Jerry,
I was involved with and participated in the test of the Brooks Imperial saddles. I requested and received a B17N version which I found to be much more difficult to set up properly than a standard B17. Much like a Brooks Professional I had in the past the saddle never felt right to me. That's not to say it was uncomfortable or painful, I just could not get it dialed in to that point where everything felt right. Even right out of the box I found the B17 standard to be comfortable. I would suppose that this was due to saddle width, however the saddle that I find is most comfortable is the Swallow (and swallow look alikes such as the Wrights). I put a few hundred miles on mine before giving up on it. I may resurrect it and try again, maybe try a B17 Imperial and not the narrow model. One thing to note when you ride the B17 Imperial, you can vary the saddles stiffness quite a bit with the lacing, and a too loosely laced B17 Imperial will quickly sag towards the seatpost. oh yah, I don't recommend the Imperial for a bike without fenders for obvious reasons.
Marty Eison
Frisco, Texas