing centuries or for touring.

People want to be fast on their bikes during club rides. They want to commute on their bikes comfortably. They want to do all day centuries on their bikes. They want to do their grocery shopping on their bikes. They want to do fast triathlons or TT's on their bikes.

I believe you really can't have it all on one bike-
Want to avoid back, neck and girly bits pain on a 5 day tour?- use a lower/longer geometry bike that's not a stiff frame, where you are a bit more upright and have wider gear ranges and plusher tires.
Want to keep up with fast club rides?- use a lightweight lively-geometry racing bike where you are aerodynamically hunkered down, with hard skinny tires and lose the granny gear.
Want to ride a century briskly but are not racing against time and don't want to be in terrible pain at the end?- then put together a bike that falls somewhere in between the two.

All the more reason for us to get more than one bike!
Just my own humble opinion.

Lisa "still only one bike" S.H.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I hear you all say they are comfortable and that I cannot dispute (and would not consider disputing)
I just wonder why you choose a Brooks when there has been so much research gone into designing saddles for the various pelvic types?

Do Brooks even have a cut-out, or a moulded/indented groove? (My ignorance extends to the fact that I have never seen a "real-life" Brooks, just pics here on TE)

Good questions!
But sometimes "research" gets a little too mixed up with "marketing". Hence you find "women specific" designed saddles on the market that are huge puffy torture devices...made to LOOK comfy when in fact they are painful to ride on for any rides longer than to the corner store. Also, despite "so much research", many women find WS cutouts and grooves to be painful to ride on. Many saddles come out with different designs every year, all hyped as being the product of "advanced research"....a great marketing phrase! In reality, for all we know, the "research" may well have had to do with simply finding a model name that sounded appealing to more women...the "XP3 Cloud"...the "Deluxe Zephyr", etc.
Women in pain tend to seek cutouts and extra padding because it seems logical. Yet many of those saddles are amongst the many saddle styles they want to sell off or return because they are painful.
Some women find Brooks painful, but just as many women find gel padded or cutout saddles painful, if you read the vast saddle threads here on TE.
Similarly, women seek out heavier/thicker chamois because it seems that doing so might lessen discomfort, only to find that thicker padding increases the pressure on your soft parts, thus simply making the problem worse.

When you say "Do Brooks even have a cut-out, or a moulded/indented groove?"- it implies that not having those things makes it somehow lacking. The sentence is better without the "even".
In the end, we must accept that just as there are many different pelvic shapes and sizes amongst women, so too should there be many different designs of saddles. There is no one ideal saddle for all women.

[wannaduacentury]

Tiptoes in to the edge of the thread where IFJAne was...

I have never ridden a Brooks and this question comes from a completely ignorant (- as in complete lack of knowledge about -) perspective on Brooks saddles...

I hear you all say they are comfortable and that I cannot dispute (and would not consider disputing)
I just wonder why you choose a Brooks when there has been so much research gone into designing saddles for the various pelvic types?

Do Brooks even have a cut-out, or a moulded/indented groove? (My ignorance extends to the fact that I have never seen a "real-life" Brooks, just pics here on TE)

The way I chose my saddle was by looking for the words "women's specific" in a style that I had seen women roadsters (like Sarah Ulmer and Onone Wood) ride...

Tip toes out again, hoping I haven't nudged anyones "offended triggers"....

"Jennifer inserting large toe"- I saw a brooks on some kids college bike appx one month ago. It was a honey color- don't know which model and on an older bike(early 80's) and it was locked to a post. Nice saddle and it was sturdy and hard. I was just surprised that someone would leave it on their bike in the open. Don't they know people like those saddles? I would never take it of course, but I did go over and touch it. "Ok-- retrieving large toe and leaving now" Jenn

[elk]

The proofide is not runny...it's a waxy preservative, so you can just dip your fingers in it and rub it on under the saddle. No need to take it off.

There is another one that the guys at Rivendell recommend and sell...
http://www.rivbike.com/products/list...product=31-344

called obenauf's.

I cheated and rubbed Lexol on top before the proofide...Lexol is a preservative that softens leather. It may have made a tiny difference....but the leather itself isn't hard....I think....but the forming of it stiffens it. if that makes any sense....

it's hard on the bum...but I love that it's NOT hard where it really counts...I'd way rather have a sore booty than a sore pooty....
and actually, I rode my Specialized while waiting for my new Brooks...it has a cut out and some padding (it's a saddle I like) and it hurt my butt even more than the B67...go figure!