Help with my Brooks Saddle stretching

[Not the Slowest]

As a lead in, my Brooks saddle is comfy and I liked it when it was hard as a rock and now that it's soft. perhaps too soft.

The story:
My B17(smaller rivets) which I would say is 2-3 years old and perhaps has 8000 miles on it has now sunken that it has a very noticable dip in the rear sit portion from left to right. I am 205 lbs and have treated the saddle with proofride (maybe not often enough) use a cover for rain but I try to avoid heavy rain but will ride in light rain with a saddle cover. Yesterday I did a 110 miles and the saddle looked and felt a bit more sunken and my guess is that this may have been hastened due to excess sweat as it was a real feel of 104. The saddle did not feel wet in this area but the nose and rivet area looked a tad damp. So, what do I do now? I have never touched the tension bolt. Should I , shouldn't I, how much etc. More proofride, none etc.

I know I have seen some people ride these puppies to a point wher ethey can look like a saddle on a camel (U shaped).

Thanks for your advise, jokes will cost you 10 cents each.

[fiamme red]

Lon Haldeman's advice:

http://pactour.blogspot.se/2011/01/breaking-in-leather-saddle.html

"Brooks Saddles have a tensioning bolt at the nose of the saddle. During the break in process you might need to tighten the bolt and stretch the saddle 1/2 turn for every 500 miles of riding. Usually after 3 turns (3 threads showing) and 3,000 miles the saddle tension is pretty stable for a while. For our old RAAM bikes we used to like using saddles that had been stretched about 10 turns (10 threads) after 20,000 miles. Those saddles were long enough to allow the rider to side fore and aft and have several different saddle pressure positions."

[brenick]

Time to tighten it. If you don't have the special wrench, then you can grind off one side of an open end wrench. Just don't over tighten as that will put too much pull on the rivets.

I usually adjust mine when it starts to fee uncomfortable.:banana:

[bicycletricycle]

they sag, tensioning will help but they will not feel like they were before. for me brooks saddles have a perfect break in period. New brooks saddles are great shape but a little hard, after about 1000 miles they get to be just about right, same shape but just a little softer, after 5 or 6000 they get a little too soft and banana shaped so i just sell them on ebay and purchase new ones.

[Ken Robb]

I think Brooks are very sensitive to nose-up vs.nose-down. Since the shape has changed now you may want to make minor adjustments to the angle as well as adjusting the tension.

[PSC]

Here is advice from Sheldon Brown on the tension nut on the Brooks saddle:

Most leather saddles have a tension-adjusting nut located under the nose of the saddle. Fortunately, this nut usually requires a special wrench, so most people leave it alone. In almost every case that I know of where someone has tried to adjust the tension with this nut, the saddle has been ruined. My advice is to leave it alone.

If a leather saddle gradually becomes too soft and too wide after many thousands of miles, it is sometimes useful to punch a few holes in the bottoms of the side flaps and lace them together under the saddle frame.

This allows the width and firmness of the saddle to be adjusted to the rider's taste. Some older models came with a row of holes along the lower edge of the side flaps, for this very purpose.

I realize that this sounds like a lot of trouble, but most cyclists who take the trouble find it well worth while--in the end


I have punched holes in my Brooks and tied it with heavy shoe string and it works great. Google "tied Brooks saddles" for more info.

[rustychisel]

Back in the day when we used to have to yoke the oxen before going to work, and every serious rider had a Brooks Professional, the standing joke was '500 miles of torture to break them in'. I believe that infernal idea still stands.

Broadly, Sheldon is correct, but overstates the case. Mostly people try to reef the tension bolt too tight to get the saddle 'back to where it started'. Don't. It sags for a reason and assumes a shape. One of those reasons is that you're over 200lb.

Lacing is good if the wings are flared, but I assume from what you say the sag (ie sagacity or sagitation) is in the seat ahead of the rivet line. That's most common and often an issue (possibly) of too much neatsfoot oil (the olde school stuff) or proofride soaking into the leather and making it too supple.

Anyway, if it really is awful the suggestion to sell and start again might be a good one.

[ctcyclistbob]

One explanation for sagging is that some saddles, and maybe this one, are just made with a bad piece of leather that doesn't hold up. This is according to Tony Colegrave (formerly employed by Brooks).

