Your site has the wrong picture for the Brooks Team Professional saddle. What you are showing with the small silver rivets is the Brooks Team Pro Classic, not the Team Professional. The latter has large copper rivets and is the preferred saddle. The one you're showing should be considerably less than $199.95. Check: http://www.brooksengland.com/catalogue-and-shop/saddles/road+%26+mtb/Team+Pro+Classic/

Regards,

Ron

See above...

See above

Durability, Fit, Adaptability. Comes with a rain cover and tensioning wrench.

Price, lacks the bag loops of other saddle lines, does not include a tin of proofide.

Hands down, my Brooks was worth every penny, the fact the it was a gift notwithstanding. I ride my bicycle almost every day on an up and down, rough and smooth terrain commute, and the Team Pro has only gotten more comfortable. I appreciate it for its versatility, being narrow and long enough to use aggressively, but wide enough to be sat on for the entirety of my 12.5 mile commute (bear in mind that the shape of your sit bones may vary your mileage). Since it also comes with a rain cover, a pair of fenders is all it takes to ride in comfort in any weather.

The saddle is definitely a trip if you've never sat on a leather one before; the surface is very slick, and depending on what you're wearing, you may have trouble settling into one spot. That same slickness, however, also works to your advantage, keeping your thighs from chafing on the saddle skirt. The leather also breathes, which is a double edged sword, depending on the time of the year. In the cold conditions, it is worth next to nothing for insulation. The plus side is that in warmer weather, it feels almost non-existent (in the best way possible).

Conditioning the leather does not approach the level of a chore (and you really should buy the Proofide that Brooks puts out...the pleasant smell is just a bonus). Every couple of weeks to start, and then months can pass before touching the proofide again. Since I commute daily, I can't speak for the saddle taking forever to break in. It was instantly more comfortable, and has only gotten more so.

A Brooks saddle is an expensive investment, but with care, will last far longer than a plastic and foam saddle, wind up being more comfortable, and have a unique aesthetic while doing it. Well worth the price and break in period.

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Stock saddles

Comfort, durability, shape

price

My Brooks Team Pro came on a 1972 Raleigh Pro that I bought new in 1973. The saddest day of my bicycle life was when it started to tear at the nose top rivet, leaving me afraid that it would leave me sitting on the seat post eventually. I did get more than 30 years out of it, with mediocre level of maintenance. Even when broken in, it stays firm. This is of utmost importance, as it minimizes the pressure on the soft parts of your anatomy between your sit bones. Soft saddles hurt your privates. Every other saddle I ride I wish was my Brooks! They do take quite a while to break in, but are basically comfortable even when hard as new. I put a sheepskin cover over mine, and all tendencies to chafe or heat up disappeared, even back in the wool/real chamois days. One can lighten the bike by half a pound by putting on plastic but it ain't a good trade-off. Just practice riding up hills more!

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Ideale 90, Vetta SP, Concor, Specialized

the most comfortable saddle i have ever used. i used this on a triple century after it was broken in & i finished the ride without a sore bottom. i never paid more than $40, i got at least one free.

leather does require some maintenance. for the two years i used a brook pro (not a team pro) after 2 hours i would squirm around trying to find a comfortable position, now i can take a brand new team pro on an all day ride. i guess i broke in not the saddle. these are also available (or were at one time) made for women.

lf you are a real man (or woman) & you can get or suffer through the break in preriod there is nothing finer. it will not fit some people, one of my friends, jamie king, an experienced cyclist sold his to me at a bicycle flea market, he wrote on the tag: my butt can't take it any more. this is a mtb forum, this saddle may be good on an of road bicycle.

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brooks b-17,various plastic saddles & a poor quality leather saddle that came with a huragan (hurricane) bicycle i bought i poland.

See previous review

See previous review

Couldn't figure out how to edit an existing review. Sorry. Just wanted to add one thing: With ~100 mi on this saddle, it's already starting to conform to my bones. The change is clear. I've done 3 applications of Proofide. Dunno if that's overkill. It feels right. Yesterday, running out of daylight, I rode home in my office clothes. No padding; no discomfort.

All I can say is my experience with this saddle differs from that reported by many others: First, while many reviewers say their Team Pro won't break in, mine is already beginning to conform to my anatomy. Second, some have said it's too hard and uncomfortable to ride without padded shorts. Not my experience at all.

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See previous review

Comfort, maintenance requirements, retro handsomeness.

Attractiveness to working thieves. Hypothetically: If it degrades from getting wet, because it will get wet.

Smooth as silk in urban combat from B'ooklyn to Midtown.

The one think I can definitively state, after one hour on this saddle: Uncomfortable until broken in? Don' ev'n worry'boutit. If it only gets better from here, my behind is going to be in heaven. This was a very comfortable ride, out of the box.

Commuting through Manhattan is serious business. The last thing I want to worry about while dodging lorries and cabs, cranking over cobblestones and potholes, is how long it's going to take my saddle to break in. That was the furthest thing from my mind today. It was a nice, nice ride.

