I have three leather bicycle saddles. One I bought new about ten years ago, the others I picked up second-hand.
The older ones are great - they are hard and supportive. If you rap them with a knuckle, it feels like knocking a piece of wood.
The newer one, supposedly the same saddle from the same maker, is soft and unpleasant, and just gives way.
Is there anything I can do to it to improve it?
Daniele
Urinate on it
GIYF:
People have all kinds of reasons for preferring to have a conversation about something with other people on Usenet, over doing a web search for answers to a question.
Daniele
I wouldn't deny that for a minute, but you asked if there was anything you could do, and I gave you links to answers. If you'd said that you'd already searched, but wanted practical experiences, I wouldn't have replied.
Happy New Year!
ISTR Andy Dingley posting something about that here in the past... a groups search may turn up more.
Not least to get sensible answers from people with experience. There is a lot of nonsense on the Internet. My first question would be whether the soft one is just a cheap make - or counterfeit?
If this is a Brooks, does the tension need adjustment?
Bear in mind they're supposed to soften with use and give a bit.
Ha! In my experience continental drift happens faster than a Brooks saddle softening. ;-)
I think they?re a bit of a ?Marmite? thing, you either swear by them or swear at them.
Tim
It is, but that doesn't seem to help. It makes the ridge of the saddle tighter, but the sides fall away as pathetically as before. I feel that increasing the tension further would only stretch the leather but not make any improvement.
All three of the saddles are Brooks; even the same model, but the leather could be an entirely different material as far as the feel of it goes.
Indeed. It's even possible that the one I don't like is the way they're supposed to be, and the others have hardened through neglect. However, I don't think so.
Daniele
Daniele, you do have a woman's saddle don't you? They are different. Men's saddles put pressure on areas that women find very tender.
Andy
Why would he?
Daniele is a "furriner" and as such, has problems spelling his name properly. ;-)
Tim
On 01/01/2018 16:20, Tim+ wrote: Bear in mind they're supposed to soften with use and give a bit.
+1Mind you, back in my cycling days there was little other "quality" choice than Brooks.
No, but we men have our tender spots too!
Daniele
first, wet it (or soak it, I'd work may way up) and dry it with heat. Sun in summer, oven in winter, or perched on a radiator.
If that's not enough, adding soda (sodium carbonate, not bicarbonate) to the water makes the leather harder. I found a suggestion of 1 tablespoon soda to 1 liter of water for hardening leather for a knife sheath. And I have hardened leather using soda and water, but it was thing, and I could stretch it into shape.
There's also "boiled leather", used for armor, but I'd expect the leather to lose all shape when wet and hot, which may ruin the saddle.
Thomas "remembering AFU days" Prufer
Oops. Sorry!
Andy
I knew that. But then he was another of my students!
It's probably had too much neatsfoot oil applied, so boiling might be the answer, or pack it in fullers earth (cat litter) and bake it gently.
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