Was it a mid-life crisis? An eventual acceptance of what must be?
Or that I'd got a voucher to spend at Wiggle and needed an excuse? Which ever one it was I finally took the plunge and bought a Brooks B17 Saddle. I've had a lot of saddles and the standing joke in my house is - buy a new bike, buy a new saddle. That may well be true, but have I finally found the answer to all my saddle sores and numb spuds?
From the moment it arrived I knew I was purchasing a piece of cycling history. The packaging and presentation of the saddle was exquisite - Savile Row for cyclists. I carefully removed it from the packaging and opened the enclosed instructions on how to look after my new, lifelong companion. The saddle came with a small sachet of Proofide and a spanner. I'd been reading extensively on the internet about how to maintain my new saddle and had been quite overwhelmed by the range of advice on what to do. This had ranged from drown the saddle in Proofide, to get it wet and then tighten up the sagging leather, to just ride it out for a 1000 miles and by that time either it, or your backside will have moulded to shape.
I decided on my own version of the "breaking in" methods and decided to apply Proofide to the underside and give the top just a light rub over, then hit the road. I set the saddle horizontal to the road and a few millimetres down on my usual saddle height. The saddle is for my touring bike, so I did not want to be sat "cranked over" the bars - therefore a more relax position was my aim. The first ride was a fairly flat 40 miles and was blissful. I can honestly say that I experienced no numbness, or discomfort. I was quite shocked - the saddle has all the suppleness and give of a park bench and should not be as comfy as it was. What I also noticed was how the shock and general road buzz seemed to be ironed out - making me spend more time in the saddle and less time stood up - desperately trying to resuscitate my aching nethers. I rode along enjoying the ride, not even thinking of Strava segments, power output, or how aero my position on the bike was. I returned from the ride somewhat refreshed and I wondered if passing motorist had thought, "That cyclist looks unusually happy? Normally they have a rather pained expression..."
After only three more rides on the saddle, it still looks embarrassingly fresh and new. On the last ride a met a more senior cyclist, who proudly showed me his Brooks saddle. It resembled the sort of thing that Time Team would have dug up and declared an item of peasant footwear. The leather was faded and tatty - all of the original lustre gone. Yet he swore by the saddle and told me he had never used anything else since it's purchase 25 years ago. Maybe in my pursuit of lighter, more high-tech materials I've overlooked an old phrase -"If it ain't broke, don't fix it". That seems to be very true of the Brooks ethos and I'm hoping to have many happy years together with my B17.
To grab yourself a piece of cycling history visit Brooks Saddles.