Brooks Saddles, the Unofficial Mini-FAQ

0. Introduction

I put this page up for a number of reasons, first because I needed a convenient URL to point people to that would summarize my knowledge of leather saddles, and secondly because I had a number of photographs lying around which I couldn't find a home for. Also, I wanted to give people a relatively unbiased reference. I'm not interested in selling anyone a saddle, there are some fine commercial sites out there which do a much better job than this page as far as that's concerned.

I said relatively unbiased. I'm a satisfied Brooks customer, I'll tell you that. But I'm not a Brooks evangelist, by any means. What I'm trying to do here (hopefully with a bit of humor) is to help you get the most out of your Brooks saddle, and hopefully prevent you from making some basic mistakes as far as care and feeding.

I'm also not suggesting that Brooks makes a saddle that's right for everyone, the saddle is probably the most personal part of the bicycle, for obvious reasons! Think of Brooks saddles as one of your options, not the only one.

If there's anything here that is flat out incorrect, or if you have suggestions on what other information I could include to make this a better page, please send me an email. There's a link at the bottom of the page. The only other link here is to primary source material, that is to say Brooks' web site. Everything here, except for the public domain photo of the B-17, is my own work, and as such is copyrighted material. If you want to link to this page you're welcome to do so, but I'd appreciate a note first.

A B-17E, not a B.17.

1. What is Break-In?

The single most important thing about any bicycle saddle is fit. This may seem obvious, but there are an awful lot of people riding around out there on saddles that just plain don't. Fit generally means that the ischial tuberosities (sit bones) are supported by the part of the saddle that's meant to support them, and that the perineal region is not subjected to pressure.

The usual fit issue is a saddle that's either too narrow or is too heavily padded. Either of these singly can be a problem, and in combination they can produce a TRULY uncomfortable experience! Occasionally a saddle can be too wide, which will manifest itself as chafing on the inner thighs.

Assuming that your saddle fits correctly, but is a new Brooks, you may find it a little hard at first. There may be a little pain in the area under your sit bones. This is all you should feel, if you have numbness you might want to look at saddle position (start out with the neck of the saddle close to level, the Brooks saddles and most others flare upward in the rear a bit). This is truly trial and error, what you want to end up with is a saddle positioned such that you don't slide forward, but which doesn't press on your vital parts.

Bar position has something to do with this as well. On my road bike I have the saddle tilted just a bit nose down compared to my tourer, where it's nearly level (you will have to work this out on your own, though). Both bikes are comfortable for me.

Different bike, different saddle position.

So, you've got it set up right but it's still hard as a rock, what is it that makes this such a great saddle? Over time, the leather under your sit bones will stretch and conform to your particular "configuration". This is what people refer to as "break-in".

You can see this on a Brooks that's been ridden a while, there will be two dimples in the leather at the contact points.

People have different thoughts on how long it takes to break in a Brooks. In my experience if the saddle is the right width, and the position is correct, it's initially comfortable and just gets more so over time. After a few hundred miles it's gonna be there, but some have said it takes a thousand miles (I think they may be riding a different sort of Brooks saddle than I have, though).

Note that if the saddle is too narrow for you in the first place, it will NEVER be comfortable. The B.17 is a good one to start with, it's the least expensive (in the "Standard" model) and seems to fit the widest variety of cyclists.

2. Does Proofide Darken Saddles?

These are two identical honey colored Brooks B.17 Champion Specials.



The one on the left has been ridden about 7K miles, the one
on the right has been proofided but is unridden.

3. Is Oil Bad, Why?

Because Brooks says not to use it. I'll point out first of all that everybody has a different opinion on the care of Brooks saddles, but I'll also note that Brooks recommends Proofide only. And that's not, IMHO, because Brooks sells more Proofide* that way.

It's for the rational reason that the Brooks saddles are tensioned leather, unlike horse saddles. Anytime you get a leather product wet, whether it's with water or oil, its pores absorb the liquid and swell.

And in the case of a tensioned leather saddle, that means the leather expands (stretches). When the leather stretches, the tension is reduced, so the saddle loses its shape (sags).

