 Saddles are a very important part of cycling, the comfort of which is important to your enjoyment of a ride and worth spending the time sorting out. We have experimented with several saddle types and designs. The original saddles that came with the Giants were a low spec. gel saddle and we replaced these with a Serfas RX model. These worked fairly well, however we have found that gel saddles promise much but loose their effectiveness after a while, are sweaty and you still end up with a 'numus bumus' after a while in the saddle!
In an attempt to find 'Saddle Nirvana' we decided to try the Brooks leather saddles. We both started with the B67 which was recommended to us for touring however we soon found it was more suitable for a more upright cycling position than ours and we both found the saddle to be too short in the length.
We have since changed them to the 'Champion Flyer' which it is longer in the body and slightly narrower. It also has a slightly thicker and harder leather and has taken slightly longer to break in than the B67, however it is now much more comfortable. The Champion Flyer is basically the same as the B17 but with the addition of rear springs. We have found these springs do make a difference to the comfort on bumpy roads.
The Brooks saddles do take a bit of breaking in, it is just like a pair of leather boots which initially may feel a little uncomfortable but as you wear them they tend to mould to your feet the same is true of the Brooks saddle, if you look at the two photos below of a new and used saddle you can see how it has moulded to the rider.
A new Brooks saddle
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A used saddle, notice the dimples made by the sit bones
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Brooks do make a female version of the 'Champion Flyer' which is a little shorter in length to the Gents version, Frank who is 6ft tall tried the female version but found it too short for her and has swapped it for a Gents version.
Brooks Saddle care
Brooks saddles being made of leather do take some looking after and it is worth the effort. Brooks recommend giving their saddles a regular rub over with their 'Proofide' to keep the leather in good condition.
They also recommended not allowing the saddle to get too wet as this can stretch the leather, therefore I would suggest getting a saddle cover or at least covering it with a plastic bag if it is outside in the wet. We have found that if you are riding the bike in the rain and you have used 'Proofide' there is no need to cover the saddle whilst you are riding as your back side seems to do a good enough job, however it is when you do stop for any length of time you will need to cover the saddle.
Adjustment
What ever type of saddle you use it is important to get your saddle adjusted correctly, here are some links to pages detailing how to adjust your saddle for the correct riding position:
As you can see from the links there are various ways of adjusting the saddle height and position for and aft. You will need to experiment a bit to find that optimum position, when you have found a comfortable position it is worth marking you seat post and seat rails in some way so you reposition the saddle in the correct position when you have to disassemble the bike for any reason.
After a certain amount of use you may find your Brooks saddle which after the breaking in period and has been comfortable for a while starts to become a little uncomfortable. You may notice that you feel you are sitting slightly forward and you are beginning to feel the nose of the saddle more, this is usually due to the leather stretching slightly between the nose and the rear of the saddle. If there is a noticeable curve between the nose and the rear you will need to tighten the saddle nut near the nose of the saddle to stretch out the saddle and reduce the curve. Tighten it enough just to make the saddle feel comfortable again.
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