The Brooks C17 Cambium Saddle is the first bicycle seat of its kind: a racing saddle made of vulcanized natural rubber, organic cotton, and a thin layer of structural textile. Through these materials and clever construction, the C17 eliminates the months of “breaking in” typically required by this style of seat. The flexible, maintenance-free, and waterproof top follows the rider’s movements to deliver immediate comfort and ease from the get-go. Beyond that, the C17 is the first new bike saddle Brooks has introduced in more than 50 years: Its popularity underscores how a heritage brand can innovate in the marketplace.

Since 1866, when John Boultbee Brooks first wielded his iron awl and cobbler’s hammer to stretch leather over a bike saddle, his company has been known for its craftsmanship, durability, and quirky British insistence on doing things differently. Cyclists are fiercely attached to the brand. But Brooks was missing the opportunity to expand its customer base by failing to innovate. We helped the company rediscover the inventive spirit of its founder while respecting the brand’s roots and reputation. The resulting C17 provides the same durability as traditional Brooks leather saddles, but offers instant comfort and weather protection.

We had designed saddles for other brands in the Selle Royal Group of brands. We came to this project with the notion that Selle needed to reawaken the innovative spirit of Brooks. We pointed out that Brooks has a small yet extremely devoted group of customers for whom the existing line of traditional saddles and accessories would always be there. However, we believed that the company could expand its market and reinvigorate its brand by reaching out to cyclists who were more in love with the idea of Brooks than the reality of having to break in one of its traditional bike saddles over time. Thus, the client decided that a new saddle would be our first design challenge.

Because we had designed bike saddles before, we understood what makes a seat shape comfortable. However, it takes a lot of iterations to get the shape exactly right.

In this case, we also had to ideate around novel materials and processes that would meet the functional criteria (no maintenance, instant comfort) and traditional brand values of Brooks. We started the design process from an understanding of the history of Brooks to expand on its potential for the future. The final product strikes the right balance of respecting the essence of Brooks and challenging the lack of inventorship that had stifled the company. It was a risk that needed to be taken to move forward.

We built our ideation on the key insight that not everyone who loves Brooks saddles loves to put in the hard work of breaking in a traditional leather seat in and taking care of it. This insight came from the client and was confirmed by our own human-centered research in the very active San Francisco cycling scene.

The Brooks Cambium C17 is an innovative product delivered by a beloved 150-year-old brand. The C17 racing saddle consists of new yet high-quality, durable materials, the kind expected from the Brooks name. Its vulcanized rubber has an inside layer of structural textile, a woven organic cotton that’s fused to the top and is stretched over a flexible aluminum and steel frame. As such, the seat offers long-term durability, just like the company’s traditional leather saddles, but instant comfort and zero maintenance. There’s no need wait for the saddle to mold itself to the rider to become comfortable, to reset the tension of the saddle over time, or to weatherproof the materials. To achieve this, Brooks developed a whole new way to manufacture a racing saddle. It took about seven years to source the materials and perfect the process.

The final product strikes the right balance of respecting the essence of Brooks and challenging the lack of inventorship that had stifled the company. It was a risk that needed to be taken to move forward.

Brooks expects to end its first season with 30 to 40 percent more sales than it had budgeted—and possibly 30,000 units in the first year, depending on the factory’s production capacity. “We made a great product and an outstanding marketing [effort] for the launch,” says brand director Andrea Meneghelli.

Atfer the launch of the Cambium saddle, Brooks was keen to learn how it stood up to its other saddles on and off the road. To find out, the company sent a Cambium saddle to more than 100 cyclists worldwide. Their feedback, which was overwhelmingly positive: “I love this saddle. I feel like this is what my ass has been missing for 37 years.” —Brooks England rider BB from U.S.A.

The saddle was lauded at the industry’s largest trade show: The 2013 Eurobike Award jury chose the C17 as one of 10 products (out of 496 from 30 countries) to receive its coveted Gold Award.