Re: [CR]How did rain-soaked pros of yore keep Brooks saddles fromsagging?

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme)

Date: Sun, 07 Aug 2005 18:31:52 -0800
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]How did rain-soaked pros of yore keep Brooks saddles fromsagging?
References: <8801bb2505080711104a9b0534@mail.gmail.com>


Mitch Harris wrote:
>
> We're probably all familiar with the tendency of a Brooks to spread
> and sag permanently when it gets soaked and then gets sat on. How did
> generations of pros who used Brooks saddles deal with this before
> plastic shelled leather saddles became the norm? (snip)
> Using the nose bolt to take out slack seems like it couldn't
> accommodate the abuse that continental racing dished out. (snip)

I have a Brooks B.17 from the 1920s or '30s that has had the top re-riveted after it got stretched out too long for the nose bolt to take out the slack. It now has an extra set of rivet holes to the rear of the saddle after they made new holes forward of the old ones. I guess money was very dear and they didn't want to say good bye to an old comrade at arms.

Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California

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