Gear Review:  On the Rivet

For our first gear review let's go over the Brooks Swift saddle.

I may tip my hand here but let's be upfront: the Brooks Swift is the ultimate bike saddle for long days on the road. No, I am not an internet shill for Brooks Saddles. I doubt the old school Brit’s at Brooks even know about the internet. I am sure their outstanding official web site is really just some sort of over-the-top tribute created by one of their quirky fans.

A few qualifications: for the record I am not a retro-grouch. Sheldon Brown rides Brooks’ saddles. While I highly respect his bicycling knowledge, I am not going to put a trophy eagle on my helmet just because Sheldon Brown did. The Swift is not a triathlon saddle; this saddle is on my road bike (although the term “on the rivet” for riding hard on the nose of the saddle had to come from some long forgotten Brooks’ racer). I crave carbon fiber goodness as much as the next tri-geek. Our friends call my brother and I “Gadget and Gizmo” for our propensity to buy the latest gear as a substitute for doing that pesky training thing. But as everyone knows newer does not always equal better. Son of Big Chief Tablet was not an improvement over Big Chief Tablet. If SOBCT could have lived up to his to Old Man’s reputation he wouldn’t have burned up all his college money with the hippie lettuce. Qualifications aside the Brooks is a highly functional and, dare I say, beautiful bike saddle.

Does my honey brown Brooks remind me of my honey brown couch or vice versa?

The best complement that can be paid a bike saddle is that you don’t notice it. The Swift disappears under you. It’s true that over time the saddle leather conforms to your unique, individual sit bones. My saddle was the most comfortable thing about my Hotter 'N Hell 100 ride in Wichita Falls, TX last year. By the way if you haven’t, you need to ride the HH100 sometime. Twelve thousand plus riders, buckets of pickles, and 105 degrees are the things I remember. That brings me to another plus of the tensioned leather saddle – it stays cooler. Finally, no plastic framed saddle has ever made me sing, as Jon Bon Jovi elegantly penned, “I’m a cowboy. On a steel horse I ride. I’m wanted, wanted, dead or alive”.

Brooks’ saddles do have alleged drawbacks, quickly pointed out by the unwashed rabble. At 370 grams this saddle is no lightweight. How do I complain to my long-suffering Brooks though as my 370+ gram rump is perched on it? What about the long break-in time? Mine felt great in the first one hundred miles. You can’t ride it in the rain? Mine gets sweat soaked every time I ride and hasn’t melted yet. What about the price? At $200 retail they are very pricey. On the flip side there are many folks riding on 25 year old Brooks’ saddles. That calculates out to an eight dollar a year investment to you, Good Will Hunting. What about the cow that laid down its life to make your precious saddle? Rumor has it all Brooks’ saddle cows sign organ donor cards. They are laid to rest with full military honors. Gardenia arrangements cover the saddle shaped hole in the sweet spot of their hides.

Analogy time: I am not a huge Frank Sinatra fan but the man was a perfectionist when it came to his art. Listen sometime how he annunciates and carefully clips off each ending “T” in Strangers in the Night. His success came from his attention to detail, an unmistakable charm, loyal fans, and longevity in his field. Not unlike the Brooks Saddle Company. Except that Brooks was making a saddle similar to the Swift many decades before Frankie first graced The Sands. As a matter of fact I should come up with an analogy for a contemporary musician dating to the founding of Brooks. Unfortunately I don’t know who the popular crooners were one year after Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Dick Clark didn’t start American Bandstand until 1903.

That is not to say that Brooks hasn’t improved their product over the last century. I chose the Swift over other Brooks models for it’s titanium rails and frame. That and several spring covered Brooks’ models look like they belong on Depression era International Harvesters.

Bottom line is this saddle makes me want to ride more and helps me ride longer. Try one then thank me after your next century.

Well that wraps up my unbiased review for this time. Have no fear sports fans next time we will review a product designed AFTER the Hindenburg "accident". Maybe those new pointy, aero, Titanium/Inconel knee cap replacements I’ve had my eye on. MIT says the dimpled versions are good for 1.4 seconds in a 40K time trial.