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Home | Product Reviews | Saddle | Brooks Conquest | ||||
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Submitted by
Luis Roncayolo
a Weekend Warrior
from Bloomington, IN USA
Date Reviewed: 5/15/2006 12:47:55 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | local parks |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $86 |
| Purchased At: | WI bike store on eBay |
| Strengths: | Saves your ass! More time in the saddle for uphills. Allows for use of a great post like the Thomson Elite on an aluminum hardtail. |
| Weaknesses: | scrathes, break-in period, potential water damage, bit wide but maybe that is something that one can learn to deal with. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Cheap stichtion-laden post that came with my bike. Fisik MTB saddle. |
| Bike Setup: | pre-V-brake Aluminum Cannondale, RST 80mmm shock, Thomson Elite post, LX. Moving to a Litech soon... |
| Bottom Line: | As someone mentioned earlier, it is a bit wide for getting behind. I suppose that I will get used to it as it is pretty new to me. But out of the box, with no Proofide or break-in, it was nice. It takes out the small hits that the Aluminum transfers so well to your ass without your realizing it and you feel a bit of a bounce when there is a real hit. Took a while to get the saddle set in terms of pitch... it does bob when you are going over technical stuff and that does affect the ptich of the seat--can't quet set it up like a normal saddle--you'll feel yourself sliding forward or backward more than the bob. Going to set up my commuter with the next wider model for street use. |
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Submitted by
poo pickles
a Weekend Warrior
from newport beach
Date Reviewed: 8/16/2005 4:50:16 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | montana de oro |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $100 |
| Purchased At: | wallingford or whatever |
| Strengths: | um, the part you sit on |
| Weaknesses: | limited market exposure |
| Similar Products Tried: | nothing nearly as good as this |
| Bike Setup: | bianchi kingbee, with a nitro-pro gas shock |
| Bottom Line: | as you can see, i am attempting to find the most comfortable arrangement. and i think i have done so. i have been riding around with my gas shock a few times per week, maybe 1.5 hours at a time. my ass hurt for 2-3 days afterwards. i was mainly on some plastic gel thing (avocet). when i got the conquest, despite all of the reviews i read (and i read them ALL), i was still cautious, since the seat seemed very hard. i decided to go for broke and ride a 2:30 ride on the saddle right out of the box (okay, i did proofide overnight). i was going to concentrate on really riding with as much weight on the saddle to expedite the break-in period. suffer now for comfort later, that was my motto. i noticed that for the first 30 minutes or so, i was still doing the occasional 'half-ass' manuever, where i cheat over to one side. the next time i noticed anything was when i was 20km up/down the road. i happened to stand up and then it dawned on me - i didn't feel a damn thing wrong on me bum!!!! the seat has already formed to my glorious buns. there was not 1% of the usual pain involved in the least. dammit - everyone should be forced to ride with one of these saddles for at least a month. i have already bought a B.90\3 for my next purchase - a cushy biachi milano. aw, yeah. |
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Submitted by
Bad Vee
a Cross Country Rider
from Madison, WI USA
Date Reviewed: 6/14/2005 4:45:16 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $85 |
| Purchased At: | bike shop |
| Strengths: | Very comfortable. Springs do a good job for me, might be a little stiff for a light rider. Rarely seen on mountainbikes. |
| Weaknesses: | Too wide for aggressive mountainbiking. It's hard to get behind the big sucker. Mine got really soft after getting wet - better use a rear fender. It weighs more than three normal saddles. |
| Similar Products Tried: | WTB, other Brooks, etc. |
| Bike Setup: | Hardtail |
| Bottom Line: | If you don't do descents that require you to get behind the saddle, this is a great saddle. |
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Submitted by
Jim
a Weekend Warrior
from Mt.Prospect
Date Reviewed: 10/19/2004 7:15:28 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $85 |
| Purchased At: | lickbike |
| Strengths: | Comfort, Duability |
| Weaknesses: | Weight, break-in period, looks like a saddle a old geezer would ride. |
| Similar Products Tried: | 3 other light weight saddles |
| Bike Setup: | Old Trek 930. Aftermarket front shock. |
