Brooks Swallow Review

The saddle. It is hard to find a more controversial product in the cycling industry. Everyone has a different take on it. Specialized likes the center cut out. Bontrager likes different padding. Fizik determines which rider should be on which saddle through a flexibility profile. And then there are the fringe saddles like ISM triathlon saddles.

And while all of these saddle makers have their "proof" and "science" claiming their seats superior, there is one saddle company that for over a century has captured the hearts (or would that be ischial tuberosities or sit bones) of countless riders. Brooks. This company creates saddles using a brilliant (and common) design dating back to the late 19th century: a single piece of thick leather supported at the back by a band of steel and at the front by a stretching mechanism. Over a quarter of the riders I have met crossing the country ride Brooks. A few of my instructors at UBI rode them. Several people I ride with day to day have logged tens of thousands of miles on Brooks saddles.

So I decided to give a Brooks a try. Not just any Brooks, but the top dog, racing saddle, the Swallow. My test saddle came to me through a customer who had found it to not be the one. He offered to let me ride it to see what I thought of it. I have put in about 200 miles on it over the past week or so and have reached the point where I can give you all something worthwhile.

Every time I jump on the Swallow it doesn't feel quite right. It is either too tight or too loose. On a few rides (one 26 miles, another 32) the saddle hit its stride about 20 minutes and I never thought of it again (a good thing in my opinion). On other rides I was still trying to find the right position as I rolled home. The one definitive thing that I have to say about this saddle is that it is not designed for riders who like to slide around. I found that I was comfortable in one particular spot. Too far forward and the bump from the tension mechanism pressed me. Too far back and I was sitting on the rivets. Unfortunately, I like to slide around. After talking with a few Brooks riders, it seems that the Brooks best suited for me is the Swift, a slightly flatter saddle.

This is a beautiful saddle. The honey brown of my model is amazing. It makes every bike it goes on look better (and a little heavier). But this saddle just isn't for me.

Up next: OMBC #4 Race to the Hills: Lake Hope report (racing it tomorrow) and sometime next week some photos of my new steed!

Coming up next...

Things have been a little crazy for me the past couple of weeks. Long days at work followed by lazy evenings at home have ended with me not riding as much as I would like. So after a few days off last week to rest and recharge and one XL pizza (evidently one shouldn't ride hard for two hours and then not eat for nine hours) I am back to feeling human again. Which means intervals.

For those of you who have never trained for an endurance event, intervals are a group of workouts where you ride (insert run, swim, row, etc.) at a set intensity for a length of time, then spin at an easy to moderate pace for another length of time, before repeating it all over again. Intervals have been found to be the key to increasing endurance and speed, two areas I wouldn't mind improving.

But intervals are not fun. Some varieties, if performed correctly, will leave the participant dizzy and on the verge of loosing said XL pizza. All of this is for a good cause though.

This coming Sunday is my next OMBC race. Supposedly there is a fair bit of climbing which I get to look forward to. We'll see.

Later this week I will post a quick review of my new saddle. I am not sure which way the review will swing as every time I ride it my opinion changes.

Kenda DInO- Brown County

Last Sunday I raced the Kenda DInO Series Brown County race- a 17 mile romp through one of the Mid-West's most spectacular areas of single track. With 1600 ft of climbing. My Cat 2 wave started off kinda slow up a brutish mile long paved climb. Being much faster on the road, I gunned it as soon as I got a clear shot and took two juniors with me all the way to the trail head. After leading for about a mile, but riders pulled around me and kept on trucking. Luckily both where outside my age group. Two more racers past me on the first lap, but I managed to bring both back (one flatted and one cramped). After recovering for most of the first lap (note to self... do not gun it right away if you don't have to), I got back into a good rhythm and really flew on the second lap and final three mile descent to the finish line. Here are my stats for the race.

Just for kicks here is a photo from last weeks EI TT. This week I bettered my time by over a minute for the 5.1 mile course.

Back in Action

Hey everyone. Just posting a quick one. Raced this past weekend at Brown County as part of the DInO series. Placed 1st in my age grouping, 3rd in my start wave, and 18th in Cat 2 overall out of 98 finishers. Not bad at all. Also, each Thursday Jess, Chris, and I head down to England Idlewild (EI) for a local dirt time trial series. Last week I had the second fastest lap and the 6 fastest average speed over the three laps I completed. This week i took over a minute off of my time. I can't wait to see the results. I will post with a better race report soon.

Also check out this short film by the guys and gals at Rapha. If you aren't motivated to ride yet, this may do the trick. Enjoy.


Rapha Continental – The Movie from RAPHA on Vimeo.