Brooks saddle - no cut outs?

[Dogmama]

I'm looking at a Brooks saddle on line. Is it really comfortable with no cuts outs? Don't girly-bits get mashed?

[Beane]

There are about eight thousand threads on here about Brooks saddles. Just do a search and you will find lots of info and discussion about them.

[Biciclista]

the answer to that is; the last time you sat on a wooden bench, did you feel the need for a cut out?
the wider platform supports the sit bones so you don't have to sit on your soft tissues.

[OakLeaf]

Or more accurately, as Knott has pointed out, when you sit on a flat hard bench (wooden ones are more likely to be carved into a curved shape than stone) with your legs, spine and pelvis arranged to approximate your riding position, do you feel pressure in your soft parts?

If the test suggests you do need a cut-out, there's the Selle An-Atomica (search on that, many threads here as well).

Sort of like the pencil test Zen reminded us of the other day, but at the other end.

[Thorn]

It depends totally on your anatomy. Look for the threads that talk about sitting on a wooden bench and then leaning forward to bicycle position. If you aren't squished, you probably won't be on your Brooks (if it is wide enough in the back).

That said, there is a Brooks Imperial line with a cutout and you can send your Brooks to Selle Anatomica for an upgrade--where upgrade puts a slot into it.

[Dogmama]

There are about eight thousand threads on here about Brooks saddles. Just do a search and you will find lots of info and discussion about them.

thanks for sharing

I did a search and decided to start a thread.

[melissam]

Hi Dogmama,

I had been worried about whether I needed a cutout, but was quite comfortable on my Brooks B17S. The Brooks is a piece of leather over a metal frame, so it has a bit more "give" in it than a saddle on a shell. That "give" helped me to ride sans cutout in comfort. I did the AIDS/Lifecycle as well as a couple of 200k rides on my Brooks.

The wooden bench test outlined by oakleaf and biciclista is a good indication of whether you can get away without a cutout.

Also, I'm sure you know this, but if you get your Brooks from Wallingford Bikes, they have a 6 month return policy. This should give you plenty of time to see if the saddle works for you.

Happy saddle hunting!

- Melissa

[sundial]

Dogmama, I have a Team Pro S and a Champion Flyer Special S--the women's saddles. Previously I used Specialized saddles with the cutout and I haven't found the need for the cutout as long as I have the saddle height adjusted right. I found there was a trial and error period of not only dialing in the seatpost height but the nose and fore and aft of the saddle as well. Once you get it dialed in it's pretty comfortable. One tip: if your bike allows for it, get a quick release collar for the seatpost. I made many a micro adjustment on the fly.

I also found putting a new Brooks on a bike where I sit more upright broke it in faster.

[Dogmama]

Ordered it, got it, sending it back. OMG. How can this be comfortable? It's like a piece of slick plastic over ... a board (?). Will hunt for my old fav, my Selle San Marcos.

[jobob]

Good thing you didn't bother to try it. Everyone who responded has been lying through their teeth - it's all a vast conspiracy to suck others in, kind of like a cult. I've ridden Brooks saddles for about 5 years now, and I've been in agony for every single moment. [/sarcasm]

[Veronica]

The real agony is riding a Brooks during a tri - that itty bitty chamois that's WET on that hard leather.


Veronica


in all seriousness, I had no issues on my tri.

[Biciclista]

oh gosh, it's true. My Brooks is so bad that I have to ice my crotch every day after my commute! ( I feel so much better now that I'm being open about it)

[Blueberry]

Ordered it, got it, sending it back. OMG. How can this be comfortable? It's like a piece of slick plastic over ... a board (?). Will hunt for my old fav, my Selle San Marcos.

Just curious - did you try it on a bike, or just out of the box?

CA

[Dogmama]

oh gosh, it's true. My Brooks is so bad that I have to ice my crotch every day after my commute! ( I feel so much better now that I'm being open about it)

Gee, thank you all. That was hurtful.

[uforgot]

Ordered it, got it, sending it back. OMG. How can this be comfortable? It's like a piece of slick plastic over ... a board (?). Will hunt for my old fav, my Selle San Marcos.

It's hard to sometimes hear what people are saying when you just read what they post and you don't have the inflections that go with it. You may not have meant it, but when I read this post it sounded like you were calling those of us that love our Brooks fools for even considering it. It sounded like you just looked at it, thought we had somehow misled you and then just promptly shipped it back without trying it.

Maybe that's not what you meant, and maybe you were laughing when you posted it, and actually tried it for many miles, but that's not how many of us read it. Sorry you were hurt, but maybe if you look at it from our perspective, you can then see where it was all coming from. Did I just end a sentence with a preposition? Arrrrgh.