Brooks and Me

Women tell me that childbirth can be a painful experience ( but obviously nothing as bad as man flu which can be verified by talking to any man ) but once the act is accomplished then the pain is soon forgotten.  Well in the world of severe pain then breaking in a Brooks Pure Leather Saddle can come pretty close to suffering man flu.

I wrote about this Battling With Brooks just after  my birthday when I turned 65 and acquired my custom made dream bike, a Mercian Vincitore Special.

My first Brooks saddle , acquired when I started cycling at age 62, was a Brooks B17 Honey Leather Saddle with copper rivets and after 8 years and thousands of kilometers it has at last softened and acquired a very comfortable shape.

Like many cyclists I am aware of the saying that ' Weight Kills ' , especially when climbing, so the obvious conclusion is to lose weight.  This can be achieved by one of two ways, eat less cake or reduce the weight of the bikes components...being a Tea Shop Tourist type of cyclist the former was obviously out of the question and so component weight reduction was the only option.

And so I have acquired a Brooks Swift saddle with titanium rails.  Being narrower than the B17 and with the lighter support structure this seemed the obvious way forward.

BUT..I had forgotten the pain and suffering involved in breaking in the new saddle..indeed I am not sure that my life expectancy is long enough to achieve that task and so far all I have been able to achieve is a load of saddle sores :-(


However there is a very good reason for riding a bike with a Brooks saddle in that, if things get really tough, you can always eat it. To do so would not be entirely without precedent. Snowbound in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, the ill-fated wagon-train migrants of the Donner Party resorted to eating their leather clothing and bootlaces, before moving on to eat one another.
There are no known cases of cyclists dying from starvation, resorting to cannibalism, or even eating their leather saddles, yet hunger is a regular companion on any long distance bicycle journey.

So think then of those outlanders who next March will be attempting the Indian Pacific Wheel Race from Freemantle to Sydney Opera House, a distance of 5500 km and which will be completed solo and completely unsupported

A Life with a Brooks B17

One of the most popular posts that I have written for this Blog was all about the breaking in of a Brooks B17 saddle . That particular post was written about a black B17 that I had had fitted to my new Mercian Vincitore Special and was the second in my series of Brooks B17 saddles.  In the event the life ( with me ) of that particular saddle was short as I discovered that the riding position on a road bike was significantly different from the Specialized Sirrus Comp Hybrid, my original bike and the place where I fell in love with Brooks saddles.

The original saddle was a Honey Brown with Copper Rivets and both looked and smelt like the piece of handcrafted excellence it was.

The image above  was taken when the saddle was still relatively new and at this stage the score was

Brooks B17  6   -   My Butt    0

I bought this saddle in the spring of 2008 and sat on it constantly for the next 10000km of cycling by which time the saddle and I were coming to an understanding. I fed it with Neat Oil, wiped it down when it was soaked from the rain or covered in snow, polished the copper rivets and generally treated it with respect. In return it began to change its character, moulding itself to my butt ( or did my butt mould itself to saddle shape ?)

As I started cycling more, my friends introduced me to the algorithm of how many bikes even an OAP cyclist actually needs and so I started to acquire just a few more; all essential purposes of course, no luxury here. With these new bikes came a range of saddles including Fizik Arione and Selle Italia and so the Hybrid, and hence the Brooks B17, got less use.

Recently however I have been going through a period of forced maintanence on the road bikes ( I did  tentatively suggest to my wife that this probably indicated that I  might be in desperate need of another purchase, but the look of astonishment on her face and cries of wonder made me think that I might be better putting that idea on hold ) and so I have returned to the Hybrid and hence to Brooks.

I had forgotten just how comfortable my long lost love had become as she had matured into a grand old lady

I wonder if I made a mistake in exchanging the black B17 on the Mercian, perhaps there was a more fitting model in the Brooks range I should have chosen.

Anyway, off now to give her a polish and take her out for a trip to the local tea shop.

A Mechanical Interlude

Rule #12 states that while the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.


