Thanks for this. It’s a perfect solution. Brookes wanted £45 for the repair!

My bolt sheared on tour. Googled it and came across this video. Got an 8m bolt and nuts. Was back on the road in a jiffy! Thanks to this video. Cheers mate.

Thanks for taking the time to explain the problem and provide several solutions - something every Brooks owner needs to know. I bought a second hand Dawes Galaxy in 1979 for 90 pounds from bike shop near Sloane Square and it came with a B17. In my ignorance, I over tensioned the saddle and tore the leather in the front - but have recently had it repaired back to good as new. I now appreciate what I have so much more now than I did then.

I am 64 years old but my B17 is just under 24 hours old. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Sir for this tutorial. 👍 It took me 15 minutes and my beloved B-17 was in service again. Thanks from 🇩🇪

I tried this myself, raided Dads bolt collection and bodged one in there and its fine... thanks for making the video feel a bit reassured it'll be ok now.

Thank you, I was just looking up the address for Brooks to have them repair my B17 saddle when I came across your video. Now, (20 minutes later) it's all fixed, using nuts and bolts I had lying around. Brilliant!

Thank you very much. Your video really helped to repair my saddle within fifteen minutes. Btw, I used an M10 Allen head screw. I had to file the head down a bit to fit in the nose, but then it was a piece of cake. That should last longer than an M8.

My buddy’s B17 suffered the same bolt break - your video saved the day! The world’s ugliest (green, hey it was cheap) Brooks rides again.

Thanks for your video, just repaired my saddle, works perfect, thanks again 👍

Very helpful mate (as we say in Iowa). I snapped my B17 tension bolt a couple of days ago, and have had no success finding a replacement part so far. Even though I have about 7k miles on the saddle, I was unsuccessful in stretching the leather to provide enough space for 2 nuts. I intended to put one nut into the nose bracket, the other would be to turn against the rail bracket. I was successful using a socket head 8mm screw (with an allen head) and a single thin nut. It was a still a tight fit, but I was able to squeeze it in. It was then very easy to hold the nut with an open end wrench and turn the screw with an hex head wrench. Worked really well.

Sir, you're a master magician. Thanks !!

Fantastic, thanks for the effort of making this video for us.

Brilliant video thank you so much for sharing. Just got back from a wild camp on my saddle only to discover the bolt came out of the fixed hole at front. Looks like it’s had a similar fix by a previous owner as I bought this b17 many many years ago and I was gutted when it fell apart. Thanks to you I’ve managed to put it all back together and hopefully I’ll have many many more years if the leather doesn’t give out 😅

Finally got back to finish watching and, as always, found it very enjoyable to watch you solve a little problem. Thanks mate -I'm away to watch you painting your bike now!

Excellenct video chap! Very helpful. Thank you from New York!

Got a B17 cheap. Convinced the tension bolt was stripped. This video showed me the potential to replace or repair. It just came down to knowing where to get a solid grip and turning the bolt in the correct direction. All is well. Thanks!

Thanks a lot - great video. And solution for a difficult problem. I’ve broken bolts on my Swift. The first was an reasonable easy replacement with the shorter 64mm replacement tensioner bolt. Now I have a 70mm and it’s impossible without special equipment. In Australia where I live, Brooks representation is not well organized and the bolts are very difficult to acquire. My last 2 came from UK and we’re over £50 landed in SYDNEY. Your simple replacement strategy is a godsend - thank you again.

Thankyou so much for that, I'm a maintenance guy and a friends saddle recently fell apart. I couldn't figure out how the hell to repair it until I saw your video!

