I am intrigued by the alleged qualities of Brooks saddles… Are they really that good? If so, which one to get for the 29er hardtail that sees a lot of mud and rocks?

They very Marmite, folks either love or hate them!

I’m a fan and have a mixture of B17s and Swifts. Hard to choose between them for comfort, again it’s a personal thing and very much dependant on the shape of your backside.

A saddle for life apparently, they mould to the shape of your derrière. My good friends at drovercycles.co.uk swear by them – give them a bell if you want to talk to someone about them.

BTM

Sadly, the rails have a reputation for breaking according to the CTC. But Brooks aren’t the only leather saddle maker. The Spa ones might be better…

IME they need protecting from rain and mud.

Because I didn’t read the instructions and thought they were tough old things, I first rode mine on a reliability trial, it rained all day and the saddle never recovered.
Mudguards would have helped.
Some said you need to ride with a cover on it in the wet, seems daft to fork out that for a leather saddle only to have to use a Tescos bag to make it practical.
Also things like going in for a coffee and leaving the bike outside in the rain and snow.
Wanted to love it, but far more practical and technically better saddle exist

Just been on the Spa cycles website.Love the leather! Was going to pull the trigger on a saddle and a saddlebag. Bugger. Now have to wait for a postage quote. I bet it will take the price into Brooks territory.

Brooks saddles come with a rain cover you roll up & Velcro underneath.

Brooks saddles come with a rain cover you roll up & Velcro underneath.

Mine un velcro’d itself on that first ride, it’s probably somewhere in a hedge near Chesham?
Mine was crap, ruined in 100km of wet riding. When it dried tightening the bolt right up didn’t even begin to take up the slack.
Now I remember Brooks and Wrights were the norm on Sunday bikes when I started and they laughed in the face of bad weather.
Often wondered if mine was a fake?

ihave a b17 which is very comfy bought a spa cycles one as well looks the same but it is a lot harder than the brookes

I’ve been v happy with my Brooks saddles for commuting, rough tracks and road biking. I’m not sure I’d want one on a hard tail on any thing technical as it will get trashed and isn’t great for moving around the bike on
I prefer off-road saddles to be fit, forget and then replace which isn’t a Brooks

i have a brooks swift i use on a commuter with full mudguards. It gets treated every month with their proofide to help protect it. After the break in period it is now extremely comfortable.

i dont think they are robust enough to have on a MTB that gets mud and wet and you would need to use a mud guard for protection. I think thats why Brook’s brought out their new cambium.