Hi Liz — Have you tried to address the squeak in the springs of your B67? As Ted suggests, a little wax or grease could go a long way towards addressing that, if you liked the fit and comfort of the saddle. I'm sure there's a thread in here somewhere addressing Brooks spring squeak and oiling.
I'm glad you have a better fit with the B17 after soaking! Seems a few have good experience with various methods. I got caught in a thunderstorm in April riding a new Berthou Aravis and got soaked, the saddle shaped to my butt in about 10 miles. Wouldn't have done that on purpose, I liked how the saddle was breaking in. Here's a link to Lon's soaking method, mentioned by Eric N. above: https://pactour.blogspot.com/2011/01/breaking-in-leather-saddle.html The most comfortable saddle I ever had was a Selle Anatomica but I absolutely hated the way it looked so... bye bye. I owned a Brooks Team Pro saddle from the 70s, the leather was suuuper heavy and thick, much thicker than the B17. Got rid of that one quickly. In my experience the Berthoud saddles fit me better than the Brooks. The rivet placement and the shape of the rails along the back edge better fit the shape of my sit bones. Regarding "aged" saddles: Doesn't Brooks offer a "pre-softened" saddle in their lineup? I've purchased (and sold) many used Brooks saddles over the years and have no complaints. On Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 11:23:18 PM UTC-4 Doug Van Cleve wrote: > Yikes! > > I’ve been mostly riding B17s since 1999, and I would suggest that if a new > one is not reasonably comfortable for you, a broken in one probably won’t > be either. A few random thoughts… I have only had one soaked once, caught > in some pretty good rain and no choice but to finish the ride. I dried it > as best I could when I got home and let it dry out indoors. Pretty sure I > Proofided it again after that. I think in the modern era, leather products > containing animal oils/fats are not recommended. I’m a beefy boy, never > under 200 lbs., plenty of my riding has been toasty (Chandler, AZ) and I > have never touched the tension bolts on any of mine. I use Obenaufs now, I > give the underside of a new saddle a thorough bottom coat and a light top > coat. Probably once a year or so, I’ll redo the top. My opinion is that > once it’s broken in, putting more on the bottom is likely to soften it up > more than the ideal amount. I personally wouldn’t force the break in, > Brooks’ are too expensive to abuse… > > Doug > > > On Sun, May 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM [email protected] <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Friends, >> >> My Brooks B67S saddle…the wide saddle with springs…was squeaking so >> distractingly much that I decided to try the B17S (no springs), and OUCH. >> So stiff! >> >> I had a B17 many years ago and don’t remember it being so stiff, but I >> rode lots more then and perhaps I broke it in quickly. My previous B17 was >> on my Atlantis, which is set up with mustache handlebars, so I wasn’t >> riding entirely upright…the new saddle is on my Platypus with Choco >> handlebars, so I sit more upright on it, and I have a feeling my sitbones >> hit differently on the Platy. >> >> Anyway, I’m not getting any younger, and I wonder if there’s a cheating >> way to soften it up. I’ve been thinking of taking a mallet to it. >> >> Liz in Cincinnati >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/57fc732e-8c97-4b71-aa97-e08fedb2e00an%40googlegroups.com.
