i cannot afford to buy one at present,but am interested in your opinions of them.
they do seem to be highly rated (although breaking them in to begin with may well be uncomfortable).

after riding on sunday (doing a biggish distance for me anyhoo) on my road bike,my saddle felt pretty uncomfortable (i ended up standing for most of the way back) it’s a specialized toupe saddle.

are brooks saddles really that good?

I use a Toupe (143) on my road bike. I think it’s great.

I have a Brooks B17 on my tourer. I think it’s great.

My B17 needed no “breaking-in” either. My first ride was 50 miles round East Lothian and it was comfy from the get-go.

I like them, but they’re a bit of a faff:

Pros:
Comfiest saddle you’ll ever use, if you pick the right one.
Will last for years if you get a good one and look after it.
They look nice. 🙂

Cons:
Heavy.
Expensive.
Need breaking in.
Need looking after, like a good pair of leather shoes.
Try to keep it as dry as you can (waterproof the underneath, put a bag over it if you leave it outside in the rain, don’t ride it if it’s sopping wet).
The quality can be a bit variable – some last for ever, some don’t. Could just be down to how they’re cared for.

They really, really are remarkably comfy though.

At the moment, I prefer the leather saddles from Spa Cycles:
Linky.
Very, very well built & much cheaper than the Brooks models on which they are ‘closely based’.

Lots of threads on here about them, might be worth a search just to get a wider range of opinion – I’m a bit biased 🙂

If you have the cash, it’s worth trying one just so you can see what the fuss is all about.

thanks a lot everyone (apologies that i’m too lazy to have googled brooks saddles here 😳

they do seem to have a new carbon version coming out in june (still leather also).i may well save up for one once i paid my bike off.am happy to pay for a saddle that my arse will like 😆 (it’s bloomin fickle my arse 😳

What size is your Toupe and did you go through the fitting process?

Have you considered a San Marco Rolls? One the best saddles I have ever used. I’ve got them on a couple of my bikes. Totally different type of saddle to a Brooks but they last for ages and can take a lot more abuse. Bit cheaper as well.