My previous post talked about my venture into bike maintenance and described my initial steps to upgrade the chain wheels on my vintage mercian. Whilst this exercise is probably a simple and straightforward exercise to the majority of readers of my ramblings, to me it is a major undertaking which will take a while to complete as I discover the necessary steps and acquire the requisite tools.  The outcome of all this is that the bike is hors de combat as it languishes in my garage.
This workshop project does not curtail my cycling completely as I can always use my Specialized Sirrus Comp hybrid or my new Mercian Vincitore Special, or rather I could until the hybrid started emitting very disturbing grinding noise from the front wheel whilst out riding the other day. 

“Wheel bearings gone” said my knowledgeable companion. “ Very tricky task replacing those. Little blighters have a mind of their own once  released from the bearing race “ ( whatever that is ) he continued. “ Better not use it again until fixed “  

And so, I was down to my last bike..and that was my new, shiny Vincitore which ought not really be exposed to wet weather.
This disaster scenario led to the following exchange with my wife.

Me:   “ I only have ONE working bike “
Wife :  < silence >
Me: “ And I can’t really use that in wet weather, it might get the chainset dirty “
Wife: < silence >
Wife leaves room

This was not going quite the way I had hoped.

As part of the essential (??!!) upgrade process with which every bike owner is completely familiar and understands, I now have 5 saddles.  Two Brooks B17, a Specialized gel saddle, an old Madison saddle and my latest acquisition, a Selle Italia SLR GF team edition built on a carbon fibre frame.

I am now wondering whether to try a fresh approach to wife on the number of bikes needed  based around the proposition that with 5 saddles and only 3 bikes there is an obvious mismatch

What do you think of my chances of a favourable outcome?

Jewellry for a Mercian

Did I ( or my wife!! )  ever really believe that once I had bought the bike that that would be the end of the expenditure?

Having acquired my new bike it was not long before I realized that I needed a few extras and so I prepared to drop down to the local supermarket to get some stuff.

“STOP!!!! “ shouted one of my cycling friends on the web..
” You can’t just go and buy any old junk for a hand crafted Mercian Vincitore Special. It will ruin the entire look. Accessories for a bike are like cuff-links for a dress shirt . They need to be chosen with care to reflect the personality of the bike.

And so I started doing some research.

Cycling Nutrition is a black hole to me.   I rapidly discovered that going on long rides and taking neither liquid nor food with me led to severe energy loss and numerous aches and pains throughout my musculature. So I decided to buy a water bottle to ensure that at least I had some liquid. On one of my old bikes, which has no bosses on the frame, I just attached the bottle cage to the downtube using a couple of black plastic cable ties, a sort of workable if not elegant solution. I say “ sort of works “ because the bottle does occasionally spontaneously eject itself from the cage when going over a pothole or bump in the road.  I thought for the Vincitore it deserved something better. So I ensured there were two sets of bottle cage bosses built onto the frame and I chose an Elite Custom Race Bottle Cage in a colour which matched the rest of the frame paintwork. This is claimed to be a true design classic and the self adjusting and rubber tensioner grips should hold the bottle in place even over the worst roads that I might encounter. So far, no bottle missile ejections have taken place so it is performing well.

I am no long distance tourer but I do have to transport spares, tools and other stuff. So what to use to carry these things about. The plastic bag strapped to a rack which I have been using just did not seem appropriate. Searching around and talking to others I discovered Carradice. In the early 1930’s Wilf Carradice, frustrated that there were no suitable saddlebags to buy, decided to make one for himself. To his surprise, he was inundated by friends asking him to make more. And so, Carradice of Nelson was born. Even to this day the heart of the company still remains the core range of 100% waterproof cotton duck panniers and saddle bags with leather straps, which have withstood the test of time for over 70 years and are loved and cherished the world over. They are still made by hand in the factory in Nelson and mine was made by Sue.

I am fascinated by numbers.

I always have been.

