>Brooks, on the other hand, has a cantle plate which is cast or forged Ti;
The cantle plate is stamped, just like the steel version. Beyond that, I agree that there is a lot of labor in a Brooks saddle. And shaping and welding titanium requires more skill than steel. That said, Brooks pricing appears to be "we'll take what we can get." How else do you explain that a Professional used to cost twice as much as a B17. Same construction, same leather, just a few millimeters narrower.
Regardless of price, it would be nice if Brooks could get the leather quality back to where it used to be 30 or 50 years ago. The leather started to deteriorate about 10 years ago and has been getting worse ever since.
Unfortunately, the current owners of Brooks sees their products as status symbols and showpieces, not to be ridden seriously. Among our group of randonneurs, more than 50% of brand-new Brooks saddles bought over the last two years wore out within 6-9 months (leather sagging) and had to be returned/discarded. I like the the classic nameplate, the nice packaging and advertising, but it would be nice if it were backed up with traditional quality.
Returning a saddle you just spent a few months breaking in is not satisfactory. I used to get 30,000+ miles out of a Brooks saddle. In the 1940s, professional racers used to move their saddle (and custom handlebars) from one bike the next, because they did not wear out quickly.
Today's excuse for the poor leather quality is that the cows are no longer what they used to be. However, there is a lot of free-range, hormone-free, organic beef sold in Europe, so the leather should be available. I heard that Brooks changed leather suppliers to cut costs... which may explain why they get such crummy leather.
There are some efforts to make better leather saddles. I am currently testing a prototype of the new Berthoud saddles, which is very nice so far. However, Brooks is such a hallowed name and their saddles are so pretty, that they would be absolute winners if they lasted a bit better. But perhaps most of their customers never ride enough to wear out a saddle?
Jan Heine
Editor
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