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Brooks B15 “Champion Standard” saddles

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Dweber

Finally riding a big boys bike
Were the Brooks B15 "Champion Standard" saddles ever made without saddle bag loops? My early Iver Johnson racer calls for a Brooks B15 but would not look right with saddle bag loops hanging off the back. If you have one without saddle bag loops I need one. Thanks Dave!
 
From what I've seen the B15 always had bag loops. This is the earliest description I've seen, from the 1958 Brooks catalog:

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I have an early Iver Johnson model 90B Racer that I believe is very original, and it has a Brooks B15 Champion Standard saddle. However, it is an early B15 that has the "Oval" embossed area on the sides of the saddle where it says "Brooks B15 Champion Standard" and the saddle bag loops do not hang down on "tabs" on the rear of the seat but are built into the rear leather area of the seat. I believe, this is the correct (as far as I know) saddle for the early model 90B Iver Johnson Racers and some 90A Racers that were ordered without selecting another "optional" saddle. Pete in Fitchburg
 
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Pete,
Could you post a picture? Please! It would be of great help. Trying to correct my Iver Johnson 90B racer as much as possible!
Thanks,
Dave
 
Will do Dave, I'll post a few pics tomorrow AM when I can take a picture of it outside in the light. Pete in Fitchburg
 
Hi Dave,

Well, I thought I'd be able to help you out but I may have simply added another level of mystery to the saddle thing. I went out and grabbed my early 20's Iver 90B Racer this morning to take a few pics for you and I was surprised to notice that the saddle is not a B15, its a B17. In any case I'll post the pics. The thing that drives me crazy is this bike was found in a home in Vermont and had been sitting there for years without being used. I find it hard to believe that someone would go to the trouble to change out the seat and for what?? It's possible that even though the literature states that the bike should have a B15, maybe they were short at some point on that model and substituted the B17?? Now we have a new question, is there is a B15 saddle out there that has the oval embossing with the saddle bag loops built into the back of the seat?

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I do have another Iver 90B Racer that does have a B15 Brooks saddle with the oval embossing with bag loops that hang down from the seat that I can post a pic of if you think it would help. Pete in Fitchburg
 
That looks like a later saddle based on the solid rear badge. The earlier badge was open and die cut lettering. There was also a solid badge with exaggerated serifs on the letters in the 30s. I would guess 1930s or more likely 40s for that saddle.
 
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Pete,
My Iver 90B also has a B17 saddle. Looks like it has been on the bike a long time. I am still having problems getting photos to download on the Cabe? Wanted to post some photos also but they just wont download! Thanks for everything! Dave
 
Hi Dave,

This is another slightly newer, mid-30's Iver 90B Racer I have that has a Model B15 Brooks Champion Standard saddle. Again, I can not be 100% sure it's original to the bike but this is the way I found it.

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Were the Brooks B15 "Champion Standard" saddles ever made without saddle bag loops? My early Iver Johnson racer calls for a Brooks B15 but would not look right with saddle bag loops hanging off the back. If you have one without saddle bag loops I need one. Thanks Dave!
I have a NOS 1960‘s era B15 without loops for sale you can email me at [email protected]
 
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