Monday 24 August 2015

Shocking scandal rocks saddlery's royal house of Brooks. (An investigative seat post)

Uh oh. Looks like trouble.
Dafuq is going on, anyway?
This isn't going to sit well with anybody.

 The company everybody turns to for the ultimate in fine craftsmanship is suddenly saddled with scandal. Their reputation was worth its weight in gold because Freds the world over will willingly part with a fair few hard earned quid to sport a Brooks saddle on their steeds. Brooks has always been above reproach, but suddenly that stellar reputation is suspect, with the revelation of these tawdry images of their newest product offering, the Cambium.

A rivet ran through it.

When pressed, this saddle's rider said that he felt cheated, absolutely robbed. "She rode alright, y'know? But you expect a few years of hard riding out of a saddle, right? I expected to be mounting a gorgeous piece of work for a long time to come, and instead look at it. Nothing more than trash. Common rubbish." We would argue that it is quite uncommonly expensive.

Bared essentials.
He said that he is embarassed to be seen with it all exposed like that, and who could blame him? It's like seeing a picture of a Hollywood celebrity flashing her privates as she's leaving her limosine - it's sordid, and yet it's almost impossible not to look!

Is this an anomaly? Is it just a tempest in a teacup, or is it the beginning of a whole new trend? Have you seen another one-year-old saddle with the visage of the ancients, all battered, tattered, torn and worn? Some people believe that a non-leather Brooks saddle is an abomination akin to creating life from lifeless tissue, a Frankenstein of sorts, but who knows? Maybe leather seats will go the way of the dinosaur, so that in future anything from the Pre-Cambium period will always and forever be considered obsolete.

Cambium Be Wear.
Anything is possible after all, but for the time being, I'll just stick with what I love, thank you kindly. Don't even think you're going to saddle me with anything less.  

18 comments:

  1. Rivendell sells replacement rivets, BTW. (I'm sure others do, as well.)

    Some people seem wicked hard on their stuff. Some people can ride day-in and day-out and never seem to wear out their tires, h'bar wrap, saddles, etc. Then you have people that ride their pieces for a month and end up with tattered junk like this. Weird how that works. Maybe some people are a bit more mindful of their interaction with things?



    At any rate, I've been a hardcore leather fan for years until my C17 was delivered a handful of months ago. It has definitely captured my attention. Quite a nice saddle, no break-in time or goops needed. It was used off of ebay, but still looked new. I've put many sweaty summer miles on it, and it still looks about as good as when I got it. I'm fairly certain that it won't be my last one.



    Wolf.

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    1. You're preaching to the converted. And the hard on things, too. If something can possibly go wrong with a component of mine, it will. I am a good test driver for all things cycleeen, cause if it can withstand babble, it can withstand anything. And my leather Brooks is more that up for the job, blessed be. :) XX

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  2. like a puppy's little thing poking out. have you tried putting salt on it?

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    Replies
    1. You've got to be NICE to little things, you know...

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  3. like a puppy's little thing poking out. have you tried putting salt on it?

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  4. I retired my brooks a few years ago. It was still I good nick but I felt like a change. I might put it back on one of my bikes this spring and see if the old flame starts to burn. It's a Brooks Professional with large rivets and titanium rails.

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    1. Wow, nice one. What did you find to replace it? What do you like more than your Brooks Professional?

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    2. I think it's a Vetta. I found it in a friends junk box and it's served my arse well until recently when the outer cover has started to peel off. I've glued it back on a few times but the foamy stuff is degrading to I think it's days might be numbered.

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    3. Sounds like it might be time to put that Brooks back on!!

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  5. Deductive Reasoning25 August 2015 at 14:14

    "Dafuq is going on, anyway?" Man third from the left, unbuttoned plaid shirt, white tee-shirt, beer gut, baseball cap, obviously a Donald Trump rally.

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    1. Ha! Up here, our impossible politicians all have the name Ford.

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  6. I think its acid sweat syndrome

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  7. Babble,

    I have the Cambium. Daily riding on it for about a year in all weather (not heavy mileage though: about 20/day as a commuter). My saddle is in fine shape.

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    1. That's a fair few miles all tallied. Our planet thanks you for not driving to work, btw. xo xo

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  8. Received a C15 carved a couple of weeks ago and there's already a hole right in the middle of it :-o

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    ReplyDelete