Dear Scrimper U.K. I think ya got er! Hope she holds up for you. Never did have the nose bolts snap but have always owned the brooks pro. Racing saddles. Never had any trouble with them. The old brooks pro. Racing saddle that came with my5th px 10 peugeot did have problems. I used olive oil on it to recondition the leather and it got too soft. I was riding one day and the nose rivets let go all of a sudden I heard a ca chunk! Sounded like a paper cutter striking down. She bottomed out and I had no support. My brooks professional was broken. I was able to ride it home but the noserivets were ripped out. The moral of the story is dont use olive oil on your saddle. It will make it too soft and pull away from rivets. Also dont over tighten the brooks nose bolt. Just enough to give some tension but dont overdo it. Else it will pull out from rivets.reccomend only use proofide to reconstitute the leather. Happy cycling.

Thanks so much for your video. Very useful and a great way to get the bike up and running again.

Thank you very much I've spent hours on this saddle after watching your video I fixed in 10 minutes. thanks.

Outstanding. Creative ingenuity at it’s best!

Wow - I just went through my saddle rebuild, and had a miserable time getting old bolt back in. Great tip!

Thanks for the idea! I'm out in China and there's no place that could do the repair even though the bolt was intact. So I managed to do a bodge job with your help! I'm back riding again!

Personal discovery, G.P.O. pliers adjusting No1, are the perfect tool to insert a new tensioning bolt in the Brooks saddle. For those who do not know, the G.P.O. is the forerunner of todays British Telecom.

What a great video. Thank you so much. Got me out of trouble.

I'm not a cyclist but I will settle down and watch anyway because I enjoy your vids so much. Love opening music! I'll be back later...

Great video and super solution to replacing the tensioning pin. My saddle is around 1 1/2 years old and had a broken pin. Found a replacement pin locally, but discovered how difficult it is to install it. Finally gave up trying to put the new pin in and followed the video suggestions using an 8 mm bolt after sawing off the head. I put a nyloc or locking nut on one end as suggested. Installation still not simple, as leather was pretty stiff, but I was finally successful. Doubt if I'd get the new tensioner in without sending it to a Brooks service store. Their website discusses the special equipment they have. Will see how things hold together after riding, but for now, many thanks!!

Mine keeps loosening of it's own accord but I was reluctant to take it apart before seeing how it all functions and your video has shown how it all goes together - vey handy, Thanks for sharing.

The Brooks bolt has a 5/16" British Cycle thread (you may not be a collector of such useless information 😁). If you wanted to use the original nut, I guess you could get a 5/16 BSCY bolt or some threaded rod instead. I've just snapped my first tensioner bolt after using Brooks saddles for decades, and your solution looks much easier -- I think the Brooks bolt makes the job difficult when it doesn't need to be. Thanks.

Thanks for the helpful video. The nut size 5/16 British Standard / 1/4 Whitworth. It measures 13.34mm. Leave it to Brooks! 🙂

Great video. I'm on tour and don't have a hacksaw so I just used a m8x50mm bolt without cutting the head off, just put the bolt in backwards and threaded the two nuts on like you did. Working for now.

Thanks mate, great fix!

Wonderful solution!

great ideas, i'm going to make sure to add this video to my 'do it yourself' folder, just in case i ever have this problem

Just watch you're video it was great I have had 3 bolts break now on my brook saddle in 3 years not happy but it's the best saddle I have had mind you. But I would say brooks need to look at the bolts must be inferior metal bolts

Thanks, great video, useful tips there. I hope your tractor was as comfy as ever once you put your saddle back on. Sorry couldn’t resist it with your accent - if it helps, I’m Welsh and you can reply with a sheep joke.

Great video Mark - I think I can now completely solve my 'frozen' bolt problem. I'll let you know!

You could make that bolt from another bolt by filing down the head to look like that bolt. Good video, and this seems to work. One guy was using an allen head bolt so that he could use an allen wrench to hold the bolt from the front.

Way to go! Thanks bro.