| Bottom Line: | I bought this seat for my trek after putting the bike in mothballs for the last 5 years. I originaly used a 20 yr old Brooks B17 on this bike with great results, the seat was well broken in on my road bike, which I conditioned with neets foot oil. This was like a suspension because the seat flexed when I hit bumps. I ride mostly on flat river trails, bridal paths. I put the Trek away to concentrate on my road bike. I am getting back into the trails so I decided to try different saddles to use on the Trek because switching my old B-17 was becomming a hassel due to different seat post sizes. I tried 3 other seats with bad results, pain, numbness, etc. I got tired of experimenting with different lightweight seats and liked the results of my old Brooks so I looked Brooks up and saw they had a saddle for Mountain bikes, and that to me and my style of riding I figured if I could stand the break in period I knew that I would like it. I bought the Conquest along with the Brooks recomended proofride. I put the saddle on and went out for a quick spin to try it out. The quick spin turned out to be a long ride as I was waiting for some pain to settle in before I stopped. I was suprised that after about a hr. the seat felt great-no pain and this was a new hard seat I was on, I did condition it 2 times with proofride and this seemed to soften it up just enough so my sit bones started to make indentations in the seat. After a few more rides the sit bone spots are now getting real soft and more comfortable each time I ride. Springs do add some bounce on big dips but on small bumps they just soak them up. I know from experience that when it gets fully broken in it will be fantastic saddle. Dont shy away from a new Brooks and how hard they are, with some conditioning you will have a saddle that will last a lifetime- my B-17 is over 25 yrs old and still going strong, I even tried the lightweight saddles on my road bike because I wanted to loose some weight on my Titaniaum and they looked cooler, but I found out that function wins over looks. If you never rode a Brooks you don't know what you are missing. |
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Submitted by
Tony
from Earth
Date Reviewed: 11/18/2002 12:27:12 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $35 |
| Purchased At: | England |
| Strengths: | Most comfortable ATB saddle Will last years and years if taken care of (no scuffing or wearing out the padding like conventional saddles) |
| Weaknesses: | Unbelievably HEAVY Requires some maintenance Will ruin if left outside in rain Break-in period |
| Bike Setup: | Tommasini Sintesi. Yeti ARC |
| Bottom Line: | Why give this a 5 chili rating despite all the weaknesses? Simply put, this is the most comfortable saddle. Many folks don't like Brooks because it requires a lengthy break-in period. I must admit, my butt felt like it was being stabbed with a knife during the first couple of weeks. But since I've used other Brooks before, I expected it. After a while, the leather will conform to the shape of your anatomy - it's as if your butt was used as a mold. That is how Brooks achieves it's comfort. And the coils, though I admit it isn't sexy, does its job. Note: This saddle is one heavy mother. But I'd rather carry around some extra weight and be super comfortable... |
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Submitted by
Vincent Sikorski
a Cross Country Rider
from Bend, OR, USA
Date Reviewed: 10/19/2002 8:02:23 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Round Mtn-Loookout Mtn |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Strengths: | Comfort, comfort, comfort.................................. |
| Weaknesses: | Weight--may as well carry several bicks in your pockets. Not as good on big bumps as suspension seat post. Takes long time to "break in". |
| Similar Products Tried: | Lots, most recently Flite TransAm Max on a thudbuster seat post. |
| Bike Setup: | Klein Adroit Race (hardtail), mix of XT & XTR with Bontranger wheels. |
| Bottom Line: | Big fan of Brooks, use on both our road tandems and single road bike that I do ultra miles on. Wanted the same comfort on MTB. Picked the Conquest hoping that it would do the same duty as a suspension post. Helps on the little stuff, but back feels the big hits. Switched to a thudbuster, it is definitely better on the bigger hits. Last week rode 7 hrs of single track on my flite transAm with thudbuster. Very painful to stay seated during last hour. Switched back to the Brooks for a 6 hr single track ride today. Never even thought of my butt. If I really want to ride an anchor, I'd put the Conquest on the thudbuster. |
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