MADE IN BIRMINGHAM

Brooks Saddles

There were several cycle saddle makers in the Birmingham area but the best known was Brooks.

This article is written by Robert H. Gordon

The J.B. Brooks Company began manufacturing leather strapping for horse harnesses and general leather goods in 1886. A 1919 catalogue reveals an assortment of trunks, hat cases, tool chests, cigar trays and tyre boxes, all leather bound; cycle saddles appeared as early as 1912 and possibly before. In the 1920's the company took over the Lycett Saddle Company, and in the '30s the Leatheries Cycle Saddle concern. They even owned a motorcycle factory for a while in the late '30s, named oddly enough (before acquisition) Brookes Company.
 

In 1958, the saddle division was purchased along with Sturmey-Archer by Raleigh Industries, and in 1960 Raleigh was bought by Tube Investments (T.I.), which transferred Brooks and Sturmey Archer to its automotive division, and later to the cycle division. The company as part of the T.I. Cycle Division was taken over by Derby International in 1987, and has owned Brooks ever since.
 

The original location of the company was on Great Charles Street in Birmingham, where the factory remained until it moved to Smethwick (still in Birmingham) in 1962, and where it remains today. The Nottingham division, which handles Sturmey-Archer hubs and saddle testing and design, has never manufactured leather goods.
 

Brooks's heyday was in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when 55,000 leather and 25,000 mattress saddles were sold per week. Most of the latter going to Africa and Iran. Nigeria alone bought 15,000 B.33s, a front loop design. The biggest buyer was and still is Holland; the B.66 being the favorite there, in both men's and women's models.
 

The famed copper rivets were introduced in the 1950s primarily to complement the brown and honey colored leather that was being introduced at the time. Corrosion resistance was also a plus, but it wasn't the reason. And, contrary to popular belief, Brooks could not confirm the story that the large rivets of the Team Professional model came about as a result of team mechanics ripping off the Pro model leathers to pre-soften them, and then requiring a larger size rivet to cover back over the existing holes. While this may have happened, Brooks's says the larger rivets were simply more cosmetic, and added to a high quality, hand-finished look.
 

Proofide, Brooks's leather dressing, was developed by an in-house chemist and has been used on their saddles for more than 50 years. The ingredients are a natural mix of waxes and oils, including the here highly revered beeswax.
 

The construction of a Brooks saddle is a time consuming, labor intensive process that has remained relatively unchanged for 40 years. Even the least expensive models are estimated to be 50 percent hand-finished. Only the finest full-grain leather is selected for use, and from each hide, just 35 percent is up to saddle standards. This, the thickest and most durable portion, is called the "butt." From hide to fully mimosa-tanned leather, ready for cutting, is about 13 weeks. It takes another 35 days to block, shape, trim, stamp, rivet, chamfer, buff, and polish each saddle, nearly 150 days in total, depending on the model (and including moisture re absorption time.) The standard top-end saddles (Pros, Colts, and Swifts) are 90 percent hand-made, including the distinctive hand-hammered copper riveting process. Compare this to the popular plastic saddles of today, where it is estimated that less than 10 percent of the work is done by hand.
 

After bring constructed and checked for weather resistance at the Birmingham factory, all prototype models and on-going randomly selected saddles undergo a tortuous testing at the plant in Nottingham. In the most brutal test, a 280 lb. weight is applied to the frame, and then the saddle is bumped one million times. Rejects are surprisingly rare.
 

In today's price-and-weight conscious market, Brooks obviously cannot crank out the volume it was doing thirty years ago, so in 1987 it stopped making mattress saddles and bags, to concentrate exclusively on the finest, high-end saddles. There are currently 45 employees, producing from 600 to 800 saddles per day. Top sellers are the Professional, which is popular in Germany, the Conquest and Countess (rear-sprung) which are gaining popularity in the European mountain bike community, and the titanium-railed Swift, whose brisk U.S. sales have exceeded all expectations.
 

Vintage Brooks saddle collecting is on the rise, with condition and rarity being paramount. Look for early Pros, limited edition models, the ultra-thin Sprinter, and the top-of-the-line hand-stitched B.17 Swallow, which was available in the 1950s and was the most expensive saddle Brooks ever produced. The company estimates it would cost close to $500 to make it today, due to all the handwork involved.
 

Clearly, it is uncommon for a company to be in business after 129 years, and unusual to find it creating a product that has remained essentially unchanged, and yet is still viable in today's market. This could only come about through impeccable designs and an unflinching commitment to quality materials, both long-standing tenets of the Brooks organization. As the ads have read for many years, and arguably so, "The finest saddles in the world."
 

The author wishes to thank George T. Flegg and the Brooks Saddle Co. for graciously providing materials for this article.

A link to the Brooks website is on the Links Page.