michael adams wrote:

You've never suffered a broken rail by the sounds of things then.

None of my 3 Brooks have ever suffered such a thing.

Ever since the 30's to judge from their old catalogues, Brooks have
always gone in for more bullsh*t than other makes like the French
Ideale, who were just as prestigious and used to be sold through
Ron Kitching. Or in the UK Lycett or Wright, not quite as prestigious
but just as serviceable and now all equally defunct. As would Brooks
be by now, if they hadn't been taken on as a fashion accessory
by the Italian Selle Royale.

The only real reason they would have gone out of business would be
because of the very dodgy goings-on at Sturmey Archer when that
disappeared in what looked remarkably like an asset stripping job. It
was because the Brooks operation was a viable business in itself that it
was almost instantly sold on as a going concern.

But we digress. Dubbin has been widely deprecated for use as boot
waterproofing because it's been reckoned to be rather second best for
some time now (like a good 20 years) compared to alternatives.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/