Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hi. I've had several Brooks saddles and although usually comfy for touring there has been quality issues with most of them. My most comfy B17 imperial snapped it's rails and it seems replacement parts aren't available anymore. So much for the green washing Brooks like to promote.

Anyway, if you have a B17 that has leather damage that can't be repaired yet the rails are still intact I'd be interested if you want to sell it. I can offer parts for the Flyer saddle too if anyone needs these to revive a saddle and save it from landfill. Brooks quality ain't what they used to be it seems.

Cheers, Leafy

Same issue, but C17 this time.
Any suggestions appreciated!

I think you can buy the rails for the C series saddles from Brooks but no idea if it's affordable to buy and ship them to Aus. Maybe try Abbotsford cycles.

You can get the rails welded or brazed up with reinforcements as necessary. See your local framebuilder or jobbing welder who uses gas or TIG. I have done this a couple of times to salvage a couple of Brooks Swallows that had the same problem.

Richard

Thanks Richard, I'd wondered about this. I'll have to find the bits and hope I didn't throw them.

Leaf T wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2024 2:50 pm

and it seems replacement parts aren't available anymore.

If the bits are on the Brooks UK site they’re available, just not to a .au address, due to the sole importer choosing not to bring the whole range in.

I have a freight forwarder/ drop box with US and UK addresses which solves that problem. Plus some mates “over there”.

I think that the only dead Brooks frame I have is(was?) a B17 narrow. Not sure if it’s still in the shed.

Leaf T wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2024 4:38 pm

I think you can buy the rails for the C series saddles from Brooks but no idea if it's affordable to buy and ship them to Aus. Maybe try Abbotsford cycles.

Good thoughts ...
Bike was serviced at Abbotsford Cycles when the crack was discovered, so no.luck there. Website has them listed, but apparently only for the C17 special, the shorter version. They have the Carbon ones for the carved/ all weather type, but Mine is the original older version, and I dont know if those fit.
Welding probably my best option.

Leaf T wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2024 2:50 pm

Hi. I've had several Brooks saddles and although usually comfy for touring there has been quality issues with most of them. My most comfy B17 imperial snapped it's rails and it seems replacement parts aren't available anymore. So much for the green washing Brooks like to promote.

Anyway, if you have a B17 that has leather damage that can't be repaired yet the rails are still intact I'd be interested if you want to sell it. I can offer parts for the Flyer saddle too if anyone needs these to revive a saddle and save it from landfill. Brooks quality ain't what they used to be it seems.

Cheers, Leafy

You need a very skilled and knowledgeable leather technician for the Brooks saddles. The problem you are referring to is due to lack of nourishment of the leather over a long period of time; the leather must be treated, just like bushwalking boots. Among these bespoke saddles, the Brooks B52 was a common, envy-inducing staple in my bicycle touring days from the last years of the 1970s up to 1998. The saddles often featured at club night show-and-tell sessions! With heavy use and exposure, the rivets would be worn to a thin edge and start biting into the leather, and thus began a gradual but very sure deterioration. A small workshop in Melbourne, unfortunately long gone now, existed upstairs in the Block Arcade and was dedicated to repairing these artisan saddles.

Thanks for the replies all. I wasn't referring to a leather problem Biggles. The leather is still good hence my wanting the rails. The leather was cared for in accordance with Brooks recommendations. Unfortunately Brooks quality these days will never have you dealing with the rivets wearing down. Not something I would be complaining about if they lasted that long.

Leaf T wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2024 2:41 pm

Thanks for the replies all. I wasn't referring to a leather problem Biggles. The leather is still good hence my wanting the rails. The leather was cared for in accordance with Brooks recommendations. Unfortunately Brooks quality these days will never have you dealing with the rivets wearing down. Not something I would be complaining about if they lasted that long.

Brooks saddles will outlive all of us I reckon! Faulty rivet material was blamed for the thinning and eventual shearing of the leather in the 1980s. Replacements were provided in felt-lined wooden boxes, posted free to Australia.

There are two B52s nearby me in Geelong that have been in continuous use on touring bikes since c. 1989, but over that time 3 bikes!

A peak into the Brooks saddle factory...
https://theradavist.com/brooks-england- ... 0Smethwick.

Mozziediver wrote:Welding probably my best option.

I'd suspect the rails are spring steel....good luck welding that and getting it to last!

hunch wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2024 8:04 pm

Mozziediver wrote:Welding probably my best option.

I'd suspect the rails are spring steel....good luck welding that and getting it to last!

Well, yes you can weld the rails, whatever they are made of you just need the correct technique, filler rod etc. However, welding per se is probably not the best solution here IMHO. The saddles I fixed had a thin re-inforcing tube slid over the break, extending (from memory) 20-25mm either side. This was then brazed to the saddle rail ensuring a smooth fillet at each end. Using silver IIRC. OK this assumes the break is in the flat part of the rail which is normally where they break - at the clamp. No use if the nose has broken for example.
OK you now have a slightly oversize seat rail. Not a problem with retro clamps that fit onto simple seat posts and use side plates or cheaper modern posts that have steel top/bottom plates. If you have to use a seat post with a cast alloy clamp you can make the curves slightly wider using a Dremal or a half round hand file.

The Brooks Swallow I repaired for myself 25 years ago (gosh ) did duty for me on our tandem for several years and then on my 1955 Claud Butler up to now. I'm about 90kg so I'm no lightweight. Here's a picture of it in current use - zoom into the saddle. I just sprayed the new steel black but you can tart it up as much as you wish. I've not heard anything bad from the others I fixed over the years either.



Whatever you do you WILL need to re-inforce the joint somehow or all it will do is snap again.

All this assumes a normal break in the long part of the rail and someone competent using the torch. if the nose or tail fractures then all bets are off and you have to un-rivet the leather and work from there. At this point it might be worth getting a scrap saddle and re-purposing the frame from that?

Richard

Ok.
Thanks for the feedback. I'll probably shelve it for now.
Finding a used saddle might be possible, but I suspect rails will be fatigued.

Mozziediver wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 11, 2024 9:30 pm

Finding a used saddle might be possible, but I suspect rails will be fatigued.

Fatigue is probably not a problem on most older saddles, this is steel we are talking about, not aluminium. The breaks I've see were due (IMHO) to crappy chroming process leading to embrittlement of the steel. Brooks admitted this problem back in the 90's and said they fixed it. However, they've changed owner (and factory?) since then so who knows.

Older Brooks didn't seem to have this problem, especially those with black enameled rails. Between my wife and I we own quite a few Brooks or Wrights saddles of various ages, mostly pre 1990, and they are all fine after extensive use.

Richard