At 03:01 PM 29/05/2009 -0700, Jerome & Elizabeth Moos wrote:
>
>It appears that Brooks is selling saddles direct to the public on their
website. When did this begin? How are the Brooks dealers in UK and US
reacting to this competition from the the manufacturer? I do note that the
prices are rather high, and that most shops, both in UK and even the
larger-volume Brooks sellers in the US can beat the prices by a significant
amount. So maybe this protects the dealers a bit, but I wouldn't think
they would be happy about the direct sales.
>
Agreed. The Brooks website prices are the highest I've ever seen. And that's FOB UK (shipping, duties, brokerage, taxes not included). Perhaps it's for those folks who just have to have a particular Brooks saddle at any cost and can't be bothered to shop around. I guess in this Internet age people would rather just click a mouse than gas up the monster truck and drive around to the bike shops.
I also notice that the Swallow is just offered as a B-15. I had always considered the B-15 model to be a poor man's version of the B-17, made of thinner leather from less than optimum parts of the hide. What's up with that?
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada