Again! I know only too well how high feelings run: to some people it's the saddle from heaven, while to others it hails from the 'other place' ... from the way some people go on about them, I reckon marriages have foundered on this debate...
Anyway, I'm basically pro-Brooks: I think they're unequalled for comfort once properly broken in. Maybe it's my (rather on the heavy side) anatomy that suits them. And the leather is top-notch and lasts for years - if you look after it proper! But I've come to think that the undercarriage is a different matter. Over the years:
1. Old B17 or pro (can't remember), did sterling service for ages but as the years drew on and I tightened it little by little, eventually I tightened too much and the leather ripped. Can't blame anyone else for that, my own fault entirely. On to...
2. Pro, on chromed steel rails. Again saw many years good service. I looked after the leather better this time and it was very comfortable. Until late one night when both rails snapped clean through. And so to:
3. My present Swift, just over a year old. Ti rails. Have had snapped tensioning clamp (the U-shaped bit that the bolt goes through): replaced with the (steel) one out of the Pro. Then, some months later, had tensioning bolt snapped. This time the one out of the Pro didn't fit: the thread stops too short. Enquired of BikePlus for a replacement (Yes Paul it was I who E-mailed you the other day) and it seems the correct bolt for the Swift is not stocked anywhere. So I found a thread-cutter and cut the thread further up the Pro bolt until it would go on the Swift.
Hopefully this will hold out for a while: seems to fit and the saddle is the correct tension again and comfortable. But I'm thinking that if Brooks have this reliability problem I'm not going to bother next time.
So the big question: if I desert Brooks, what's my best option that will have the 'feel' of a Brooks to me? Bear in mind I'm about 88-90Kg!
Anyway, I'm basically pro-Brooks: I think they're unequalled for comfort once properly broken in. Maybe it's my (rather on the heavy side) anatomy that suits them. And the leather is top-notch and lasts for years - if you look after it proper! But I've come to think that the undercarriage is a different matter. Over the years:
1. Old B17 or pro (can't remember), did sterling service for ages but as the years drew on and I tightened it little by little, eventually I tightened too much and the leather ripped. Can't blame anyone else for that, my own fault entirely. On to...
2. Pro, on chromed steel rails. Again saw many years good service. I looked after the leather better this time and it was very comfortable. Until late one night when both rails snapped clean through. And so to:
3. My present Swift, just over a year old. Ti rails. Have had snapped tensioning clamp (the U-shaped bit that the bolt goes through): replaced with the (steel) one out of the Pro. Then, some months later, had tensioning bolt snapped. This time the one out of the Pro didn't fit: the thread stops too short. Enquired of BikePlus for a replacement (Yes Paul it was I who E-mailed you the other day) and it seems the correct bolt for the Swift is not stocked anywhere. So I found a thread-cutter and cut the thread further up the Pro bolt until it would go on the Swift.
Hopefully this will hold out for a while: seems to fit and the saddle is the correct tension again and comfortable. But I'm thinking that if Brooks have this reliability problem I'm not going to bother next time.
So the big question: if I desert Brooks, what's my best option that will have the 'feel' of a Brooks to me? Bear in mind I'm about 88-90Kg!