A new Brooks C17 Recycled Nylon saddle just made the Cambium family even more eco-friendly with the addition of recycled fibers to the already sustainable natural rubber structure. The Cambium lineup was always about creating products that are easier on the environment, appealing to a large group of cyclists that don’t feel it’s necessary to have leather on their bikes.
Brooks Cambium C17 Special Recycled Nylon sustainable saddle
all c. Brooks England
Without compromising on premium comfort & performance, Brooks created an all-new segment when they transformed from all-leather saddles to the easier-to-maintain Cambium rubber saddles. Coming at a time when gravel and a resurgence of adventure touring cycling (now called bikepacking), the sustainably-harvested, vulcanized natural rubber saddles managed to deliver Brooks’ signature “hammock” fit without needing to be broken in, while also eliminating a lot of the extra glues, foam & plastics in most modern saddles.
The result was a comfortable saddle that could be much lighter than a traditional leather Brooks, but also much more resistant to riding in foul weather conditions. A previous All-Weather variant first swapped in nylon fabric reinforcement (over the original cotton) to better handle daily life out in the rain. Now, this C17 Special Recycled Nylon saddle takes sustainability a couple of steps further…
What’s new? More sustainable!
The new Brooks C17 Special Recycled Nylon saddle now gets a top made from pre-consumer industrial material scraps, reconstituted into a tough nylon yarn, then woven into a durable fabric to give structure to the sustainably-harvested, natural vulcanized rubber top.
On top of that (or rather underneath), the new saddle also replaces the molded plastic structure of the nose & backplate of the saddle with a new Liquid Wood structural composite material. Again made with pre-consumer recycled material, a plant-based biopolymer binds together lignin, cellulose & other plant fiber by-products from industrial paper production to create a moldable structural material that is still 100% biodegradable in the end.
Finishing it off, that saddle gets durable, fully-recyclable hollow stainless steel rails and aluminum rivets to hold it all together.
Brooks Cambium C17 Special Recycled Nylon saddle – Pricing & options
natural or black
The new recycled C17 Special saddle sells for 140€, available in either natural rubber tan or a black-topped version with the same natural rubber base. The saddles are 283mm long x 164mm wide, with a claimed weight of 392g. Officially they are a limited edition, but we hope to see more recycled versions like the Carved saddles with a pressure relief cutout, and narrower C15 & C13 profiles.
Brooks says the new C17 Special Recycled Nylon saddle is “ready to provide long-lasting comfort over greener roads ahead“. Waste reduced out of the global manufacturing chain, and fewer new resources to make out new cycling gear… that’s something we can get behind.
