Re: [CR]Brooks Pro Select saddle, anyone know?

(Example: Racing:Wayne Stetina)

Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 13:24:30 -0700
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Brooks Pro Select saddle, anyone know?
References: <BBB74E07.F83F%fred@twistcomm.com> <4.0.1.20031020131125.01200c20@gwpop.wvu.edu>


Larry Osborn wrote:
>
> And this just in
> >From deep in my personal e-archives:
>
> At 1:05 PM -0700 6/17/00, I recently acquired a Brooks Professional
> "Select" which
> >were originally made for the Raleigh Racing Team and for a short time, maybe
> >1 1/2 years in '79 and '80, Brooks offered the identical saddle to the
> >public but stopped because of the cost of materials and labor involved
> >(this, according to Elaine O'Donnell, Brooks Sales Dept).

Thanks for that, Larry. The Select does have a lower profile saddle frame than the B.17 or the Professional, so the saddle sits lower on the seat post (less frame weight and more seat post showing). But I have to disagree with Elaine in that there is no more labor or materials involved in the making of a Select than with a large rivet Team Professional of the same period. I think they just didn't sell as well as expected and were discontinued.

One thing I wonder about is the purported use by the Raleigh Racing Team in the '79 and '80 period. I think Brooks was deader than a Dodo in the professional ranks by that time with virtually everyone riding on a plastic and leather saddle by then.

Can anyone come up with a photo of a Professional rider on a Brooks after 1980?

Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, CA

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