Brief Brooks' History
1866 - John Boultbee Brooks established a works in Birmingham for the manufacutring of leather strapping for horse harnesses and general leather goods. Legend has it that a19 years old J.B. Brooks bought himself one of those fangled velocipedes. After riding on it, he found out that the wooden saddle was excruciatingly uncomfortable. Now his father made leather saddles for horses, so he thought of making a leather saddle for his new velocipede. The rest, as they say, is history.
1882 - J.B. Brooks filed his first patent for a spring bicycle saddle, the first of its kind, as J.B. stated: "I was dissatisfied with the present type of saddle, which affords little protection against the shocks of cycling on our uneven roads".
1900's - In the early 1900's Brooks was offering an astonishingly broad range of bicycle saddles and other accessories such as saddle bags, tool bags, saddle back rests, inner tube cases,...
1950's - Brooks was the leading bicycle saddle manufacturer, with a work force of 3.000 people and a weekly production of 80.000 saddles, making a yealry total of over 3.000.000 pieces.
1970's - Less than 30 years ago, Brooks was still a fairly large manufacturer of bicycle saddles, yearly making 1.500.000 pieces.
Today - Brooks sells to over 100 countries special ranges of products have been developed for connoisseurs. Main markets are Germany and the Netherlands, but wherever leisure cycling is on the raise a potential for Brooks exists (France, Italy, Scandinavia...).
The Brooks Brand
Brooks is probably one of the best known brands of bicycle components and accessories, with a glorious history and a dedicated number of followers. The value of the company is strictly related to the fascination of the brand with a potential far higher than its current position.