So I have tried various saddles and I thought I had cracked it with the Brookes Cambium C17 as it is very comfortable but it has a rough edge I have discovered.... I hadn't really noticed this before and although the seat of my shorts had worn slightly in a saddle shaped pattern I had put this down to standard wear as they are a couple of years old. However I have just bought a pair of Rapha bib shorts and after my first ride (25 miles) the material has worn where it has contacted the edge of the saddle at the back. Running my fingers around the edge of the saddle it certainly feels rough and I'm thinking it is this that has ruined my new shorts...
I was looking at the Specialized Phenom - is it any good? Is it a suitable replacement fit wise for the C17? Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks
Sand down the Brooks?
My C17 hasn't caused me any issues like that and is the most comfortable saddle I have used, sorry I can't help with any suggestions has an alternative but have you tried contacting Brookes?
I haven’t contacted Brookes yet although I will ( only discovered it yesterday really..) I have also used a bit of P2000 sand paper on it this afternoon but it doesn’t seem to make much difference as the seat seems to be made up of layers of slightly fibrous material and sanding it just exposes more…
No rough edge on my cambrium either. If it was in every other way a good saddle I'd be investing in a craft knife and a bit of 240 wet and dry.
made up of layers of slightly fibrous material and sanding it just exposes more…
Paint or varnish then to create smooth layer?
Pic of the damage…
C17 carved user here and no issues.
The saddle I liked before the C17 was the specialized romin (can't remember the width, but wide),but after discovering the C17 I can't see me using anything else. Have one in each bike now
Just checked my shorts and longs, all with a decent amount of miles on them, maybe some marking, but nothing worrying. Maybe cheap DHB shorts are just a tougher material.
I did 'carve' my first C17 myself and I can say that they are a bugger to get a smooth edge on. I ended up putting a smear of sugru around the carved edge as the only way to get it smooth. Might be worth it on the outer edge of it's doing that to your shorts?
TBH from the wear pattern on your shorts I’d say you need a bike fit more than a change of saddle. You’re sitting very far back on the saddle to create those marks.
C17 Cambium All Weather user here and it’s the comfiest saddle I’ve ever used.
Why is it only marking one side?
Do you habe an old injury and your riding with a weaker leg/knee/ankle?
Is the saddle straight? Is it the sane damage on the other shorts?
Ex basketball player here, tore my right ankle too many times, as a result I have less movement in it. My mate says after a long ride he notices it when I'm out in front but never at the start if a ride. I never notice it but I feel it at the end of a long day.
Just a thought
I think it’s just rougher on one side. I sanded it but I can’t really tell if it’s much better and I’m not sure I want to damage the shorts even more by testing it. My cheaper DHB shorts haven’t suffered to this extent although they do have a bit of wear.
I think the pattern of the seams makes it look like I am overhanging the saddle at the back, I’m not though. The pad is quite large and where the thick part of the pad is squashed by me a bit sticks out past the back end of the saddle. I’m sitting squarely on the thickest part of the pad.
Actually just checked a pair of DHB shorts that I wore for the first time on this seat for a short ride just the other day…
And these are my winter ones that I’ve been wearing for months on this saddle… this is what I thought was just general wear but now I’m thinking not…
Had some sort of Kevlar one in the 90s - came on a secondhand bike. That wore shorts very quickly, switched to a Flite Ti - no more issues.
I have a C17 cambium but haven't had those problems, other than for the first couple of rides. I did a 300km audax yesterday with no significant discomfort so I'd stick with the saddle if at all possible.
Cambium users is the carve more comfy than the standard?
Well I’ve emailed Brooks and Rapha so I’ll see what they say….
Cambium users is the carve more comfy than the standard?
I find the carved better for me.
I usually have saddles with a big cut out anyway, guess it depends on your undercarriage!
Initially I had the standard all weather C17, but after a 5 day bikepacking gravel trip my perenium was a bit battered (possibly would be with any saddle) so i carved it myself. Subsequent ones I bought as carved and they're ace.
I've been thinking about a new saddle, and Brooks 17 seems to be the most well liked. No love for leather anybody? Everyone here seems to have gone for the cambium.
I've had a brooks b17 since 2002. Its great! I use it for bike packing on my MTB. 80 miles of road in the lakes and my bum is fine. The rest of me is super unhappy!
It was horrible until it got drenched one day and moulded to my bum.
I have a Couple of the sprung brooks flyers which are the same shape as the b16 but with springs. They had nothing like the break in period. One is 10 years old and one is 3. They were both fin from the first ride.
I tried a c17 and it was a horrible shape for me. I also had the patterned top with laces leather one. That was also horrible.
The resale on brook saddles is pretty good. If you try a b17 and don't like it you would probably get 2/3 of your money back if you sold it on.
I’ve been thinking about a new saddle, and Brooks 17 seems to be the most well liked. No love for leather anybody?
I don’t (ethically) have any love for leather - but I did buy a used bike with a nearly new Brooks Team Pro Special which has turned out to be the most comfortable saddle I ever had. Interestingly I did once try a b17 from new and never got along with it.
It (Team Pro Special) gets used on the tourer/everyday bike. Hasn’t really begun to be ‘broken in’ - as they say - yet it’s very comfortable. I use an Aardvark waterproof saddle cover when parking (to discourage theft ) or when raining.
The second most comfortable saddle I’ve used is a Spesh Phenom Gel Comp, and use it on a 29er/gravel bike with a mountain bike flavour. It has a cut-out and is all-weather proof, and is comparatively lightweight.
So Rapha are replacing the shorts and (after a bit of toing and froing) Wiggle are replacing the saddle.
incidentally Brooks did recommend sanding it and sort of implied that they were aware of some issues… They were suggesting it was more common for certain material to become worn around the inner thigh from the nose of the saddle though rather than at the back like mine though. Anyway I’ll see how the new one goes but I’ve got my eye on a Spesh Phenom Expert…..