Thanks, there seems to be divided opinion on these, though perhaps the spring in yours makes a difference in comfort. Several people have mentioned the quality of the leather, and I have to say I am impressed how soft and supple mine is with no cracks and retaining its shape, despite the fact that it has seen enough use to wear the stampings on the sides almost completey down. I think the quality of Ideale leather was alway good, even on some fairly moderately priced models. There seem to be a lot of knowledgeable people who believe the leather in the modern Brooks, even the pricey Ti models, is not as good as the old Ideale or the older Brooks high end models. One example of this was Jan Heine's Bicycle Quarterly test of a Ti Brooks Pro which began to seriously lose its shape after I think less than 1,000 miles.
I think most male cyclists like to raise the nose of the saddle just slightly, at least with traditional leather saddles.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Michael Breen <mike@brooksidehouse.org>
\r?\n> Subject: [CR] Ideal Alloy Rail Saddles
\r?\n> To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Thursday, January 29, 2009, 1:04 AM
\r?\n> Having ridden the Alloy Rail Ideal for about 35 years, I
\r?\n> assert they are
\r?\n> quite comfortable. I do
\r?\n>
\r?\n> have the spring-loaded nose version. The leather is almost
\r?\n> like new, though
\r?\n> I have not been
\r?\n>
\r?\n> an everyday long distance rider. Mine happens to have come
\r?\n> with cutaway
\r?\n> sides. I will warn
\r?\n>
\r?\n> you to be careful with the seat clamp. I am still
\r?\n> searching for a clamp,
\r?\n> having found no one
\r?\n>
\r?\n> who could braze or weld the little tilt tabs which broke
\r?\n> when I hit a tree
\r?\n> root a couple of years
\r?\n>
\r?\n> ago. I believe they might not have broken if the large
\r?\n> adjustment nut had
\r?\n> been tighter. But
\r?\n>
\r?\n> the clamp, as I discovered, is next to impossible to find,
\r?\n> separate from a
\r?\n> very expensive saddle.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I replaced the Ideal temporarily with the Brooks Ti
\r?\n> Swallow, which is not
\r?\n> more comfortable than the
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Ideal for me, but more comfortable than the composite
\r?\n> saddles I use on my
\r?\n> other bikes. My
\r?\n>
\r?\n> experience lead to adjusting the nose to be very slightly,
\r?\n> a centimeter or
\r?\n> less, up from level so that
\r?\n>
\r?\n> it is natural for the sit bones to be on the wider part of
\r?\n> the saddle.
\r?\n> Another difference with
\r?\n>
\r?\n> 'modern' saddles is that I am always shifting,
\r?\n> forward and back. Good
\r?\n> luck with it. I suspect
\r?\n>
\r?\n> it will come to be your favorite after you adjust to each
\r?\n> other.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Mike Breen (mike@brooksidehouse.org)
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Oakland, CA