my buddy is very fond of his Bertoud, though he put Brooks Aged, B17 and B68S, on his tandem. While I'm sure Brooks must have some UK-made lines, the majority of all their products are made in China, so there really isn't a labor cost issue built into Brooks price. Most of what we're paying for is marketing cost. Hence the ability of Brooks to unload mass product that we see selling at $50 below retail. It takes a lot of money to keep up that Rapha-esque image, but that may be what is required to get their name out to a younger market.
A very similar business model must be Hardy (Brothers), the fly reel maker By Appointment to HRH, who has survived more than a couple of reboots. The cost of UK labor was destroying their market. In the end, other than woes for the unemployed, what's the difference between Korea-CNC and UK-CNC? But they have survived by keeping a select line of English-made products, while the bulk of their line is made offshore - they sell these as "designed and engineered in England". I personally am very happy to see them keep these traditional models alive that would have otherwise priced themselves out of the market. On Saturday, November 24, 2012 6:11:54 AM UTC-6, Fullylugged wrote: > > Like Matt, I find leather saddles more comfortable without padding in my > pants. Wool Boxers under riding shorts or pants- I like MUSA fine, as well > as ZOIC. Selle Anatomicas saddles are comfortable from the start, while > Brooks B17s take about 300 - 500 miles for me to feel that "ahh" sensation. > I ride with the nose uptilted, as many other riders do (with bars at or > higher than the saddle). I have never liked the Brooks Team Pro. I have > one but haven't liked it enough to sit on it long enough to break it in. As > Grant noted, Brooks lasts longer than Selle Anatomica. I've worn out one > Selle, and zero Brooks saddles in the past 10 years of riding. Since you're > more likely to ride if you're comfortable on your bike, a pleasant saddle > set up is worth the money. Saddles do go on sale (another post noted > Selle's current one) if price is a sensitive issue or you can buy from a > vendor you want to support realizing that it's not a huge deal in the long > run. I've gotten one of each from RBW as it happens. > > I picked up a Taiwan saddle to try, a Gyes, and do not recommend it. Not > well shaped and not comfortable. Have not tried any of the Berthoud > saddles. Talk about Rapha-esque prices... > > Was given an old Italian leather saddle by Saffati which I haven't gotten > around to yet. Letting some Obenauf's work its magic presently on that one. > > On Sat, Nov 24, 2012 at 5:51 AM, Matt Beebe <matthi...@gmail.com<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> A brooks or similar metal-frame/leather saddle takes time to break in, >> but once it is, it becomes obviously worth the money. I've never ridden >> in special shorts or padding, just normal pants, and I can ride 135 mile >> days on this type of saddle. BUT not straight out of the box- it needs >> to break-in time, probably the first 1000 or so miles, plus a few rain >> showers. After that you'll never think about the saddle again. >> >> Some folks try, but don't like, brooks saddles because they have heard >> the hype and expect them to be more comfortable right away- but this is >> not true in my experience- especially not with very thick hides like on >> the specials or professionals. People who ride regularly will find any >> saddle comfortable sooner, because their legs are a bit stronger so the >> saddle does not bear as much of their weight. >> >> >> > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/cPeqt5IgoUUJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
