Been toying with the idea of getting a Brookes Swift saddle for the bike cos I think it will look ace. Some days it seems like a good idea, and others just an insane waste of money. I thought the whole issue had been put to bed when I was told that the first real soaking it gets will ruin it for good. Much as I hate to employ the signature terms of psychobabble I need 'closure' on this one, so tell me that such things have no place in the rain and slop.

Brooks saddles only suffer in rain if they stay wet for a long period and/or are not looked after. A Brooks sadddle that is cared for should outlast any of the 'normal' saddles out there. If you buy one get the maintenance kit and a cover if the bike spends a lot of time sitting out of doors.

I went through a phase of using a Brooks on my main mountain bike and still have one on my cargo bike. They are not all that fragile. If they are properly proofed they're alright, and if you use a mudguard even better. I think a "soaking" is a different proposition from "going out in the wet". If you couldn't go out in the wet without ruining them then there wouldn't be so many old ones knocking about. 🙂

Remember to dry leather out naturally, trying to dry it near a radiator or in the airing cupboard will, in the exact words of my motorbike instructor, "Phuck em"

eventually you will.

It might just kill you first. Starting with your arris.

The last thing I would want to worry about is 'saddle maintenence'. Just get a fit and forget comfortable one. Unless your riding is all in the dry.

They are fine if you use the proofide treatment top and bottom. I've got Brooks which have seen many a soaking and they have bounced back. Mudguards are a very good idea. Once broken in you won't find a more comfortable saddle IME.

Been toying with the idea of getting a Brookes Swift saddle for the bike cos I think it will look ace

whilst I'll admit that I've bought stuff on looks alone, looks, for a saddle would seem at first to be a pretty low priority. Besides which, they are **** uncomfortable…

I'll vouch that brookes saddles will hold up to poor treatment – I had one on the bike I used for couriering (it was my Dad's old racer – perfect for lack of desirability…) and left out/used in all weather. It was already about 30 years old too.

FWIW though I wouldn't buy one for new unless the look is more important to you than function. While they get comfortable with age, they're no more comfortable than good modern saddles and then can often be extremely uncomfortable while being worn/broken in…

Although I have heard that they are comfortable etc it's got to be admitted that aesthetic's were my main consideration with this. My curent charge spoon leather/ti is the most comfortable thing i've ever used but won't last that much longer. Aww, decisions decisions!

My one was very comfortable but I guess that my Dad had already broken it in and being similar build I guess that wasn't an issue for it fitting me well too.

I still wouldn't buy one new except purely to pose with (and even then to be frank, it looks a bit beard and sandals I reckon…)

Heavy, expensive, need looking after.

I've never seen the appeal. But then I don't find Weapons of Ass Destruction appealing.

I second what Sam said – comfortable, not fragile, not ruined by a soaking. My Professional's still in excellent shape after 25 years with me (Jesus, saying that makes me feel old!), and the Brooks B17 on my Dad's old Claud Butler (from the 1950s…) is also still going strong, unlike my Dad – kit that outlives its owner.

I proof mine – only very occasionally, like once every couple of years (ahem) – with something Mrs F uses on the leather things she steers her horse with, rather the Brooks proofide stuff, and for the last few years it's lived on my mudguardless used all year round SS MTB (until I got an Ortlieb Mudracer saddle bag – the rails on the Brooks are too wide for the Ortlieb's mounting bracket, and I haven't got round to making a new bracket – when I do, the Brooks comes off the road fixie and back onto the InBred).

I had one on my mountain bike briefly. Found it extremely comfy and it was just breaking in nicely. However it didn't take to well to getting soggy with muddy water. It acted as a sponge and just soaked it up,it then dried out hard and deformed.

As a couple of others have said, maintaining a saddle is one thing I could do without. I now run a WTB – fit and forget.

Thanks for all the advice. Opinion seems split between those that love the things (and think that they last well) and those who are left cold by the very idea. If I do go off the deep end and go for one it'll have to be wince and hold your breath impulse purchase. Not my first and probably not my last……

Lobby_Dosser is right about muddy water. My Brooks was fine with just a straighforward soaking but getting doused in muddy water on a 30 miler ruined it, despite all the care I had taken to profide it. Took a while to work it back into the right shape before it dried out.

Choose your seat post carefully as some clamp arrangements tend to foul the underside of the saddle in my experience and can restrict your fore and aft movement of the saddle.

mine`s been wet more times than you shake a very shaky stick at, and is massively comfy.[way more then my brothers sdg] i use dubbin maybe twice a year 😀

oh and another thing- the metal tabs at the back of the saddle (i think they were used back in the day for attaching a saddle bag) can snag your jacobs if you hang off the back of the saddle for steeps.

Sounds like you are just about convinced.

Go for it I say.

I have one on the hard tail, which gets little in the way of attention, the only thing I did on fitting it was to proof the underside, the topside gets a coat of proofing once a year at the most. It is the most comfortable saddle I have ever used, it gave the impression of being as hard as a block of wood on taking out of the box – which initially made me thing I had made a mistake – on the contrary it was the best impulse buy I have made on the bike.

Just had a quick look for the Charge Spoon on google shopping.

One site says: "The spoon seat is the perch of choice for all XC, Enduro or Road riders."

So that's that then: all riders. I don't know why you're pretending to be interested in the Brooks…

I've got a ti/leather spoon at the moment, although its probably not long for this world. I love it, and should get another, but you know how it is with objects of desire: difficult to keep on consuming the same thing again and again. Wasteful and idiotic I know.

what about this one, then?

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Selle%20Italia-CX-Zero-Teklonologika-Performance-Saddle_17629.htm

you get to buy a new seatpost too by the looks of things!