I'm not saying this is the case for the OP, but then again it could be. Unfortunately there's not much to be done about that after the fact.

[Not the Slowest]

Yesterday I kept catching my shorts on the nose thinking my shorts were falling down.

I think Brooks are very sensitive to nose-up vs.nose-down. Since the shape has changed now you may want to make minor adjustments to the angle as well as adjusting the tension.

[Ken Robb]

Yeah, well if the back end sags that may make the nose seem higher than it used to be.

[notoriousdjw]

I rode my first B17 (the standard version) for several thousand miles and adjusted the tensioning bolt several times over that time. Tensioning would get the saddle back close to the original feel but it would sag again relatively quickly (500 miles). I did finally lace it which helped greatly but it is still a bit sunken where the sit bones rest.

My second B17 (titanium) was laced immediately and has not needed tensioning. It is very close to the original shape after about 4000 miles but is nicely broken in. Finally I decided to try the B17 select which is made of thicker leather. That saddle was also laced immediately and it feels perfect after about 3000 miles. Some people hate the initial feel of Brooks and can't wait for them to break in but I always liked the shape of the new saddles and found them comfortable almost immediately. If you're one of those people, try a select and lace it.

[MerckxMad]

You have nothing to lose by giving the adjusting bolt a few turns to stretch the leather a bit. You might also try lacing the wings if they are flaring out. Definitely lay off the Proofhide.

[Not the Slowest]

"Please tension your saddle this should have been done every 6 months. As with every saddle we supply a maintenance leaflet which tells you how to look after your saddle.

Please at least tension your saddle two full turns

Here is some guidance:

Your saddle tension should have been correctly set by Brooks during manufacture. This tension should be good for the first six months that you own the saddle.
Brooks recommend that you inspect your saddle after every six months; there are two guidelines to help you decide whether, or not, to add more tension: -

a) The aim is to maintain a fairly flat profile on the leather, when viewed side on, just like when it was new.
b) If you place your four fingers across the inside of the metal rear Backplate and then press down on the leather, you should only ever manage a minimal amount of travel.

To increase the tension, you should turn the Tension Pin nut so that it moves towards the rear of the saddle (when viewed from the front of the saddle, this will be a clockwise turn on the spanner). This will retighten the leather and pull up any sagging. Normally just between ? and one complete spanner rotation should be sufficient to correct the tension issue. There is a small protrusion in the head of the Tension Pin, which should locate itself against the inside surface of the nose, hence, preventing it from turning whilst you are moving Nut.

You need also to wary of over-tensioning*; Imagine that the leather is like the hamstring of a professional athlete; adding too much tension in any one adjustment period will pull, and may even tear, the inner fibres of the leather.

*This is especially prevalent on saddle that using on Allen Key adjuster."


THAT SAID AND AS SUGGESTED>>>I WILL

a) Tighten the Tension as I figured I would/should at some point.
( Of course every brooks owner said "Your saddle looks fine", which it kind of did until after Sunday).
b) Will skip the Proofhide as it has been treated and is as subtle as it should be
c) Purchase a B17 PRO
d) After a few months (less if needed) I may stich the flaps together. Any Suggestion of material for this? I do have some high quality leather straps from when I repair my sons Baseball gloves, so I have lots of that.

It's funny how you want this sucker to become juuuuuust right and then it's too good.

Thanks Rob

[CNY rider]

If you're planning on purchasing another also look at the Team Pro. The 2 I have are impressive slabs of leather. I have thousands of miles on them with very little deformation.
I only weigh about 150 lbs. though.

[fiamme red]

If you're planning on purchasing another also look at the Team Pro. The 2 I have are impressive slabs of leather. I have thousands of miles on them with very little deformation.
I only weigh about 150 lbs. though.Even better, get a Berthoud saddle. Much thicker leather than Brooks.

[UberBike]

Not sure if anyone has ever tried letting the saddle dry out? I know with my leather work gloves if I leave them out too long after rinsing they shrink. I never thought if a saddle would tighten up if some of the oils are lost, but it is still just leather after all. I myself kinda like the almost shock/vibration absorbing ride of a brooks after its been broken in for some time.

[UberBike]

Even better, get a Berthoud saddle. Much thicker leather than Brooks.

Very well made, thicker and harder out of the box. Knocked on one, sounded solid! heh