Brooks England
Brooks England Ltd.. is an English manufacturer of bicycle saddles made of leather.
History
In 1866, John Boultbee Brooks founded a company for horse tack and leather goods. After an uncomfortable ride on a bicycle (which at that time still had saddles made of steel) in 1878, came to him with the idea for a bicycle saddle. In the father's stables below was the first Brooks saddle. The first patent application was filed in 1882. The different models are distinguished by their ability to adapt to the individual shape and its good pressure distribution.
The saddles are made of leather hides, and therefore are considered to be very breathable. Leather absorbs sweat and moisture is not jammed inside. Goal is a comfortable ride in all weather and driving time. In contrast to semi- structures made of split leather or imitation leather is in Brooks saddles to saddle leather saddles. The leather cover is optional here tensioned over a titanium frame over a steel frame, or more recently and can swing as freely and absorb shocks. Handmade produce 22 employees at its headquarters in Smethwick, England, approximately 100,000 annually saddles.
Brooks is one of the last remaining manufacturers of saddle saddle leather with a significant market presence. Good saddle be driven by their owners, often for a lifetime. Therefore, it is also true for the L' Eroica - the Oldtimer gravel cycling race in Italy - mainly bicycles that are equipped with a Brooks saddle.
Since 1962, belonged to Brooks, as well as Sturmey - Archer, the Raleigh Cycle Company. After Raleigh ran into financial difficulties in 1999, Brooks was initially sold and should be liquidated. Instead, John Godfrey Macnaughtan and Adrien Williams bought the company and kept the production in England. In 2002, they sold to the Italian saddle manufacturer Selle Royal under the condition that the production remains in the West Midlands of England.
Technology
In the manufacture of a saddle Brooks England LTD. runs according to manufacturer's specification of the processing of the leather to the packaging at the workbench all crafted from. The seat frames are cut from steel or titanium in the factory and bent. For these operations old special machines with old tool sets are used in part over 90 years.
The saddles are now exported to over 30 countries. Among the most famous owners, among other things included some cycling legends like Girardengo, Bartali, Coppi, Eddy Merckx and Anquetil.
The two letters ' O' into each other written while earlier in the saddle end was the writing of an embossed metal plate, now partially printed labels are riveted. The most popular models are the 'Team Professional' and ' Colt ' for road bikes as well as the ' B- 66' for touring bikes, which is produced in versions for men and women.