I mentioned at the end of the Koedo Matsuri post that there was a mechanical I wasn’t ready to talk about. I’ve just sorted that out in anticipation that tomorrow’s weather might allow a ride.
My Brooks saddle had been squeaking ever since it came back from the repair, when I had the broken shackle and tension bolt replaced. I’ve been carrying the adjusting wrench while riding in case I felt the saddle needed some tightening, but I was pretty happy with the feel so I’d just been ignoring the noise.
And then, about halfway through the Tour de Chiba, I heard a kind of pop and suddenly the saddle was silent. Also, it felt a bit slacker. Well, I thought, something has finally popped into place. I’ll deal with the tension later.
Later finally happened at the last break on the Koedo Matsuri ride. My bum was sore and it was increasingly obvious that the saddle had too much slack in it, so I got out the wrench and tried to add some tension. And … it just didn’t work as expected. One look under the saddle horn showed what I should have realized from the start: that pop was the sound of the tension bolt snapping. Again, just six months after having it replaced.
(Separate conversation with myself about how I didn’t notice this while cleaning the mildew off the leather.)
And I’ve had it. The cost of the fix in April was more than US$60, and it took a week. (They don’t do the repair on-premise.) It might be cheaper to fix this time as the shackle is OK (and I think that was the more expensive of the two parts), but I’m not going to trust this saddle again. What happens when it breaks on the next long tour?




I’ve done a bit of looking around and I ordered a new saddle, not Brooks, not leather, and a bit of a departure for me. That is likely to arrive in another week or so, but meanwhile I need a saddle. I dug the old C15 out of the toolbox, dusted it off and popped it in place. I’m not planning any odysseys in the next week, and it will serve.
Papa’s got a brand new bag
With the saddle in place, I moved on to the new saddle bag. It’s very different from the large one I’ve been using to carry spares, tools and Nana’s world-famous onigiri. It just barely holds one spare innertube and a handful of tools.


Items in the saddle bag:
- Innertube, wrapped with a voile strap
- Tire levers
- Chain link tool with two spare quick links
- Valve core tool and spare valve cores
Items in handlebar bag:
- Tissues
- Alcohol wipes
- Multitool
- Another voile strap, I think
This set-up might be perfect for typical rides. I’ll have to see if there’s room to store a windbreaker as well.
* Asterisk
The quick-witted will notice that I’ve replaced the Brooks with … a Brooks. This is just until the new saddle arrives (assuming I like the new one). The C15 is fine for a day of riding, but resulted in saddle sores on a multi-day ride.
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