I admit, I am a Brooks saddle tragic and have a Brooks B17N on Froggie and a Brooks B17 on Sir Lancelot and plan to purchase a Swift or a Swallow for Froggie, moving the B17N to Julia.

So the purpose of this post is to share these two videos reminding us of the history and beauty of a Brooks saddle and to share a little on my Brooks Saddle experiences.

With respect to my two saddles, I have had a far more positive experience with the B17 than the B17N. The B17 is currently installed on Sir Lancelot and prior to that served time on Chase, so it has done over 10,000 km now.  As a first time Brooks owner I did make the mistake of over treating it (treated it fairly regularly with Proofide in the early stages which was a mistake, causing it to sag. Re-tensioning has resolved this little issue and I find the saddle very comfortable and suited to the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

The B17N fitted to my Look 555  has proved a less suitable choice of saddle, taking sometime to break-in. I suspect this is in part due to my part-time riding of Froggie (mainly a weekend ride for most of the year during this break-in period) and the riding position on Froggie. I am not sure that the B17N is the right saddle for this bike and will be replacing it with a B15 Swallow Titanium funds permitting or a Swallow or Swift Chrome if the budget does not allow for a high end Swallow.  The B17N will then go to Julia my Giant XTC 2 mountain bike where I suspect the more upright riding position will suit the saddle.

Either way, all my bikes will be Brooks equipped

Popularity: 6% [?]

Tags: B17,B17N,Brooks,Froggie,Julia,Look 555,Sir Lancelot,Surly Long Haul Trucker,Swallow,Swift,XTC 2
Categories: Bicycle gear reviews, Bicycling
No Comments »

Myself and ajh_ausnzcf (ajh) completed the Kep Track from Mundaring to Northam return (152 km) on October 25, 2008. I rode Julia my Giant XTC 2 and ajh rode his German road touring bike. Neither of us had any serious issues with our bike choice and the track surface/condition.

For those interested and maybe planning their own rides my statistics are:

Distance: 152 km
Overall All Time: 12 hours 14 minutes
Moving time (on the bike): Nine hours 58 minutes
Moving average: 15.2 km/h
Overall average: 12.4 km/h (within Audax requirements)

On the outbound route through to Northam the moving average was 16.8 km/h, so we lost time coming back with the climb out of Northam, more of a head wind and my tired legs.

We had a few stops on the way to Northam to sort out my seat which kept coming loose and  to sample the delights at the bakery at Bakers Hill (highly recommended). Once we arrived Northam ajh promptly got a puncture. Once that was sorted, we had lunch at at one of the bakeries and then headed back to Mundaring. The climb out of Northam was not so friendly and not helped by the wind which had picked up in the afternoon. Once again we stopped briefly at Bakers Hill before continuing on. It was pretty much from here that I slowed us down, whereas ajh was powering on up the inclines, I felt like I was going in reverse. My slow riding cost us around 2 km/h over the day I reckon.

In terms of the track, is in pretty good nick with the section from Wooroloo to Bakers Hill being the worse (pea gravel, bump surface).From Clackline it gets a bit more hilly and there is a 6.5 km section of bitumen road riding.  Really the surface is fine and could be easily ridden on most bikes with wider tyres (say 32 mm plus) such as hybrids through to mountain bikes.

It is well marked with the exception of in Northam itself (we finished at the tourist bureau when we should have finished on the opposite side of the river) and where the track turns to the Mundaring Weir (Munda Biddi section) just out of Mundaring.  We really had no problems following the Track, the distance markers where frequent and very handy.

All up a good days riding and whilst I may not take it on again as a one day ride, I would consider doing it again as a weekend ride.

For more information on the Kep Track, the following resources might be useful:

Kep Track Offical Website
Kep Track “map” (PDF)
Aushiker’s Track Log at Bikely.com
Google Earth .kml file of the Kep Track
Perth Mountain Bike Club forum thread
The famous Bakers Hill Bakery

Popularity: 4% [?]

Tags: Bakers Hill,Julia,Kep Track,Mundaring,Northam,Track Log,XTC 2
Categories: Bicycle maintenance, Bicycling, Geocaching, Road and Off-Road Touring
1 Comment »