Christmas Ride on a Brooks B67

I took advantage of empty streets for a little Christmas afternoon ride to test out a new Brooks B67 Aged saddle that I have just gifted to my beloved General Purpose Bike.  I first heard about Brooks saddles many years ago from a co-worker who has been riding for 40 years.  Once he tried to pawn off an old black B17 but being caught up in the mountain bike racing scene I laughed it off and have been making fun of the old leather saddles ever since.  

Well I've gotten older and with age comes wisdom.  One of my favorite bike bloggers BikeSnobNYC has been riding brooks saddles and I have to give him credit for convincing me to finally give the British saddle maker a try.  Because the recent handlebar change to the Bosco bar resulted in a much more upright riding position I knew I needed a wider saddle for better support. 

  

On the Brooks website I was amazed at the huge line of saddles offered by the company.  After perusing through the Brooks lineup I easily determined the B67 saddle would be the way to go.  

  

I went with the "Aged" saddle mainly because I love the look of the natural cured leather without any added dyes or coloring.  Brooks says the Aged saddles are comfortable from day one and I have to agree. After fine tuning the tilt of the seat I am amazed at how comfortable it really is.  

After an hour or so on a regular narrow racing style saddle I always notice a sting that causes me to have to constantly shift my position to relieve the discomfort.  Today I spent an hour on the B67 and I noticed no sting at all. 

The saddle does pivot a bit on the big springs but I'm quickly getting used to the feeling and don't find it offensive at all.  I've purposely hit some of the bumpy streets around town that I normally avoid and the saddle makes a huge difference. 

With the handlebar change and new saddle I've made quite a change to the bicycle and it's going to take some more riding to fully realize the effect.  It looks like the weather is going to hold out so with temperatures climbing into the upper 40's I plan to head to the bike trail for a longer ride tomorrow.  Just as the comfort factor of the bike has increased substantially I think the looks have improved as well. The bike has really taken on a classic look.  Modern components make the braking and shifting flawless and now the improved human-bike interface provide by the new bar and saddle have made the Ti GP bike into one sweet ride.