B17

 

Back from the shop

Christmas arrived a couple days early this year, when I received word from a repair shop that my Brooks B17 Imperial bicycle saddle could be saved.

I’ve been a huge fan of the Brooks England’s handmade leather saddles for many years, crediting them for letting me ride my bikes comfortably for thousands of miles.

This particular B17 has been with me for so long now that it’s almost a part of me. I’ve ridden on it for more than 6,000 miles, including over major parts of the Great Divide mountain bike route between Canada and Mexico and the northern tier route between Anacortes WA and Bar Harbor ME.

So when the saddle’s leather started drooping and the tightening mechanism stopped working properly a year ago, I was saddened at the thought that I might soon have to say adios to an old friend.

Sick saddle

Critics will wonder what all the fuss is about, because they say the saddles are anything but comfortable for them. It’s true that the B17s, which the UK-based Brooks has been manufacturing for more than 100 years, are not instant-gratification technology. In fact, right out of the box, the saddles can be hard and unyielding—a real pain in the ass.

To make them comfortable, they need to be broken in gradually by riding them hundreds of miles. Once the leather softens and conforms to a rider’s sit bones, the saddle will fit a rider’s backside like a glove.

When I first realized that something was amiss with my B17 Imperial last year, I bought a new one, just in case the old one absolutely had to be replaced.

I have been riding the new B17 for short distances for several months. But with fewer than 500 miles on the saddle, it is still hard as a rock and nowhere near broken-in enough for serious touring.

Fortunately, in early December, I found a Brooks England-approved saddle repairman in Philadelphia, who mended my old saddle for $20. For him, a simple fix.

“It looks like it’s got plenty of life left,” said Simon Firth, of Firth & Wilson Transport Cycles, in the city of brotherly love.

Music to my ears. Now I am looking forward to all the new adventures I’ll be having riding on my old B17,  while continuing to break in the new one, just in case.

Back on the Troll, where it belongs