Brooks spares

[Polar Bear]

I ordered a tension bolt to give it a go fitting one.   They're not that expensive.   

Anyway, I have received email notification that it's on it's way - from Italy FFS!!!

The factory in Brum is an hour away and yet a small part, a tension bolt is DHL'd from sodding Verona.

Totally not impressed.   Surely there are enough Brooks saddles in the UK to justify having a parts distribution network in the UK?

[trekker12]

It's the modern world.

Brooks don't make bolts, they buy them in and their manufacturer/stockist/agent is in Italy. Why keep stock on the shelf you can't guarantee you will sell or use yourself if your stockist is happy to send on quantities of one or two at a time?

For their own use Brooks will buy in as many as they expect to make saddles for the month based on Just in Time manufacturing and rather than upset that apple cart by selling their stock to you they just pass the handling problems onto the stockist.

DHL etc travel across Europe (and the world) on a daily basis so as far as I'm concerned as long as it gets to me in a day or two as promised it makes little difference if the factory is on my doorstep or in Italy or wherever.

[Polar Bear]

It's is stupid waste though.  They must know how many bolts they typically sell so they must know how much stock they would need in UK.   It's not like they do not have a presence in the UK.

And it arrived today in a DHL package about 6 inches square and padded.   I had to sign for it.

Opened it up - it's the wrong bolt.  D'oh!

I have checked and they have sent the wrong one.   More waste.

[Polar Bear]

It all came about in about ten minutes.   I had ordered the correct tension bolt but received this one instead. 

I was going to email them back feeling a bit of anger bubbling but instead I got to thinking.

One round file, one reamer, two long handled allen keys and ten minutes later and I have installed in my black B17 Champion Special the tension bolt from a B17 Titanium.   Having done this so easily I'm going to do the other two in the same way and also get a couple of spares so that I can carry one when touring.

So, I am open for business repairing B17's and potentially other Brooks with broken tension bolts if you're interested.   

[Polar Bear]

And back to where we started.

Yesterday evening I crashed over a rut in a cycle path and the familiar feel of a tension bolt giving way greeted me.   

I completed my ride and today have just gone online to source a replacement.  HOW MUCH???   

Brooks now outsource their parts through 'Extra' and they want a penny shy of a tenner for the nut and bolt.  Crazy.

Not really sure how a bolt bought in April could go so quickly except of course it's made from finest emmental and coated in zinc.   I'm really going to have to research a stainless steel bolt type replacement.   The sticking point is finding a 60+mm bolt threaded right up to the head as it's necessary to put a nut behind the head.

Looking at the design of the B17 there is downward pressure under load on the tension bolt at the nut which seems daft imo and is the obvious point of weakness.
  All tension bolts break there I believe.     

[Brucey]

most Brooks saddles will accept an M8x60 caphead set screw, with a machined head.

The required machining is a simple step in the head. This can (if you don't have access to a lathe) be done using simple tools such as an electric drill and an angle grinder.

You can thusly convert the adjustment system to use an allen key through the nose; the nut can either be held with a 13mm spanner, or machined so that it is a ram-jam fit into the (modified) shackle.

I gave up on Brooks nose bolts years ago. The stainless ones last longer.

BTW there are shoulders on the shackle and it is vital that the nosepiece rests on these, else the weight is supported by the bolt directly (bad). If the nosepiece is flared so that it does not sit on the shoulders any more the bolt will break.  Even with the correct setup there is a bending stress on the bolt, which will (given time) start a crack in the underside of the bolt, where the first exposed thread is, typically.

If you adjust the saddle fairly regularly, maybe the fatigue damage at any one point in the bolt isn't enough to start a crack....?

cheers

[The Family Cyclist]

Sorry if telling to suck eggs but I've always called a fully threaded bolt a set screw. Did a quick Google of m8x60 set screw and there are options (no idea if M8 just used as an trial)