There may be some blind luck in my case. With no fuss, the Team Pro set up on my post at almost exactly the same orientation as the no-name, made-in-Taiwan, foam-plastic-vinyl saddle I'd been riding for the last 5,000 miles. I find myself seated perfectly on this saddle, and I foresee no problems with either numbness or rivets wearing through my tights.

Note that I put the maintenance requirements in the plus column. I love being intimately involved with the things I use. When we had cars, I liked to work on our own cars. I love rubbing oil into our walnut salad bowl and into the wood surface of our kitchen island. I love sharpening our kitchen knives. Why wouldn't I love a saddle that I need to rub treatment into and tension ever so carefully?

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WTB Rocket V, Specialized Lamda

Amazing craftsmanship, design and durability

none

What a long, strange trip its been. I started biking about thirty years ago at age 12. I've done all kinds of racing,(road and MTB), junior through Cat. 2 senior, long distance touring, etc. In the past I always made fun of people that had Brooks saddles - goofy looking, heavy, dated, etc.

Boy was I wrong- the Brooks users actually DID know what they were doing.

After a brief hiatus from riding last year I have been riding again this year and went through a bunch of saddles in the last six months: Selle Italia SLR, Flite, Flite Trans Am, SLK, Selle san Marco Concor, Regal, and strada, Fizik Arione, (about ten in all).

I bought a Brooks on a late night whim on Ebay and relunctantly tried it this week for the first time. Ive always been a "weight weenie" or gram counter at heart, so I really struggled with the Brooks purchase- for me buying it was like getting a drunk to go to an AA meeting.

I was amazed at how comfortable it was out of the box- yes, it was hard, but has the "right" shape for me at least. I rode 90 minutes on it offroad and had no soreness afterwards. If it feels this good now, I can't wait for it to break in.

Yes, it weighs somewhere around 550 grams, but I lost 10 pounds in the last year and that amounts to ~ 4500 grams. The average person out there could easily lose ten pounds (even alot of bikers I know) so I really don't think the weight thing is a big issue, unless you are pro- racing in the mountains. (You can get a Ti- railed version that is 100 grams lighter) but I opted for the much less expensive steel version because I didn't know if I would like it.

There's a reason many long distance cyclists use the brooks saddles -they work well and last 30+ years if taken care of.
I guess I'm a convert now. I want one for all three bikes now!

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80s-90s vintage Selle Italia Turbo/turbomatic, Selle san Marco Rolls

Top-notch product. Very comfortable once broken in. Saddle tilt and fore/aft adjustment are very important for a comfortable fit. Slick surface will lessen with use.

None. If you're worried about weight then drop some of that excess off your a$$. If you're having numbness issues then your saddle isn't adjusted properly.

As with most other riders I thought I had to have one of those lightweight a$$ hatchet saddles. Boy was I wrong. After trying a B-17 on the mountain bike I opted for the Team Pro for the road bike. I could not have made a better choice. While a little narrower than the B-17, the Team Pro is just as comfortable once broken in. Very classy saddle also. For those who poke fun at your Brooks, they'll come around eventually.

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Brooks B-17.

Comfort, comfort, comfort

Weight
Some maintenance

This is the real deal. Black leather saddles are why cycling shorts are black. It's taken about 75 miles of off-road riding to break in my new Team Professional. That's a bit longer than it took for me to break in my B17 (see separate review). Other differences to the B17 are that it's narrower which gives more options with regard to positioning yourself on the bike, and it doesn't have the saddlebag tabs that seem to catch my shorts sometimes. These things are heavy compared to 'normal' saddles. Fine if you're a weigh weany, go somewhere else. But nothing, in my experience, is as comforable as a broken-in Brooks.

Don't get the tension wrench - you may be tempted to use it and potentially ruin a fine saddle.

Do get the proofide. Use it. And don't believe that it mustn't get wet. Rubbish. These things are made in ENGLAND. Duh. It rains there. I ran my old Team Professional on a touring bike in Belgium for 3 years and 30,000 km. It rains there too. Put some proofide on the underside of the saddle and it will be fine.

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Older Team Professional, B17-Ti, standard saddles supplied with bikes

Built like a tank.

UGLY

When I first bought this saddle (1997?), it went on my road bike and came right back off (and went in the 'I can't believe I wasted money on this thing' bin). Later that season, as a sort of a goof, I put the saddle on my mountain bike. Noone else I knew had one, so it was kind of different and cool. After about three months of riding that rock, an amazing thing happened. Two little dimples formed towards the back of the saddle, and it became the most comfortable saddle my butt has ever been on. I would have felt generous giving the Brooks one chili when I first bought it, but now I don't think five chilis is enough. The Team Pro is now on my road bike and I'm breaking in a Champion on my fat tire ride.
For those who are wondering - I'm a biking heavyweight at 210 lbs.
Now if I could only find a comfortable saddle for my 110lb wife...

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so many saddles!!!