4.13.2012

saddle snobbery

The B-18 Saddle 
Image credit: Shanyn's Pages, a cool web 1.0  bike site 

while KT is definitely spongeworthy, her friend ramona wheelright is a bit of a saddle snob.  The secret to a comfortable saddle in her experience is two part, suspension and materials:
I often find myself only barely joking when I explain my preference for leather bike seats by saying, 'Just as I wouldn't wear plastic shoes, I won't ride on a plastic saddle'.  It is pretty much true.   And just as a leather shoe softens to conform to the shape of your foot, so will a brooks give way to your buns.  In selecting a bicycle seat, I also have a strong preference for suspension.  I think the brooks b-18 with a vertically coiled sprung metal frame and a flower embossed leather top is pretty damn gorgeous and strikes the perfect balance between heavy duty comfort and style.   I have never felt fatigue in this saddle even after long rides, and even on rough rides such as the commute down market street with all its train tracks and potholes.
The B-18 has vertical coil springs for shock absorption. You can bounce on it!


P1060799
Snoball in the shakespeare garden at night wearing the b-18

4 comments:

Kristin Tieche said...

Just make sure to bolt that saddle down as Brooks saddle theft is on the rise!

Ramona Wheelright said...

yes, definitely bolting it down. I was thinking about your brief relationship with a brooks the whole time I was writing this. secure your saddles city people!

Anonymous said...

Whoa! Didn't expect to to find "spongeworthy" to be used on this blog. Or was that just totally inappropriate?

Anonymous said...

For those of you who use a lot of "body English" to control the bike, and so need a longer nose than the B18, take a peek at the REGULAR B67, B72, and B68.

Not the B67S (short) B72S (short) or B68S (short), which all have noses similar to the B18. The S (short) models tend to be marketed toward women, because women are more likely to have issues with skirts and saddle noses.

I ride in skirts on my B67 and B68 without any problem. It's more an issue of steering and control preference than actual clothing preference.

Now, if only Brooks would make the B18 in a regular length nose! It's a beautiful saddle, but I just can't ride it. And my Soma Buena Vista would look so good with one!