My experience: After Marcus was kind enough to pick up a limited edition green B17 with cooper rivets on Craig’s List for me in August, I’ve been riding on it on my everyday bike.

Function: 4/5

Style: 4/5

Build Quality: 5/5

Overall: 4/5

Summary:

The B17 saddle is the traditional Brooks model for touring and road bike setups. As the oldest saddles in production with little changes since its introduction in the 1920s, I’m not expecting that what I say here will change a lot of minds or make changes at Brooks. Having said that, I think it is still worthy of an updated review. While the style of the saddle took a little getting use to, the quality of build and comfort in most riding positions is impressive. For general riding that does not include an aggressive areo position, this saddle is a fine choice.

Installation and fitting

The B17 has a double rail system that will fit most any seat post and is available as the same design with seat springs in the Brooks Flyer model. This saddle is geared toward the more bent over position of a road or touring bike (as opposed to the upright position the B67 is built for) so the best seat angle is level with the ground. Unlike most modern saddles, the top is not completely flat with the nose positioned slightly higher than the wider seat section. This means when you are leveling the saddle, you want to use the flatter back half of the saddle.

Many people, including Marcus, have talked about how firm these saddles are and how they required a long break in period. I think it is the rider, and not the saddle, that needs the breaking in. I swapped out my firm road saddle and felt almost no difference in ride quality. Granted, I prefer firmer saddles, but I was expecting at least some break in period and found none. Looks like riding every day pays off!

I find the saddle equally comfortable to my old saddle in all but one position: in the drops going aero. In this position or when riding on the nose, “on the rivet” as they say, the upward slope of the nose makes the saddle very uncomfortable in street cloths. This is less of an issue if you are wear shorts with a chamois. The B17 is not designed to be a racing saddle, so this is acceptable, but if you want to do club rides on a Brooks you may want to look at the Swift, Swallow, or Team models for more aggressive riding.

Style and Build Quality

The build quality of a Brooks is hands down great without exception. All built by hand in the same factory since the 19th century, they clearly pay attention to every detail from the rails to rivets to well formed saddle leather. (For more background on Brooks’ manufacturing or to simply drink the Brooks Kool-aid, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this video on the Brooks company. I’m not responsible for any flashbacks to high school science films!)

The style of the B17 took a little getting used to for me. I like the classic leather and rivet build, especially the copper rivets on my green special edition. This color has gone well with my celeste Bianchi. I didn’t however like the bulkier design of the saddle on initial installation. I was used to a svelte racing design, but eventually the classic look has grown on me.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a very comfortable saddle with vintage lines on your touring bike, you can do little better than the Brooks B17. The saddle delivers just as well as modern plastic and foam saddles, proving not all innovations are necessary better than the original.