I may have the opportunity to finally attempt LEJOG ( In work time too-bonus!)
I am looking at getting myself a bit of luxury for the neather regions and hence looking at a B17. Can anyone with experience recommend this or the B17 Special?
Cheers in advance

M

You of course understand that to have it “luxurious” you first need to put 1-2k miles to bead in the saddle?

I tried one Brooks for about 3 months. We never get together well. Ditched it finally.

Also with Brooks normal Saddle Rules apply. It is individual thing, what suits one bum, might completely not fit other…

Cheers!
I.

forget about the brooks unless you have been riding on one for a few months prior.

buy a smp saddle. ugly, but the comfiest saddle you will try.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/selle-smp-trk-black-saddle/rp-prod150228?gs=1&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Chain+Reaction-UK-PLA-PLA-All-DT-SE-Shopping+QLB+Generic+Desktop&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|sdv5FuLF5_dc|pcrid|161850070953|pkw||pmt||prd|72035UK

I think people might be able to advise you better if they had a bit more information:

– When would you be doing LEJOG? In other words how much time would you have to break the saddle in/acclimatise to it?

– What sort of bike do you ride?

– What is your current saddle and do you find it comfortable?

– What daily distances are you envisaging?

Bear in mind the B17 is a relatively wide saddle, which may suit people with wider sit bones and/or who are riding in a relatively upright position, e.g. with flat bars on a hybrid or MTB. A B17 Narrow model may suit some people better who have narrow sit bones and/or are riding a drop barred bike (more so the greater the saddle to bars drop). I have a B17 Narrow and a Team Pro on drop barred bikes.

What saddles people prefer and find comfortable is obviously a very personal thing, and that’s especially true of leather saddles.

If you are looking at doing LEJOG this year, then I would be wary about switching to a Brooks leather saddle this late in the day. If you don’t get pain from your current saddle when riding the necessary daily distance, then I would recomend you prioritise hours in the saddle on consecutive days to get your body (including your backside) accustomed to the daily stress and recovery.

It may be worth considering some of the very high end bib shorts, e.g. Assos (if so buy them and get used to them doing your training/preparation rides).

I have a B17. My first ride on it was about 60 miles through East Lothian. It was comfortable right away and has only improved.

As far as fit goes, I’m a Medium/143mm in Specialized terms.

Slightly OT but ….. I have two Brooks Cambium (C17) saddles and they have been very comfy from the off. I have a B17 too previously owned by Ton ^^ and whilst its comfy I can see that breaking it in over time would have its comfy level up there with the Cabium out of the box. IMO of course.

I’ve also recently been getting friendly with a Brooks Cambium C17 – having fiddled with position, it seems to offer most of the Brooks comfort from day one without needing an extended period of use to shape itself to suit you. Presumably it’ll never quite have the same “moulded by your bum to suit your bum and your bum alone” specific fit, but I’m liking it so far…

As others have suggested tho, if this is imminent and your current setup isn’t painful, I’d stick with what you know.

If you get along with it, a B17 shouldn’t need any bedding in, the leather is pretty compliant.
The Team Professional, on the other hand, is quite rigid and doesn’t really get any better/softer as the time passes.

Cheers for the info guys,
I have a couple of weeks before I would start, so am conflicted about setting up a new saddle, so heartened by what Sots and OTSDR have said.Especially as I am also 143 Specialized size.
May just bite the bullet and press buy. how long before you need to tension the leather on one?
M

Depends how much riding you are doing 😉

You’ll get the wee spanner with it – just don’t be tempted to tension it while it’s damp.

BTW – what route are you doing?

Try the B17, slacken it slightly, gives a bit more ‘instant comfort’.

Maybe consider the San Marco Rolls too

Still planning but avoiding A roads like the plague where i can.
LE-Plymouth via St Austell,
Plymouth to Sidmouth
Sidmouth to Monmouth
Monmouth to Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury to the North……then am tempted to route via Arran and Mull of Kintyre, West side of Loch Lihne to Fort William, up the Great Glen and finally up the East coast to JOG.
Any top tips or route ideas?
M

Coast and Castles route into Scotland?

Any top tips or route ideas?

Bedtime reading for you.

If you have only a couple weeks before going, this is the wrong time to start making big changes to your set up, especially something like switching to a leather saddle when you’ve not used one before.

Some people do find them perfect straight out of the box, but others find they can never get on with them. You are not just planning to do a long day ride, you are planning to do long rides day after day for maybe a couple of weeks.

It’s not going to be enough if you find the saddle comfortable for a long day ride straight out of the box, it’s going to need to be comfortable for the umpteenth consecutive day of riding straight out of the box. You would be taking a gamble: it might pay off and give you the perfect saddle for the ride, but I would be very concerned about the downside risks if you could not get on with it and found yourself in discomfort and pain after persevering with it for the first few days. Even if you could switch back to your current saddle mid-LEJOG, if you are on a tight schedule with few rest days you may lack the time needed allow your backside to recover.

