L
Luke
Guest
Laced up one of my much travelled and sagging Brooks B17 the other day;
I'm quite pleased with the results. Prior to proceeding I had
misgivings that the (shoe) lace used to tie in the saddle's skirt would
promote chafing, but the outcome proved these worries unfounded. As a
matter of fact, far from the laces irritating, their pulling the
saddle's skirt inwards eliminated chafing caused by the pre-op saddle's
skirt flaring out.
The Brooks is now noticeably firmer, (but still more supple than the
Pro); and when seated, its spine feels less obtrusive. The B17 pictured
at Wallbike.com[1] served as the template for the modification, my only
deviation being four per holes per side instead of five. Like
Wallbike's B.17, only the skirt directly below the logo was laced - any
further back would interfere with the one bolt rear-set seatpost clamp.
No drill required: 25 minutes, an awl and a small Phillips screwdriver
did a neat job.
If settling into your saddle feels like putting your sausage in a
sling, try reigning in its middle age spread. Should you decide to
forego the laces afterward you can always tell your friends it's a
custom B.17, drilled to improve aerodynamics and save weight!
Luke
1.
Thanks T. McNamara for the URL. Scroll to "A tight B.17"
http://www.wallbike.com/content/butchering.html
I'm quite pleased with the results. Prior to proceeding I had
misgivings that the (shoe) lace used to tie in the saddle's skirt would
promote chafing, but the outcome proved these worries unfounded. As a
matter of fact, far from the laces irritating, their pulling the
saddle's skirt inwards eliminated chafing caused by the pre-op saddle's
skirt flaring out.
The Brooks is now noticeably firmer, (but still more supple than the
Pro); and when seated, its spine feels less obtrusive. The B17 pictured
at Wallbike.com[1] served as the template for the modification, my only
deviation being four per holes per side instead of five. Like
Wallbike's B.17, only the skirt directly below the logo was laced - any
further back would interfere with the one bolt rear-set seatpost clamp.
No drill required: 25 minutes, an awl and a small Phillips screwdriver
did a neat job.
If settling into your saddle feels like putting your sausage in a
sling, try reigning in its middle age spread. Should you decide to
forego the laces afterward you can always tell your friends it's a
custom B.17, drilled to improve aerodynamics and save weight!
Luke
1.
Thanks T. McNamara for the URL. Scroll to "A tight B.17"
http://www.wallbike.com/content/butchering.html
