Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Brooks B17 Mandarine

As I am sure you know I will be getting a new Orange M6L in Titanium in the not too distant future. One accessory I have laboured over is the saddle. I have a Brooks brown special edition B17 saddle on my original Orange Brompton and have always loved it. I know that there are horror stories of rock hard saddles and ages spent applying prof hide to no avail but I have not experienced this. This includes the black B17 that used to reside on the S2L that I recently sold.

I have seen this particular version on a few bikes and I always thought to myself that one day I'd have to justify getting one. Well, with a new Orange Brompton on its way, my excuse was realised. This saddle is a B17 but in Mandarine. The pictures do a good job of conveying the colours. Compared to the brown Brooks on my B17 the colour looks wonderful. I love it.

Also included in the packaging is the small spanner that allows one to tighten a bolt that stretches the leather covering. I have not had to use it on any of the Brooks saddles I own after two years but bearing in mind they can last a lifetime if cared for, I am sure at some point I will.




I know that combined with the orange and titanium of the new bike, this saddle will really look good. I doubt very much if I will fully unpack it until my new bike is here.






If you haven't got a Brooks saddle for your Brompton, you might want to give them a go. For my money they really add those finishing touches. I will almost certainly buy another Brooks for my new bike but I haven't decided between a Swift or a Swallow. In the meantime I will open the box to my Mandarine Brooks B17, just to see how it looks.

1 comment:

  1. One note of caution - I went to a small event in London with my Brompton plus Brooks saddle. The cloakroom attendant stuck a tag on the saddle surface with sticky tape. When I picked my bike up at the end of the evening they pulled the tag off and it lifted the surface of the saddle - I've since polished it up again. It was a bit disheartening though. (There was another Brompton rider at the same event.)

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