Dont do what I did and get a B17 narrow because they’re cheaper. I’m still mentally and scrotally scarred.

I always recommend avoiding the A82 through the Great Glen. If you’ve touring tyres then follow NCN78 all the way to Inverness, then NCN1 TO JOG. There’s a good alternative to going through Tain though, take the short-cut over the hill to Ardgay.

I always recommend avoiding the A82 through the Great Glen.

I avoided most of it by taking the back roads and canal paths from Ft William, then the climb out of Ft Augustus to the road along the eastern shore all the way to Inverness.

Oh, and I’ve just bought a Cambium c17. First proper ride this Saturday.

there is a accererted break in proces for leather saddles; will reduce longevity. but seeing as the seem to last for 50 years i’m not sure thats a problem.

you can even pay for someone to do it!

cant find the link but it involves soaking in water…

I have a B17. My first ride on it was about 60 miles through East Lothian. It was comfortable right away and has only improved.

^+1.

YMMV

My B17 was comfortable from the off for 198 mile a week commuting, and has only got more comfy as i’ve gone on. If it works for your fit, then they are great.

Just got rid of my last one after using them for ages.

Yes they are very, very comfy.

However, they do have some disadvantages:

Heavy.
Short rails.
Not comfy if you like to slide back a bit now and then to stretch out – you end up sitting on the metal cantle plate.
They can be affected by rain.
If they get properly soaked, they can stretch – not a huge issue if treated and looked after but one to be aware of.
They get stolen – had two stolen over the years, best to run an extension cable under the rails when locking up.

Nice things to own though and definitely worth a try.

If you try enough modern saddles, you should eventually find one that fits properly.
Personally, I find the Spesh Phenom just as comfy (and flexible) over distance and much more practical, but it took years of borrowing and buying saddles before I found the right one.

Good luck!

I find brooks excruciatingly painful the couple of times I have tried them.

Bontrager SSR is the most comfy saddle I have used.

I have just sat down and poured myself a glass after fitting trail tyres to my road bike. Def will stay away from the a82 if there is a decent off road alternative!
I must admit I currently have a spesh phenon on my road bike and this was what I was going to swap out the b17 for. I get on fine with it, I was just a little concerned what 11 or so days of heavy mileage would do to it( or more importantly do to me)
Will also consult maps ref Scotland. I was fortunate to be based up in Ayrshire for a couple of years so I got to play around the islands a fair bit, but I never really explored north of Ft Bill. I properly hate road traffic so now even more tempted by arran/kintyre/Oban/Mull/western edge of loch linhe all the way to ft Bill, then ncn routes!

You could always carry the Phenom as a spare.
🙂

I like the flexibility of the Phenom, it feels quite similar in overall support to a well used B17 and either width suits me better than the B17 Narrow.

If you fancy one and don’t get on, I doubt you’d lose much.

You of course understand that to have it “luxurious” you first need to put 1-2k miles to bead in the saddle?

I’d describe the comfort of my B17 as a revelation within about 1 or 2 miles, no typo on that distance. It’s like Brooks snuck into my bedroom and interfered with my bottom and created my perfect saddle from their discoveries. Seems unlikely but it’s the only way I can explain something so comfortable straight out of the box.

Also,
By taking the ncn 78/1 from Fort Bill up, how many days/ nights did it take to get to JOG…by which i mean where is rather pleasant to stop off and drink my weight in well earned alcohol?:)

Massive fan of the B17. Over 4000 miles on my 12 year old Ti B17 last year, Although the tension bolt did snap, but easily replaced. Like sitting in the lap of an angel 😀

I do have a couple of C17s and they are great, but not as good as the B17. The C17 is better as a winter saddle, when its likely to get wet every ride, which is the achilles heel of the leather B17, even using the std trick of a carrier bag under the saddle to pop on in the really wet.

I have a black Brooks Team Pro if you’re interested. Good price. Fitted to Brompton (also for sale!) but never actually used.

http://www.brooksengland.com/en_eu/saddles/team-pro-classic-3.html

Not really sure what the difference is between that and B17, slightly different shape?

varty.josh@hotmail.co.uk

they should use Ton’s smp saddle in an advert for viagra!

Dont know if any use to anyone but wiggle have the black B17 for £57 at the moment. Halfords are doing both black and honey for £60, so £54 with BC discount, and I guess you could get them to price match the black saddle with Wiggle, then ask for the BC discount equals £51 for the Black B17.

I have B17s fitted to two of my bikes, i wore padded shorts for the first few rides, but needn’t have bothered tbh.
Instantly comfy for me.
I have previously used a san marco rolls, flite ti and charge spoon, found them all fine too.
I’d heartily recommend a brooks, but not two weeks before a lejog.