As a small choir boy I used to pass the time during the service by factorizing the hymn numbers and testing them for primality. And so it was only natural that I would want to record all the data associated with my cycling. Faster, higher, further does not really apply to me but I still wanted to record my achievements/failings and discuss them with my cycling friends on our Tea Shop Tours.
Technology has advanced since those days of my boyhood when one had an odometer attached to the fork which clicked over at every revolution of the wheel. There are a wide variety of devices on the market from wired to wireless and an increasing range of data that can be captured. I chose a Garmin 500 and added on the optional wireless heart rate and combined speed/cadence sensor  which pretty much covered all of the information bases aside from full web access. The data is displayed in up to eight customisable fields per 'page' but now there are a full 41 options to choose from and three instead of two pages on which to spread them out.  
Whilst I transfer all this to my computer using Garmin Connect, and recently I have started to use Strava as well, I still use a spread sheet to keep track of total distances covered and see whether I am on target for my self set yearly mileage.  Defence in depth and a protection should the web services expire.

The Mercian Stable

So how many bikes does one need?

Rule #12 states that while the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.

I currently have the minimum number.

When I started cycling following retirement I bought a Specialized Sirrus Comp ( 2008 ).
I don’t really  know why.
I wanted a bike and sitting upright seemed a safer option. It was built with an aluminium frame and carbon forks, which I assumed was a lighter option. Equipped with 27 gears that seemed more than enough though precisely what that 50/40/30 and 12-28 cassette meant I had not got a clue. The group set was Shimano Tiagra and the wheels were fitted, so I was told, with 700x28mm tyres which I noticed had very little tread.
And so my cycling adventure began!
I got on board and cycled the 7km home, most of which was uphill..and I was exhausted. Driving a desk for 35 years was just no true preparation for riding a bike.
Encouraged by my wife, whom I secretly suspect thought the prospect of having me at home 24x7 after a lifetime of having the house to herself was an anathema , I persevered and soon my fitness improved, the distances increased and I began to experience the thrill of completing a climb and touring the country lanes around Derbyshire.
I soon met other cyclists who welcomed me to the fraternity and started explaining the basics of cycle maintenance and introduced me to that road to ruin, the ( essential ? ) upgrade. Looking at their bikes and listening to their stories I was introduced to the legendary names of equipment manufacturers, the famous races and the incredible history of the sport. Campagnola, Brooks, Mercian were soon to become as much a  part of my vocabulary as it was of theirs.
And a Brooks B17 saddle was my first upgrade, just the smell of the pure leather was intoxicating. This was rapidly followed by a further purchase, a jar of Sudo Cream, as I became painfully aware that leather saddles need to be broken in before  that state of ultimate seat comfort could be achieved.

It was whilst talking about bikes in a tea shop during a break in one of our rides that the opportunity to add to my bike stable emerged. One of my friends mentioned that he had an old Mercian that he was thinking of selling. It had been hanging from his garage wall for the last 5 years and so he thought it needed a new owner and a new lease of life.
I bought it!
It is a 1961 Mercian Audax with a Reynolds 531 frame and I am at least its fourth owner. It was originally equipped with a Campagnola Group Set with a 53/42 chain set but this has later been modified by adding a 30 tooth inner ring. The rear cassette is now a Shimano 14-28 and gear change is accomplished by a gravity downtube shifter though I have upgraded this to an index system for the rear cassette.
The quill stem, bars and seat stay are all the original Campagnola  but the brakes are a mixture of bits from Shimano and others.
The bike currently has 630x32 Schwalbe Marathon tyres mounted on what could be an original Mercian hand built wheel on a Jet Set R-10 rim at the rear and a Mavic Module-3 on the front.
Though the bike was obviously not built for me, it does ride beautifully and whether it is the lower rider profile on the drops, the larger chain rings or some other factor, it is certainly much quicker than the Hybrid. In summary, it is a bike which seduces you to the majesty and engineering excellence of a hand built machine.

My love affair with Mercian had begun.