You take up on the tension nut to flatten the saddle, and it works for a little while, until you apply more oil. The oil progressively renders the saddle unrideable, in short, because although it slows water absorbtion it's still a liquid which expands the pores of the leather.

The solution that Brooks (and I) advocate is to prevent the liquid infiltration in the first place, and treat the saddle with a substance which prevents or slows water infiltration. I.E., a wax based compound like Proofide, or even common shoe polish. Some have advocated a product called Sno-Seal, but I've never tried it. I do know from experience that oiling tensioned leather will result in a sagging saddle and reduced saddle life.

When it rains your best bet, in my experience, is to cover the saddle with a plastic bag, use fenders, and be sure that your initial wax compound treatment was thorough, especially on the underside (the unfinished or "raw" side) of the saddle.

Every six months or so if the saddle is in daily use will do for a light treatment of the topside, I do not recommend more than a very infrequent treatment of the underside (which you do not wipe off).

Recently I have heard a report of a saddle which exhibited sagging at only 1500 miles, the best hypothesis being that more Proofide than was strictly warranted was used.

Your mileage may vary, but this will extend the useful life of Brooks saddles.

Black shoe polish should only be used on black saddles.

* Proofide can be a hard item to find at your LBS, but there are places that do mail order that carry it, although it's not always in stock--any search engine should point you to several options.

4. WTF is a Tension Nut?

The tension nut on a Brooks saddle is the user interface of last resort. It allows the nose of the saddle to be run out along a bolt to pull the saddle tighter along its major axis. This usually is not necessary in normal use for literally thousands of miles, unless the saddle has been allowed to stretch through abuse (such as not following the directions in part 3).

The net result of operating the tension nut is to stretch the saddle leather longitudinally, which will almost certainly result in the deformation of the leather. If this is done to a soaked or oiled saddle the consequences are dire.

In normal use, if the saddle becomes wet it should be allowed to air dry, never try to correct a water-induced sag by operating the tension nut.

In time, even the best cared for saddle will stretch. In this case a MINIMAL increase of tension can be attempted, and then only on a dry saddle (Brooks makes a wrench (spanner) for this purpose). But this should not be necessary for thousands of miles if the saddle has been cared for properly.

The tension adjuster, saddle rails, and bag loops on the B.17.

5. How Long Will They Last?

Quite a long time, if cared for properly. The one near the top of this page has over 7,000 miles on it, and it has not stretched, although it has darkened with age. That's a young saddle based on reports of people using them for 20,000 or more miles over decades.

This one is over a century old.
As you can see it has stretched quite a bit.

6. What's the Downside?

The downside is the side with the rails on it. Seriously, the negatives basically boil down to two things, the need to care for the saddle as I've discussed above, which isn't a big deal for me but which runs counter to the idea of a disposable, plastic, zero-maintenance saddle. Even though there are unconfirmed rumors that Brooks might actually have put their name on a disposable, plastic, zero-maintenance saddle and by so doing brought down the wrath of God on Sturmey-Archer (Brooks of course was spared, to continue the good work of building fine leather saddles).

Oh, yeah. The OTHER negative (sorry I got carried away). These saddles are heavy. Not heavy like a box full of rocks, but heavy compared to disposable, plastic, zero-maintenance saddles. If you must have the lightest of everything, then you can forget about Brooks saddles (although they do make some models with titanium rails).

There is one other possible negative, and that is that you run the risk of being labelled a "retrogrouch" by other cyclists who will be seen riding disposable, plastic, zero-maintenance saddles. Which frequently will have leather glued to their tops, to give the impression that they are leather saddles rather than disposable, plastic, zero-maintenance saddles. If you don't know what a retrogrouch is, don't worry about it. If you DO know what a retrogrouch is, drop me a line and let me know.

The author demonstrates the proper
use of plastic bags in the field.




All materials on this page are Copyright 2002 by Eric S. Sande.
Except for the picture of the B-17E, that is.
This page is not affiliated with Brooks Saddles, Kiwi, or anybody else.