Comments on: Quick Azor Secret Service update

By: ced

ced — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:26:39 +0000

marcus,
nice report.
what if you put your foot in front of the stand, in order to push the bike forward off it?
i am shure this will save you the rubbers and can help avoid lifting the bike (rather pushing it, one hand on the saddle, the other on the bar)

how is the brooks doing meanwhile?

By: 1200 Mile Update: Azor Secret Service, Service, Service | Austin Bike Blog

1200 Mile Update: Azor Secret Service, Service, Service | Austin Bike Blog — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:41:11 +0000

[...] Quick Update [...]

By: elliott

elliott — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:56:45 +0000

I thought the Shimano hub had a pretty good range, and I didn’t have any problems climbing with it on Austin hills. Granted, I’m a strong climber on the bike, but I didn’t sense an urgent need to upgrade the hub. This is in contrast to the Sturmy Archer 3 speed hub on Marcus’ old Union Dutch bike. The range of that hub was awful and no suited for and vertical inclines.

By: BAW

BAW — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:07:15 +0000

Well, it is designed for the Netherlands, a country notorious for being as flat as a pancake.

Could you substitute a Rolhoff or NuVinci hub for the one provided, or put a Schlumph on the crank?

By: dlewis

dlewis — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:52:03 +0000

First off, I agree, they just look great!

2nd, saddles are an intensely personal choice, so if it works for you, let none tell you otherwise!

But – modern saddles are not necessarily cheaper, nor must they have less give than leather. You probably will have to swap out saddles to find the one that works for you.

Another issue is riding position. Sitting straight up like on a english policeman’s bike or the typical dutch heavy city bike is way different than a more aggressive position leaning forward when it comes to the saddle. If you lean forward, sitting comes down to supporting your weight on the “sit bones” and even more importantly, not much else. Having pressure on the perineum is bad, and can lead to numbness & nerve damage.

This is where I feel the leather saddle is at a disadvantage. First, it is a pretty rare leather saddle built with a hole in the middle to relieve pressure, and 2nd, the spots where your bones push on the leather can “sag” leaving the surrounding regions to put pressure where they shouldn’t.

Finally, I suppose I could say, and in fact, anybody can say, that if my leather saddle was uncomfy, then perhaps it was not properly broken in? That’s a bit of a catch-22 though.

Finally, (didn’t I just say that?) my current saddle is not the most comfortable shape for me. But, when I re-orient my definition of comfortable to prioritize not going numb, my current saddle is the most comfortable.

By: Loren

Loren — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:12:15 +0000

I’m going to have to go with Elliott on the Brooks. I have 3 b17s and a brooks pro on my go fast road ride, and I love them all. Every expensive plastic padded pos I’ve ever tried has become a burning pain in the ass. I put the proofide on and ride, no special anything. They may be firm in the beginning, but after you put in a little quality time with them, they’re awesome. The only downfall to these saddles is that you need to keep them dry. I’ve been caught and soaked my professional. It didn’t ruin it, I just hear that it’s not something you want to make a habit of with a brooks.

By: elliott

elliott — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:19:29 +0000

dlewis,

I’m not sure I’d say leather on plastic is superior to Brooks, just different characteristics. Modern saddles are cheaper to make, lighter weight, and can be fine saddles. They do require you to find just the right saddle though since there is much less give to them. This can mean swapping out saddles until you find just the right one. They certainly will not last as long as a Brooks.

I’d say Brooks is more of an investment. They are more expensive and take a little while to break in (though I’ve not really noticed much of a break-in period on my B17), but they will conform to the rider and if properly cared for last a life time. I disagree that a properly broken in saddle would be any less comfortable on long rides.

The other thing which has nothing to do with function is that they just plain look good.

By: dlewis

dlewis — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:40:38 +0000

I have to smile to myself a little bit as I observe the current revival of interest in brooks leather saddles. There is no doubt about it, Brooks makes the best ones, but seriously, the modern plastic with padding and leather covering saddles are superior. For commuting, however, the distances are not critical, so enjoy the Brooks. They are very pretty! I rode a brooks team pro saddle for many years. The brooks pro is about 5x stouter than a b-17, with a correspondingly longer breakin time. We used to use the lexol leather conditioner on them to help break them in. A friend of mine even had a recipe that involved lexol and *baking* them for a short period – and it worked too.
Headlight wise, I am currently salivating over a Busch&Müller Lumotec IQ Fly, which you can get with a standlight and auto on/off switch. Its an LED based light, and will stay on when you are stopped for several minutes. $$$ though. Peter White Cycles imports them.

By: David Hembrow

David Hembrow — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:21:34 +0000

You might be interested to know that I visited the Azor factory a few months back and made a short video of the visit:

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=IHmgHu_eRxg

I was favourably impressed. In particular, I liked the steamy brine bath that components and paint samples are left in for a few months at a time to see if they’ll survive on the street.

As you say, it’s not designed for speed. However, it is designed for reliability.

By: marcus

marcus — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:33:16 +0000

My commute is 10 miles a day, plus I usually put in at least 2-3 miles of errands and other small riding during each weekday, and 10-30 miles each weekend, so from 60-80 miles each week, I would guess.