Brooks 1959 Advertisement — AFCO S.A., L’Officiel du cycle (Lycett L 15 beside the B 17)

A French trade advertisement for Brooks, placed by AFCO S.A. of Paris, the wholesaler that carried the marque in France, and printed in L’Officiel du cycle, du motocycle et du plein air for August and September 1959. It is worth holding for one line in its table.

Brooks bought Lycett and then kept the name alive on a cheaper saddle. This sheet shows that arrangement still running in 1959, in the plainest possible form: the Lycett L 15 is listed in the same table as the B 17, in the same three sizes, under the same Brooks-supplied heading. L 15 Standard against B 17 Standard at 28 by 17 centimeters, L 15 Narrow against B 17 Narrow at 28 by 15, L 15 Swallow against B 17 Swallow at 28 by 15. The weights differ by a few tens of grams. It is the same saddle sold under the rival’s badge.

Two other details earn their place. The B 17 Compétition is offered in a lighter form at 542 grams marked SPÉCIAL CAMPAGNOLO, against 722 grams for the standard greased-leather version. And the inset photograph shows a new model sold without the chariot, the undercarriage, which is how the range was being lightened at the end of the 1950s.

Every figure in the table is a size in centimeters and a weight in grams. There are no prices anywhere on the sheet.

The advertisement occupies the lower half of the page. The upper half carries an unrelated advertisement for Cazenave of Belin, Gironde, a French moped and cycle maker, and is not reproduced here.

— Page 1 —

AFCO S.A. vous recommande…

BROOKS

“La meilleure selle du monde”

Selles en cuir extra

* nouveau modèle, sans chariot

TYPES

– B 17 COMPÉTITION – Cuir graissé — 28 × 16 cm – 722 g
– B 17 COMPÉTITION – Cuir non-graissé — do – do
– B 17 COMPÉTITION – Cuir graissé — do – 542 g* – SPÉCIAL CAMPAGNOLO

– B 17 STANDARD — 28 × 17 cm – 794 g
– B 17 NARROW — 28 × 15 cm – 737 g
– B 17 SWALLOW — 28 × 15 cm – 709 g

– B 17 FLYER — 28 × 13 cm – 680 g
– B 17 SPRINTER — 28 × 11 cm – 652 g
– B 66 CHAMPION — 28 × 17 cm – 1077 g

« LYCETT » L 15 STANDARD 28 × 17 cm – 765 g
do L 15 NARROW 28 × 15 cm – 737 g
do L 15 SWALLOW 28 × 15 cm – 680 g

N. B. — Tous autres modèles sur demande.

Fabrication anglaise de la J. B. BROOKS & Cº LTD à BIRMINGHAM (Angleterre)

En vente chez votre Fournisseur habituel. — GROS : AFCO S.A. – 181, Rue La Fayette – PARIS-10e (FRANCE)

[A large B 17 Compétition Standard is photographed in three-quarter profile across the head of the advertisement, its nameplate reading BROOKS COMPETITION STANDARD B 17 and its tension bolt and clamp visible beneath the nose. The Brooks shield logo sits at the left. A smaller inset at the right shows the new model without the chariot. Printed black on browned newsprint.]