First up: Brooks B17 Special saddle after 900 kilometres. To see this post on the Blog go to https://life2wheels.com.
I bought this saddle in early September 2023. I love the way it looks on my bike, and that it matches the leather ergonomic handgrips. I had no illusions that comfort might be imminent when I installed the saddle.
Comfort is not the most important thing in the near term, but it is in the long term. There are perhaps hundreds of YouTube videos on the Brooks B17. The topic of comfort along with estimates of the time it takes to break in the saddle to reach that comfort zone, are constants in virtually all those posts.
I have to be honest, the discomfort of breaking in the B17 has been substantial. I started tracking the kilometres ridden on the saddle right from the start. There were a number of times that I considered going back to the Brompton stock saddle. The Brompton saddle was comfortable from day one. The Brooks was definitely not.
At this point, 722 days in from September 2nd, 2023, the first day I rode on the Brooks, I can't really perceive much, if any, change in the appearance of the saddle.
There is no doubt however that now that my butt has inflicted precisely 900 kilometres of punishment on the Brooks (as of August 23, 2025 at precisely 15h21 - I stopped when the odometer registered the 900th kilometre), I have progressed to a degree of comfort.
And what degree is that, you might ask?
Well, we're not talking the kind of eye-rolling, grin-inducing, deep-sighing comfort of plopping yourself down on a plush, soft, leather-upholstered, down-filled couch. After all, we're talking bicycle riding, not watching a sitcom.
I measure the comfort of my Brooks after 900 kilometres according to four scientific metrics:
- Can I ride on old wrinkled pavement without lifting weight from the saddle?
Yes, now I can - Can I ride on a sidewalk and not wince at every joint in the concrete?
Yes, now I can - Can I do a 6 to 9 kilometre ride without lifting weight from the saddle periodically?
Yes, now I can - Can I do a 6-9 kilometre ride without thinking about my butt?
Yes, now I can
So there you have it. I am finally pleased with my Brooks B17 Special saddle, and no longer yearn for the Brompton stock saddle.
Now that I recorded this Brooks-ish kilometrestone, I felt entitled to take a break and admire the urban horizon within just a handful of feet from where I took a break in 2018 to take some moments of tranquility after my last Ontario Bar exam. This time I sat on the bench, mere steps from the where the Brompton hit the 900 saddle kilometres, and enjoyed a few sips of water. If you look carefully you can see my red water bottle between the bench slats.
Next up: My 2021 Brompton H6R: 4,000 kilometres
