Well, maybe its my 54-year-old memory, but I think the Brooks Team Pro appeared in the early 70's on both the Raleigh Team Pro and the Raleigh Pro Mk IV. I vividly remember a Bicycling! Magazine review of a mink blue and silver fastback stays Pro Mk IV in the early 70's which caused me to lust after that bike for 30 years until I finally acquired one last year. And I'm almost positive the review specifically mentioned the Brooks Team Pro saddle. That's what I've put on mine.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX
> Just a small point of clarification re. Jerry's note below. The Brooks
Team
> Pro was indeed spec'd as standard on a Raleigh but it was on the Raleigh
> Team Pro that it came on starting in early 1974, not the Raleigh Pro. The
> Raleigh Pro was always spec'd (to the best of my knowledge and experience)
> with the regular, smaller rivet Brooks Pro. I have seen a few Raleigh
Pro's
> over the years with a Team Pro saddle on them but believe it more likely
> then not that the saddle had either been changed at one point or Raleigh
> just substituted that saddle due to a shortage of supply on occasion.
>
> Eric Elman
> Nice day for a ride
> Somers, CT
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jerrymoos" <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
> To: "Donald Gillies" <gillies@cs.ubc.ca>;
<classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>;
> <velocio@earthlink.net>
> Cc: <internet-bob@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 11:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [CR]Brooks Professional is GONE
>
>
> > The Team Pro was introduced in the early 70's, I think first as OE on
the
> > Raleigh Pro in that era. It has large copper rivets. The Team Pro has
> been
> > much more common in US for many years than the original Pro with smaller
> > rivets. In fact, for several years, those offering "Brooks Pro" in the
US
> > were usually actually selling the Team Pro. I don't think I've bought a
> new
> > standard Pro in US since 1974. I've bought several, but always ordered
> them
> > direct from UK. So that Brooks would drop the standard Pro is not all
> that
> > surprising. Now if they dropped the Team Pro as well, that would be
> > shocking news. So is the Team Pro available in green?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Jerry Moos
> > Houston, TX
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Donald Gillies" <gillies@cs.ubc.ca>
> > To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>; <velocio@earthlink.net>
> > Cc: <internet-bob@bikelist.org>
> > Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 9:06 PM
> > Subject: [CR]Brooks Professional is GONE
> >
> >
> > >
> > > Yes, the standard brooks professional has been dropped from the brooks
> > > website, as tom martin just indicated. The team pro is still
> > > available, and it is a close substitute.
> > >
> > > Perhaps the profit margins or the sales of the regular brooks
> professional
> > > were not enough for selle italia to keep the saddle in the lineup ??
Or
> > is
> > > brooks now going to offer only pre-softened saddles in order to make
the
> > > brand more popular to first-time buyers ??
> > >
> > > I'd like to know exactly why this model was dropped.
> > >
> > > - Don Gillies
> > > San Diego, CA