An ebay bargain, Ã,£8inc for a Selle Italia C2, Ã,£35 from wiggle  



Been ridden for ~20km, its got a bit of dust on it and some rubbed areas, but nothing you wouldnt get after leaning yer bike against a wall one time.  Its the same model (albeit without the "anatomical cutout") as the one on my ribble, so I can finally see if the fancypants marketing for holes in saddles is justified

Just need to finish painting the damn thing now  

looks nice mate, been looking at B17s here lol out of my budget at the moment but quite fancy getting one.

Got one of them sitting soaking in oil in the garage.  Ive never sat on it, only on cheaper replicas on some old bikes kicking around.  May have to dig it out and see what its like, although I cant ever see me putting up with it as an everyday thing.

lol apparantly takes like 3 weeks or something silly for it to just break in and become comfy

Quote from: M3ta7h3adlooks nice mate, been looking at B17s here lol out of my budget at the moment but quite fancy getting one.

I wouldnt recommend one for a stout fellah like yourself. Reason is that the B17, Flyer, B66, and most of the affordable Brook are made of thinnish leather, so after six months of a heavier rider the "skirts" will start to flare and give gnarly thigh chafe. I range in weight from 165 at my racing weight to 185 at my post Christmas ham weigh in, and I can flare one in a year. You can tighten the nut, but the only real solution to this is to punch and lace the skirt. A PITA, if you ask me.

Brooks pros are thicker leather, but take a while to break in. And for what its worth, soaking any Brooks saddle in oil and its rendered worthless. Only use Proofide, or if youre cheap, clear shoe wax.

Personally, Im over them, but its probably as my ischia differ in fore/aft by a cm, and Brooks dont give you a lot of sliding around options. Riding the rivets is not comfy.

Definitely look for a firm saddle though, something like a womans racing saddle might be the ticket, as mens tend to be rediculously narrow. WTB and Terry Mens can be pretty nice, but sometimes overly plush.

Im back on my pair of Unicanitor clones. Hard for 10 miles, but after 30, they totally disappear. Ahhhh. Same design as the Cinelli from  64.

lol im alright on the saddle I have. Never really thought a saddle would be unsuitable for me beyond the gnarly racing type "this is really a razor blade" saddles.

Just really like the look of the black leather one (B17 I think its called) Something to slim down into then lol just like the damn cycling shorts I want lol.

Spent too much on my bike this month, just want to get the damn thing on the road so I can save money from train fares now.

Get a B17 if you like the looks, just be aware of some of its limitations. Dont condition it beyond some wax, dont futz with it, i.e. dont whang on it with a peen hammer. Just mount it dead level or with a couple degrees nose up, and ride. When the skirts flare, punch them with a drill or leather tool, and lace like a shoe. A B17 needs about 50 miles to break in, thats it. Its supposed to be hard, but ever so slightly flexy.

The rumors about using neatsfoot oil soaks and other nonsense came no doubtedly from racers that rode the much thicker Brooks Pro model or the insanely thick Ideales. Those can take a bit of oiling and not sag too badly. Indeed, during the early part of this century, a well broken in racing saddle was so prized, that riders would often take them to bed for fear of the competition sabotaging their saddles during a multi day race.