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    Brooks b17 special


    Thank goodness this happened right besides my campsite in Glasgow during a 3 week Scotland tour. This on a B17 Special that's just a bit over one year old. I'm 84-ish kgs so I doubt it's a weight thing and it's also not as if I've been bouncing on the saddle through terrain a lot. Is this kind of break a common thing these days or was I just unlucky?

    I'm start checking in with my bike-shop and if necessary Brooks once I'm fully unpacked later this week. But this could have been quite awkward had it not broken near a big city.

    by pelofr

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    16 Comments

    1. Artistic_Bit6866 on

      Pretty scary. I’m sure you know there’s a 10 year warranty on these. Maybe if you contact their customer service they will reimburse you for a local purchase or help sort out a replacement

    2. Carpe_deis on

      that dosn’t look a year old to me. If it is actually a year old, they will warranty it for you.

    3. Boars-of-Canada on

      Never seen that happen with a Brooks. I’m sure you’ll be able to get a new one for free from them if you mounted it correctly

    4. Briaaanz on

      I can’t imagine how that even happened. It’s been a long time since i owned a Brooks, but wow!
      Did someone hate you and saw thru the bars when you weren’t around?

    5. baphomet1A4 on

      I’ve experienced a similar break. In my case, I’m pretty sure it was because I was riding in heavy rain, a bunch of salty water dripped on it, and I didn’t clean it off well enough. The rust started forming on a scratch in the metal, then eventually one rail broke, and before I noticed, the second rail broke from the additional stress.

      Brooks’ website lists places that can repair it. I sent mine to a place in Philadelphia and they successfully fixed it.

    7. BrewtusMaximus1 on

      I had a similar failure on a Selle Anatomica. Mine was because I was 110ish kgs though. Fix was replacement of the rails.

      Rails are likely heat treated CroMo – good for yield/ultimate tensile strength, not great bending.

    10. Environmental_Tone on

      Also had a similar break during my first year. I weight 60kg. Brooks mentioned that I was responsible because I didn’t tighten the expanding bolt periodically. The saddle is still in my basement after a few years as the replacement cost of the entire seat is the same as the cost of the rail as far as I can see (plus involves less pain in figuring out where I can actually have the saddle repair), and I’m not itching to put on the same heavy solid steel rail (hoping perhaps I can find a cheaper titanium one, which would be 2x the price of the entire steel saddle new unfortunately). I know there are many people riding the steel version out there so perhaps I am guilt of not tightening the bolt sufficiently.

    11. BarkleEngine on

      Ive experienced rail failure in two newer Brooks saddles (B 67), after having a B17 and a B67 last for 20 years. I think the quality of the steel has gone to crap.

    13. Thiskisskills on

      I have had this happen with two different Brooks saddles. Both chromed like this. Someone mentioned in a comment the 10 year warranty. Lol…. Brooks just flat out refused to help.

    14. Puravida14177 on

      Happened to one of my Brooks, 25 years old but not much use and no heavy weight… I’ve read about this being not a surprise supposedly, which nevertheless surprised me at the time.

    15. rwdFwd on

      I’ve heard a lot of similar stories about Brooks saddles over the years. The rails on a Brooks are very long, so they probably flex a bit more than on other saddles. That might lead to failure.

      Sorry to hear, but your location was lucky. I have to ask: campsite in Glasgow? There’s a campsite in Glasgow?

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