And so I determined to have my own hand built bike and a description of it has been the topic of previous posts.  The result is a Mercian Vincitore Special ( 2012 ) and I wonder if the story will end here, or........

Marques of Distinction

The history of cycling is littered with iconic names

The names of the Five Monuments of Cycling are generally considered to be the oldest and most-prestigious one-day races on the calendar.

• Milan - San Remo ( Italy )– the first true Classic of the year, its Italian name is La Primavera (the spring), this race is held in late March. First run in 1907.
• Tour of Flanders ( Belgium )– also known as the "Ronde van Vlaanderen", the first of the 'Spring Classics', is raced in early April. First held in 1913.
• Paris - Roubaix  ( France )– the "Queen of the Classics" or l'Enfer du Nord ("Hell of the North") is traditionally one week after the Ronde van Vlaanderen, and was first raced in 1896.
• Liege - Bastogne - Leige  (Belgium) – late April. La Doyenne, the oldest Classic, was first held in 1892 as an amateur event; a professional edition following in 1894.
• Giro de Lombardia (Italy) – also known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves", is held in October. Initially called the Milano–Milano in 1905, it became the Giro di Lombardia in 1907.

and at the other end of the scale are the Grand Tours lasting more than 14 days each

• Tour de France– Tour of France (est. 1903), held in July
• Giro d’Italia– Tour of Italy(est. 1909), held in May
• Vuelta a Espana – Tour of Spain (est. 1935), currently held in August

The stories of the men who have competed in these events; their feats of endurance, daring , bravery and imperviousness to pain are the stuff of legends.

And they were all done on a bike whose basic concept has rarely changed over the decades. Though advances in engineering technology and material science has now allowed the introduction of exotic materials into frame construction and wireless technology into gear change.

It was to capture some of the essence of those early pioneers that I wanted my bike to be built from components which harked back to those early years. A retro bike in these days of carbon frames and electronic gear shifters.

A bike which would salute those Marques of Distinction.

Battling with a Brooks B17 Saddle

My Mercian frame has been supplemented with other bits of high craftmanship accessories. The saddle is one of Brooks' legendary traditional leather saddles, the B17, and still potentially the most comfortable around. I say potentially because the rock hard 5mm thick hide takes a year of regular riding and oiling before it moulds to a truly custom fit that's not matched by any 'modern' saddle. I have been through this experience before ( so why do it again and suffer? Answer, the other saddle is honey brown and does not match the new olour scheme )

In order to speed up the softening process I am treating my saddle with Neatsfoot Oil.
Neatsfoot oil is a yellow oil rendered and purified from the shin bones and feet of cattle. "Neat" in the oil's name comes from an old name for cattle. The oil is famed as a conditioning, softening and preservative agent forleather.  In the 18th century, it was also used medicinally as a topical application for dry scalyskin conditions. But if my nether regions really suffer I think I will stick to Sudo Cream for that bit!  As you can observe from the image, the bottle of oil has seen plenty of use already.

The seatpost is a Nitto 65, one of the best classic looking seatposts around. Nitto are a brand legendary for their classic designs and flawless quality. Everything from Nitto is hand made in Japan to the highest standards. Nitto do not out source any part of production, they do not cut corners. With a 44mm rail and a single bolt system it is finished in anodized silver.

A 65th Birthday Present

2.March.2012

Collected my new dream bike to-day, a 65th birthday present to myself. It is a Mercian Vincitore Special in Ice Cold Blue with Yellow Pearl as the highlights. Driven with a Campagnola Triple Chain Set. The black Brooks B17 saddle was really hard and brought back memories of the first time I rode on my first Brooks. It will wear in with application of cream.
The saddle seemed much higher than the one on the bike I usually ride but after a short distance I soon became accustomed to it. Managed the 11.7km journey home without mishaps and even started using some of the gears, but not yet changed from the middle ring.
Have arranged to take it to a photo shoot on Monday ( 5.March )so a friend can document it in its as new condition.