good deal on brooks B17?
January 1, 2013 6:12 PM   Subscribe

Where can I find the best deal for a Brooks B17 saddle? (Toronto)

All the in-store prices I have seen so far in Toronto are 30-40 more than the prices in the US (around 130 at least!). I'm willing to buy online, but the last time I did I got charged custom tax, and shipping was insane, so I ended up paying a lot more.

Alternatively, I could go to, say, Buffalo, and pick one up there? Or on my travels to Texas in March I could buy one in person? But am I missing something? Is there a good deal that I just didn't know about?
posted by atetrachordofthree to Shopping (7 answers total)
 
There's only one importer of Brooks for all of Canada, and prices are uniformly high everywhere. Velo-Orange make a decent clone for less $$ if you're not picky.
posted by scruss at 6:25 PM on January 1, 2013


Try eBay. I got my B17 narrow for $90 USD shipped.
posted by fennokin at 7:09 PM on January 1, 2013


Yeah, eBay is where I've found very good prices on new and used Brooks stuff before.
posted by mathowie at 9:39 PM on January 1, 2013


or craigslist... just shop some of the biggest cycling cities ( Vancouver, SF, Portland, Minneapolis, NYC, etc )
posted by specialk420 at 10:49 PM on January 1, 2013


I've gotten three Brooks saddles through either Craigslist (2) or local bicycle swap meets (1). I'm not sure what the swap meet schedule looks like in TO with the winter; maybe when spring comes there will be some meets. One of the CL saddles was a virtually brand new B17 for US$60.

If you can't find anything locally, ebay can work pretty decently too.
posted by Doohickie at 7:38 AM on January 2, 2013


You might also want to ask this question on BikeForums.net. There are several trading/sales subforums. The Classic & Vintage Sales would be most likely to have some Brooks saddles and some of the sellers might be Canadian. (Or some of the Canadian posters might be able to advise how to get the best deal on a Brooks.)

BikeForums.net is the busiest online forum I've ever seen, and probably the most helpful.
posted by Doohickie at 7:44 AM on January 2, 2013


+1 Bikeforums. I have bought excellent gear, some of which was obscure or originally very expensive, for attractive prices from the nice folks there.

Otherwise, Craigslist. You might be in for a wait, but things show up eventually (and you'll have a Brooks saddle forever, so a few months of waiting to buy one won't hurt, right?).
posted by epanalepsis at 11:19 AM on January 2, 2013


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