British Thinking...

-:)

Made in Britain...Brooks Saddles...

Its a name that is iconic world wide in hand made leather saddles for bicycles,  and they are still made in the same way today in England since production started in Birmingham in 1866.
Check out the spring machines... -:)





Brook saddles may not be the preferred choice of all cyclists but they have had a loyal following for many years, owners have ridden the same saddles for over 50 years, and many old saddles still survive today on vintage bicycles.

I have 6 Brooks saddles, none are on my regular used 4 off road bikes this now, though one was used for 3 years on my Pugsley Fat Bike,
Four i still use, two B17s, the benchmark Brooks saddle, a 3 year old on my Dawes Galaxy which i ride daily to work...

 And another nearly 10 year old on an old 1980s Muddy fox Courier MTB...

But it is the two older saddles i still use that are really nice, a 1954 B66 on a 54 Raleigh Sports...

And a 1962 Brooks Professional Saddle which i recently fitted to the retro Klunker build...

The company was owned by parent company Sturmey Archer, both were once subsidiaries of Raleigh,
In the year 2000 Sturmey Archer collapsed and was bought by Selle Royal who have continued the traditional production at the Brooks factory in England to this day.
There is something really nice about owning something that has been hand made, every part of these saddles is hand formed, some using machines but put together by hand, here is the rivets installed...



In recent years there has been a huge interest again in Brooks saddles and there other products, people want hand made quality and are happy to pay for it.
You have one life, and one ass,   you may as well treat it to some hand made comfort...

Have a look through the Brooks Website...

Made in Britain...

If like me you love bike parts made by Hope, a British bicycle parts company who make some lovely looking and preforming bling for your bike then you will like this film made of a wee tour of the Hope factory by Danny Macaskill and the Inspired Bikes team... you will see the precision lathes, milling machines, water jet cutters, and anodising that goes into those lovely little parts you spend a lot of money on then grow to appreciate over years of use, i have Hope headsets now 7 years old and Hope hubs on all bikes, There hydraulic brakes that are 4 and 8 years old, and original Hope stems and love its `made in a shed on a lathe look` and so far for myself fault free performance...
When you see bicycle company's like Hope, there is still Industry alive in the UK...
Good job for folk like Danny...