Anyone use one of these? Look nigh on identical to Brooks but a whole lot cheaper. Ti rails for £80.

Got one in the post as we speak. Will let you know when it arrives in Aus and I get it fitted.

There is a review of the Aire here:

http://road.cc/content/review/60852-spa-cycles-aire-leather-saddle

and the Nidd here:

http://road.cc/content/review/67184-spa-cycles-nidd-leather-saddle

I’m interested in the Ti railed Nidd for my touring bike…

I hope you like pain. 😆

Been using a Nidd for the past seven months, probably around 3000 miles and it’s starting to break in now. As Ton said, it isn’t an easy break in period, the leather is thicker and more rigid than Brooks and not as comfortable.

Having said that, even though it was initially hard (and still is compared to my B17) it was still comfortable, the shape is identical to a B17 so if you choose one that’s got an analogous partner in the Brooks stable then you should be okay. Just be aware of the stupidly long break in period, and be prepared to hand it down to several next-of-kins: I’m confident the life span of the Nidd is going to be a lot longer than mine!

Ha. Leather saddle virgin but I will hopefully be popping 100 to 150 kilometers a week on it. If it is still painful after a week then i will swap back to the spoon for a bit. I guess it depends on how bruised the nether regions get.

3000 miles? Shirley you jest Sir!

Not a fan of leather saddles myself. There is a certain allure to large copper rivits glistening in the sun when your bike is leaning against a dry stone wall……. But the time spend forming it to your will and feudal practices with meats foot oil compounded by said rivits catching on your shorts, followed by the rain ruining the shape don’t compensate. And the weight even with TI rails! Never understood why people have them on mountain bikes.

I’ve got a Brooks Swift in brown going if anyone wants it…couldn’t get on with it sack tapping me.

Overweight, overpriced weapons of ass-destruction. A £20 Charge Spoon is better in every way.

I will have the swift if you can still post to Aus with Royal mail for a sensible sum.

agree with ransos, brown charge for me..tenner off here.

Had a Nidd for a while last year, tried breaking it in for about 700 miles and gave up when Halfords were flogging B17s for £32.

It’s a very similar shape to the B17, very comfortable for riding on good smooth surfaces, but the leather is so much harder than a Brooks, virtually no give at all out of the box with the lacing in place. You can get a bit of give by unlacing, but Neet’s foot oil didn’t do anything to soften it. Sounds like a block of wood when you rap your knuckles on it. Brooks so much comfier out of the box.

Nope Uphill, no jest it really does take that long to break in! All commuting and utility (tarmac, towpaths) so not MTBing, not sure I’d cope with a leather saddle in proper off road. The Nidd is on my Tourer so it fits the bill perfectly.

I picked up a Brooks Flyer cheap a while back, now that is stupidly heavy, all the metal in the springs. It does look very good though. Form over function nevery time!

uphillcursing – Member

I will have the swift if you can still post to Aus with Royal mail for a sensible sum.

A quick quote on Royal mail has it at £25 postage. Ouch.

i have one and a brooks the spa saddle is like sitting a on wood

I love mine took a 1000 miles to break in, but really nice on my tourer.

Charge spoon on my 29er and road bike though

shedbrewed – Member

uphillcursing – Member

I will have the swift if you can still post to Aus with Royal mail for a sensible sum.

A quick quote on Royal mail has it at £25 postage. Ouch.
Whilst Royal mail are a bunch of criminals, depending on how much you want for the saddle I could still be tempted.

Currently I never intentionally ride in the wet. The chances of getting an unforecast soaking are very slim and the fact that it hardly ever rains means I think a leather saddle should fit right in here. I also do like the look of them, esp the ones with copper rivets. Just would like to asses the weight/comfort (or lack there of)/looks ratios before throwing over a hundred pounds at one.
Am now worried about the length of time they can take to break in after reading this thread. However, this is an itch that I still need to scratch.

Still not here yet so I had a ride of comfort this afternoon. I expect to have a beaten arse this time next week. I am quite looking forward to it. 😯

I only ride Brooks saddles – if you get the fit right even from new they are very comfortable – its like having your buttocks massaged by the wings of an angel with every passing mile.

Last forever as well…

Very tempted, but ended up buying a couple of San Marco ones from On-one.

They’re very similar in price.

Got the Regal,

And the Rolls

Gonna see which one I get on with best.

