A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had just received one of Brooks' new Cambium C17 saddles. Since then I've logged a few hundred miles on the C17, so I suppose it's time for a more proper review.
The C17 has bounced around among three of my bikes as I've tried to figure out what kind of riding it's best suited for. It started out on my Bianchi Volpe that generally get's used for off road stuff, spent a few days on my Trek 760 in full roadie mode, and eventually settled in on my Trek 614, the randoneuse. All three of these bikes have the handlebars set at least 4 cm below the saddle, so I have yet to try the C17 on a bike with a more upright position.
The rides I've done on the C17 have ranged from short hilly intense training rides, to several-hours-long gravel road adventures, to lazy daily commutes to work. I had a chance to ride it on sweaty hot days, and cool drizzly ones. The longest ride I've used it for was a little over 80 miles.
In the riding I've done on the C17, it has mostly disappeared beneath me. That is to say, I didn't really notice it after the first few minutes of the ride. To me, that's the greatest compliment you can pay to a saddle.
Notice I said, "mostly disappeared." In the first couple of rides on the C17, I was a little distracted by its "stickiness." Not sticky like honey, but the texture of the top of the saddle grabs onto the seat of your pants pretty well, especially when you're wearing spandex riding shorts. If you're used to the slipperiness of a classic leather saddle like a Brooks B17, you'll probably notice this right away. However, the C17 is far from the stickiest saddle I've ever ridden (that distinction would go to a cheap plastic Performance house-brand torture device). I spend a lot of time riding leather Brooks saddles, so I'm quite used to being able to easily shift my position on the saddle without lifting my bum at all. The C17 requires that I put a little more effort into shifting positions, but once in the right position I tend to stay there better. After some time on the C17 I came to consider the texture as more of a feature than a defect and quickly stopped noticing it at all. On my Brooks Pro on the other hand, I still sometimes find myself sliding around a little more than I'd like.
Early on I also noticed that my riding shorts would catch a bit on the chamfered edges along the nose of the saddle. This soon became a non-issue not simply because I stopped noticing it, but because it stopped happening. My guess is the exposed rubber edge where the cotton fabric ends is a bit grabby when fresh out of the box, but after grinding in a bit of sweat and road dirt, the grabbiness goes away.
The C17 achieves long distance comfort in exactly the same way a classic leather Brooks saddle does it. The suspended vulcanized rubber/cotton canvas/textile top feels quite firm to the touch, but it gives slightly under the weight of your sit bones. The firmness of the C17 is very similar to that of a year old Brooks B17 I have, but it's not as firm as my Brooks Pro (which is also fairly new but broken in). With a classic Brooks, the leather eventually retains the impression of your sit bones even when you're not on it. This hasn't started to happen with the C17 and it seems unlikely that it will ever happen.
I spent some time in a typical Seattle drizzle on one of my rides. I was riding my Trek 760 at the time which is proudly fenderless. (Riding a bike without fenders in Seattle is a sure-fire way to bring on the rain.) The C17 was of course soaked and covered with road grit. Had I been riding my B17 or Team Pro I would have been digging through garbage cans beside the road looking for plastic bags to cover the saddle so I wouldn't ruin it. With the C17, I had no worries. I hosed off the road grit when I got home and the saddle was as good as new.
One commenter on my previous post mentioned that when the top of the saddle gets wet, it doesn't easily wipe dry. This is true. The cotton textured top holds onto water better than your typical plastic saddle. So, if you park your bike outside in the rain and then hop on in your street clothes, you'll end up looking like you wet your pants. This hasn't been an issue for me as my bikes tend to be parked under cover when I'm not riding them, but if you park your bike outside you may want to cover the saddle to keep it dry.
The same commenter also complained of the rivets on the back of the saddle being uncomfortable. So far, I've never felt the rivets at all. Perhaps it's more noticeable if you ride with a more upright position? My position seems to be well in front of the rivets.
As I mentioned before, the C17 has settled on my Trek 614 for now. That's the bike that usually gets ridden on brevets and other long rides so it has to have a saddle that is comfortable from sunrise to sunset and beyond. It still hasn't been tested on a ride of more than 80 miles, but from my experience so far I'm confident that it will be at least as comfortable on long rides as the B17 it's replacing.
For sportier short rides like the kind I tend to do on my Trek 760 the C17 worked well. But with the deeper handlebar drop that bike has, I suspect a narrower saddle might work even better. I'm anxiously awaiting the introduction of the Cambium C15. Brooks claims it will be a narrower version based on the classic racing model, the Swallow. Sounds like just the ticket.
