Here’s a well-used Brooks B17 Standard leather saddle. It lives on Cyril, my 1932 Raleigh Record, and is immoderately comfortable. The weight of the steel frame is of no consequence on the all-steel Raleigh, which could easily have worn an identical saddle when it was originally sold.
Potential Brooks owners put off by the weight can, of course, opt for the titanium version of the B17, which is also available in a Narrow version. This means the width of the cantle plate, the curved strip of frame supporting the rear of the saddle upper, is narrower which, in turn, means the area of leather available to support the riders’ sit bones is also narrower than with the standard version. It is vital when choosing a Brooks not to opt for the Narrow version simply because it looks racy; if the curve of the cantle plate is too small for your sit bones and you sit on it rather than on the flexible leather, you will experience pain.
This particular saddle is, as are all “broken-in” Brooks saddles, visibly depressed where the sit bones apply pressure. It is also exactly the same shape viewed from above that it was when new, which is unusual. Generally a Brooks – and other leather saddle – will eventually acquire a delta or triangular shape when viewed from above. Quite early in its life the flaps extending down the sides will also start to splay outwards as the top is pressed downwards.
Both are an inevitable consequence of the forces acting on a natural product that adapts its shape in use, the former due to tension between the nose and rear trying to pull the curve of the saddle straight, the latter due to the way the upper deflects when sat upon.
Both are undesirable in that they lose the basic saddle shape needed for thigh clearance and easy pedalling. One answer is the Swallow/Swift cutaway design, which pulls together the sides using spare material that would have been part of the side flaps in a conventional design.
The solution proposed here keeps the conventional saddle shape and prevents both splaying and delta deformation by lacing the sides together not, as is done by Brooks with some models, along the lower edge of the flaps, where it has little effect, but at the precise point where lacing prevents the twin ills.
This point is not hard to discern, being around the middle of the curve to the sides. There’s no point in lacing further back, since little “pull” can be applied to the angled leather, nor further forward, since the tendency to spread is no longer in effect.
Three holes bored on one side and four on the other will allow a lace to be threaded criss-cross on the underside of the upper while pulling along the sides as shown and then knotted inside. The only difficulty might be the cutting of a shallow channel for the lace, without which it will sit proud of the surface and rub on clothing. A small-diameter steel tube cut on the angle and sharpened makes an effective gouge.
Does it work? Effectively, as shown. Is it worth it? If splaying causes discomfort through rubbing, then yes. There’s a further benefit: tied as shown, the saddle is prevented from sagging as much as one left as manufactured and, once broken in, will keep its desired shape for longer.