I have a brooks b66s and it also has the front tensioner with the through hole for the threaded tensioner. The order of assembly will make everything difficult when done out of the correct order and will make everything simple when done in the correct order. If you have removed the rear bolts from the back of the bracket the seat tube is mounted to running front to rear of the seat. Front with the difficult threaded tensioner in the front nose of the seat and the rear end is attached to either the springs or directly to the rear frame the leather seat is riveted directly to, if the rear is unbolted the front part of the bracket can be moved forward or back as needed to get the front tensioner(untensioned as much as it can be) in place without any problems then you just rebolt the back of the seat tube bracket to the frame of the seat or the rear springs. Then you can increase the tension using the front threaded bolt to the point of being taught but not to the point that is too far to cause the leather to rip at the riveting of the front or rear of the saddle. Just to be snug and then ride it and when it relaxes increase the tension to be snug and repeat until you get to the point where it is no longer relaxing more after you retention it, then it can be tensioned to your personal comfort level as needed.

Brilliant hack, one day the world is going to be a lot poorer with guys like you not around. I am now 61 , the younger guys just don’t have the patience for this. Hopefully you are safe and well 👍😊

great video. I just sealed both my brooks saddles with mink fat and beeswax.

Great video. Thank you for making this. My tension bolt broke recently, but still held tension because it hadn't broke all the way. I noticed it only because it was squeeking loudly every peddle stroke. When I went to look at the bolt and release some tension, it finally broke all the way. Going to try your hardware store method. Thanks agian!

good job 👍

Merci, thank you for all your good explanations! trying to sort out my B67 flyer. The bolt turns loose without catching anything.

Thanks so much!!

I figured out how to get the replacement pin in. You need to put a zip tie around the rails and over the threaded part of the pin to keep it from wagging. Then take a large flat head screwdriver and lever the heads together. Wish I could post a picture. 3 minutes.

Man, you are genius! You fucked up guys from brooks that try to make our life harder with this 13.5 mm nut and unknown bolt!!! Thank you so much! I will try this method.

danke aus deutschland, ich kann zwar kein englisch aber das video hilft auch so, vielen dank

Nice work thank you so much Mero lek’oy kolabal

Thanks for your help mate. I just received a new 'Brookes' spare bolt and you are so right it is a complete mare to install. If Brookes could make the machined end just 5 mm or so shorter it would fit in seconds - why will they not do this?. I spent time filing the end down so that the nut would move further back and then it went in ok and job was done. Again, many thanks for you help. Mike

Looks better than the original tack.

There's a lot of stuff to do with bikes here on YT that's either the bleeding obvious to anyone with more than one brain cell, or is just downright wrong, but I must admit that's quite a neat and handy bodge! And you admit too that you don't know whether it will last. (But I'm sure it will.) It does make me wonder if Brooks specify the right kind of steel for their bolts though if they're prone to snapping like that. Have just bought a s/h titanium Swift so hopefully the bolt is stronger. Problem is, the leather's brown and the other bits and bobs on the bike are black and so I'm thinking of stripping the surface finish of the saddle somehow, and dyeing it....

Great info guv’r. I enjoyed the info.Did your repair hold up?

Hi, Thanks for an extremely useful video. My bolt has just snapped and I'm about to try a repair, thanks to your video. I noticed your video is now a year old and I was wondering if your repair with an 8mm bolt worked OK in the long run. Is it still holding up OK?

Where did you get the copper rivets?

A wonderful solution and video but my heart truly sinks when I see you using pliers, especially to hold the stud, rather than the right sized spanner.

Hi! I think bolt replacement solution you've arrived at will solve a problem I've been having with my Brooks Flyer. Do you have any update on how well your solution has lasted over time?

I think an ordinary coach bolt would be a good replacement. If you're not familiar with them they have a rounded head usually with a square section just behind (see here www.toolstation.com/search?q=M8%20coach%20bolt). You may have to shape the head a little to get a good fit. What do you think?

This is no help. I watched to the end and now I’ll never get this tome back

No need to explain the method over and over again. This could have been a 5 minute video. To put the original Brooks nut in the yoke, do NOT screw the nut on the rod prior to inserting it in the yoke. Instead, insert the nut on the front side of the yoke and, from the backside, screw in the threaded rod. Works like a charm.