I have a two bike arsenal in my possession – 1. a Steamroller and 2. a Panasonic that exists soley for the casual ride to brunch, lunch, and bars. Neither bicycle is similar to the other with the exception of the locked cog and the Brooks Saddles.
People question my choice in outfitting the Panasonic with a Brooks. They make a valid point. Brooks are rather pricey saddles, especially when used on drunk rider/loaners; bicycles that gets almost no attention or ride time. The truth is, once I put a B.17 Champion on the Surly, there was no going back for me. I needed a second for the Panasonic and that was the end of it.
But Brooks, like most leather based saddles, need to be treated with care and, if treated properly, will last for many decades. The B.17 Champ that has been on my Surly has been there since I built it back in 2005 started to show some signs of age at the beginning of this year. That’s when I decided to stiffen it up and make it more like its mature brothers, the Swift or Swallow, which are both built for road riding/racing (they’re cut stiffer and sleeker). When the bolt at the front just will not tension the leather anymore, you turn to lacing.
Over the last year, I have been stopped by many folks who see the lacing and ask about it. Once I tell them how easy it is to do, they balk at actually attempting the technique themselves. So, when DYKC asked me to give him a hand lacing up his new B.17 Standard, it became the perfect time to pull out the old SLR and document the process.
If you have a leather saddle and its getting a bit banana’d, this process may bring life back to it. If you have a new B.17 and want to make it stiffer without cutting the sidewalls, this will do it. Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you fuck up your saddle. This is only a guide as to how I do the dirty work. It definitely takes some patience and some time, but in my opinion, its well worth doing if you want a stiffer ride out of the B.17.
The idea with lacing the saddle is to bring in the sidewalls of the B.17 in (or closer to the mount rails) which stiffens the overall ride of the saddle. DYKC squeezes it for the effect before I hack this shit apart.
First thing is to measure and space out the eyelets. I personally like an 8 hole setup. I set mine with 1cm spacing between each.
Now, the next step is a contentious one. What you should be using to open the eyelets is probably a leather awl or some heated up metal poker, but honestly, the Bosch (best power drills on the market hands down!) and a small bit will do it just as well.
Looks something like this when your done. To proper align the other side, simply take an index card or paper against the holes and punch a pattern. Hold it to the other wall, mark the eyelets and drill again.
Now we get into actually lacing this thing. Leather shoelaces work best but any strong string will do the trick. You lace it like a pair of kicks: start both ends of the lace from the inside and loop it on the outside. Now, this may look easy but it can be a bitch. The hardest part is keeping it tensioned. In the case of the saddle above, you’ll notice the zip-tie keeping the nose nice and snug while we pull each section against the rails. The choice of stiffness is a personal one. Tension it as far or close to the rails as you like.
Finished product! Shit looks good! Right, DYKC?
Hells yes!
For some perspective, here’s DYKC’s brand new laced B.17 against my old beat to shit B.17 Champ. Looking back at it now, I would re-lace the mine much higher up the side wall. The good thing is some fresh new punches will fix that.
Work your Brooks and keep riding.