Back from overseas trip .i had missed delivery by two days so it was waiting when i got home.
First impressions were that it seems generate its own gravitational field and that it seemed to sit very high on the rails.
Slathered (is that a word?) a load of the proofing stuff on and fitted. It now looks like it sits very high on the rails indeed compared to the saddles in the garage. A quick spin around the houses and the mis givings about how hard it seemed turned out to be unfounded. I would not say it was really comfortable like an old pair of shoes. Certainly not uncomfortable and must have potential once worn in a bit.
I think the comfort that it promises means i shall give it a go even though i am not sold on the look as yet. I do wonder if i put in time to get used to it i could have spent that time better breaking in a TI Brooks one.

Well I suppose an update is in order. Did 60k on Sunday and the last 10 were getting emotional. Really emotional.
The saddle looks as new, my arse however, felt very used.
Been for an hour tonight and still not seeing any difference. That is about ten hours so far.

I went back on my word from earlier in this thread……I bought a spa nidd saddle.
I have put 1200 miles on it in the last 2 months….it is fantastically comfy. and it broke in far far easier than a brooks.

Three hours on Sunday and another two on Monday night. Roughly thirteen hours use and still no signs of breaking in anything other than my derriere.
Its fine for an hour but after that the shuffling starts. After two hours I am standing for sections, just for a break from the blessed thing. I think I may have to resort to some other application other than the proof supplied.

Actually fifteen hours of use.
Applied another liberal coating of Proof this afternoon and left in the sun till it soaked in. Reapplied and repeated a further three times.
A Google search revealed many weird and a wonderful methods up to and including a ball pein hammer and a couple of hours tapping away.
I am having a night off as even swapping out saddle and post for a spoon fills me with dread.

Mines here. Tough old bugger, the Swift it replaces was stupidly soft and it felt like you were sitting in a hammock. The Brooks was rubbish, the Spa is like the saddles I had decades ago that lasted and took a battering.

Well I’ve fitted the new Spa, and had a chance to give it a good once over.
Now there had been a long gap between leather saddle ownership. When I started almost everyone was on a Brooks or Wright. There wasn’t the fuss made over them like there is now, they were just what you put on and rode. And I can’t recall anyone having a problem with them, even after days in the rain. I rode a Wright saddle.
So leap forward to just a few years ago and when my Swift turned up. The packaging was bells and whistles and the saddle ‘looked’ good, however I do remember thinking it was very very soft out of the box.
I fitted it midweek and rode it for the first time on a 100km reliability trial. It was comfortable from the first second. However it got wet on the ride and by the time I’d finished it looked like a saggy hammock. (I posted pictures up here) basically it was shagged. No amount of tensioning would firm it up. I sold it with an old frame.
So the Spa, this is what I expected my Brooks to look and feel like, well cut and firm. This is like a piece of wood. So for now it’s fitted and coated, I’ll give it another coating and try it on a hilly 80 miler.
I’ll let you know.

Anyone got any updates on how they are getting on with these saddles. I have not been riding much on this bike in the last couple of months and still find the “bugger” as it has been dubbed a little hard.
Anyone fare any better?

I like mine.

Bought a Nidd to use on a flat bar do-it-all bike.

Loved the shape, good quality leather and a bit more fore and aft adjustment than a Brooks.

Could not believe how tough it was at first. 🙂

Started using it on the MTB to give it a bashing.
The shape was great, a bit of bounce but still no signs of breaking in.

Considered hitting it with sticks, jumping on it, weeing on it, threatening it etc.

Took it off and gave it a good few coats of Proofide, dubbin and Nikwax over a week or so.

It’s done probably 1500 miles now and it’s great.
Bit more supple all over, starting to give where my sit bones rest.

I love the lining under the saddle, which is something Brooks should have done years ago.
Stops a perfectly good saddle being ruined, as Oldgit mentioned above.

Definitely a keeper, but I’m lucky in that it fits me anyway, so it’s always been comfortable.

Give the thread another 6 months to lie dormant then try again 🙂

Currently breaking in a Brooks B17 narrow (daily 12 miles commute) after having a_n_other brand leather saddle for about 8 months and deciding I’d rather have no saddle than keep on using that one. Personally the Brooks has been much better since day 1, however still waiting for the ‘wings of angles’ levels of comfort mentioned above!