Types of Brooks Saddles?

[Aluyasha]

So I have a very nice 1970 Raleigh Sports that I want to buy a Brooks saddle for. There is a bicycle shop down the street from me that sells Brooks items but the only saddles they have are the ones without any springs (b17, b68, ect.). My question is, would a springless saddle be comfortable on my Sports?
I know Brooks makes different types for different styles of riding. I do not mind buying a saddle that has no springs I just want to make sure it will still work on my bike.
Here is my bike:

 

[rhenning]

A springless B-17 would be fine on the bike. If you are worried Brooks makes many different saddles with springs. I don't have my chart where I can reach it but there are at least 20+ varieties of the saddle and each model is then devided into both mens and womens (S) and some are divided into normal and narrow. The one that most people find the most comfortable in the B17 but I like that or the B17N or the B15-B15N or the B5-B5N. I even have a Raleigh Twenty with a womens B17S on it that I find comfortable. If you have a wind/mag trainer this would be a good time of the year to buy a Brooks and break it in one the trainer. The shorter ride time and the sweating you will provide will break it in quicker. Roger

 

[silvercreek]

I sent you a PM.

 

[SirMike1983]

A B17 or 68 would ride fine, it would just give a firmer ride than a saddle with springs. A B72 would have loop springs and add slight cusion, and a B66 would add coil springs and add even more. My pick is the 66 of those.

 

[Hermanator3]

Brooks saddle

In my opinion, the mattress style saddle that you have on your bike is horrible. I have a Brooks narrow, non-spring saddle from a 70's Schwinn 10spd on my 3spd Armstrong. I used it on a 2 day, 85 mile 3spd tour and found it surprisingly comfortable. I did have a padded liner under my regular shorts. On my drop bar road bikes I set the saddle dead level. Because of the more upright seating position on the Armstrong, I found it more comfortable to slightly raise the nose of the saddle. As has been mentioned, the more you ride a leather saddle the more comfortable it becomes.

 

[SirMike1983]

My '74 Sports came with that sort of saddle. I suspect a fair number of Sports bikes from the '60s and '70s came with such a mattress saddle to keep costs down, especially in the US where they were being used often by students on college campuses. A Brooks leather saddle will deteriorate if ridden while soaked. The mattress would let a student chain the bike up, then go to class and ride home if it rained.

They are indeed less comfortable than they look. The mattress I had was fairly nice looking, the surface was in good shape, and it had all its rivets. However, it was sort of a hard ride and developed a bulge under where the soft parts went. Switching to a nice B66 made a huge difference for me.