Brooks saddle

I have just ridden my bike fitted with a brooks B17 narroy saddle. I now have to sit down for a piss. whats wrong (with the saddle)

nothing, HTFU

Could be the angle/position/height of the saddle, or a mixture of all 3. Or it could be that your arse/gouch area isn't at one with that ctype of saddle. Different people find different saddles comfortable. I've never ridden a brooks, but ive heard that they will break in and become more comfy. Have a fiddle with it and try again, if after a few weeks its still the same, maybe sell it and get something different?

New Brooks saddles take some wearing in, HTFU (for a bit).

thank you. all

perhaps...it is your under garments?......It can happen!

Did a search, found this thread.

Got a new (secondhand) bike that came with a Brooks. The overall package looks well used and the Brooks saddle definitely looks broken in but it feels rock fucking solid. Should it sound like plastic when you knock on it? Should there be any give in it at all?

People make out like these saddles are the best thing in the world but my Selle Italia Flite was more comfortable unpadded!

I have just ridden my bike fitted with a brooks B17 narroy saddle. I now have to sit down for a piss. whats wrong (with the saddle)

are you gentleman or lady?
ladies almost always sit down to piss (i am told).

are you gentleman or lady?
ladies almost always sit down to piss (i am told).

hahahhahhahahahhaahahhahaahha

FFS m8
get a regal then you can stand bac up again ( erect ) like a MAN :)

maybe you have to sit on the brooks, like a chicken to an egg, to break it in. HTFU!!

maybe you have to sit on the brooks, like a chicken to an egg, to break it in. HTFU!!

I'm no stranger to HTFUing, but from the look of the saddle, I assumed it was broken in. If it isn't, well that's a bonus.

Alright mate, how you doing!

Your brooks saddle shouldn't sound like plastic. It may be that it hasn't been used for a long time.

when you press the leather with your thumb or put any weight on it, are there any cracks in the leather? Or does its shape not deform at all?

If the surface is fairly shiny it may have been well treated with proofide or something in the past, this may have gone hard.

Try putting the saddle in a thick platic bag and dunking it in some warm water (don't get the saddle wet, just try and warm it up), or use a hair dryer just on warm setting to try and get the old leather warmed up. Once it's warm, give the leather a bit of a rub and see if wax comes off, if so you probably just need to rub this wax in a bit (the heat from your hands will soften the wax up).

If there are small or large cracks in the leather or it feels brittle (feel the edges see if they bend), then you may have to be a bit more careful. Try rubbing a little proofide in topside and underneath. Keep the saddle reasonably warm for a few days hours and see if the leather gets any more supple. You may have to do this several times.

Even so, if the saddle is cracked and the leather hasn't been looked after, no matter how much wax you put on now the leather structure may have disintegrated - leather does biodegrade, eventually. If the cracks get bigger or the saddle gets considerably baggier as you ride it, you may be out of luck.

(Cop-out clause: I'm just guessing all this from past experience with walking boots, i've never had to coax an old saddle back to life, but it's leather so probably behaves the same).

the fourth section of this is about breaking leather saddles in: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/leather.html

Hello Chris, long time no see!

Thanks for the info. There's no cracks, it's barely deforming, and it's shiny. So I'm going to try heating it up and rubbing it.

It's got a few scuffs, a couple of nicks in it, and the Brooks logo is a bit worn out on the side which is why I assumed it was older and most likely broken in.

Thought i'd share my small experience of an old brooks on here in case it helps.
Got an old b17 that was a little splayed out but not banana'd and with a few shallow looking cracks/hard as nails.
Hadn't found this site at the time and had a quick look on sheldon and classic lightweights, where i also saw how to do a skully-esque chop. Then promptly forgot most of it and made it up as i went along.
First i tried warming it up slightly as has been suggested above, found this didn't really help to shift the wax, more drastic measures required. So i took a sharp penknife and scraped all the crap off, didn't take too much leather off in the process but it also significantly reduced the size of the cracks.
Then performed a chop using a dremel with cutting wheel(the smell of burning leather is not to be underestimated) and used a shoelace to stich the sides instead of a plate or chainlink. Did it a little further forward than i intended but tightening the adjustment bolt just a tad sorted any risk of sag out.
Seemed a little dry at this stage so i rubbed in half a small bottle of extra virgin all over and wrapped in a rag soaked with the other half bottle overnight.

Then scraped the excess oil off with a plastic ruler and buffed for ages with cotton cloth. The cracks are now invisible pretty much and what was originally a dark brown/black rock hard mess of a saddle is now an arrow thin, really soft yet rigid where it should be saddle that i've used on my main bike for a year now.

Saddle - £5(it really looked bad)
Olive oil - £1.50

I have no idea if using olive oil was a good idea, i know i had to wear dark trousers for the first couple of weeks while the last of the oil settled.
I'm chuffed with how it turned out but i have no idea if its relevent to the op's question.
I also have a brand new b17 on my tourer which is still hard as nails. Htfu is the only remedy