Bicycle Mechanics - When to tighten a Brooks saddle?

I'm 250-300 miles into the break in period of a new Brooks B-17. It seems to me like the saddle is not too stiff, but is instead too droopy. Is a bit like sitting in a hammock.

I found that I needed to raise the seat after about 50 miles, and then again after about 100, so I'm sure that it has sagged since I started using it.

I've experimented a bit with tilt & think I'm at the optimum, but going downhill, I feel the need to consciously scoot to the back of the saddle in a way that I never noticed on my original equipment plastic saddle (maybe I was just not thinking saddle at the time). Also, the boys are feeling just a bit more pressure than they did when the saddle was new, and there's something of a bump at the front of the saddle that didn't bother me before.

I'm about 170 pounds, ride on dropped bars, like to coast downhill and spin at 100 rpm the rest of the time, which doesn't seem like unusual use of a nice piece of top grain cowhide like this.

Could it be that I need to get one of those wrenches from Brooks and tighten it up a bit? I understand that most people try to LOOSEN their saddle in order to speed up break in. That's not my case.

And NO, I have not applied any illegal substances, like neats foot oil. I've only used the official Brooks saddle dope.

when i got mine i was told by the dealer that i'd probably need to tighten it a 1/4 turn at 300 miles or so. so you may want to try a 1/4 turn.
http://www.wallbike.com/
thats where i got mine, very friendly and helpful, and seem to be real experts on brooks. i dont know if they would be interested in helping if you didnt buy from them but cant hurt to try.

Hope you didn't use too much poofide during your break-in period. Doing so may prematurely soften & stretch the leather. Anyway, sounds like you definitely need to tweek it a just bit to make it taught.

As for the coasting downhill scenario, I find it helps to unweight ythe saddle, if even slightly, be squeezing the nose of the saddle with my thighs. Sounds weird, but when you try it you'll see what I mean.

Be VERY gentle with that tension wrench! You also may need to give yourself and the saddle a bit more break-in time. As the saddle ages, it will become less slippery, eliminating part of your problem.

If you own a brooks wrench...throw it away to remove temptation!!!

After that first ¼ turn you don't need to tighten it for at least 2 - 3 years.

Ive had mine for about 2 years, and it needs a bit of tension put back. I gave it less than 1 turn. Anyone else give it more ?

I tension mine up when I start to feel sag, it turns out to be about 1/4 turn every 5000 to 10,000 miles or so. If you tend to get it wet often when riding it will stretch more and more quickly.

Interesting article on history & care of Brooks saddles:

http://rivendellbicycles.com/html/reader.html

AFTER I posted this question to bike forums last night, I read somewhere on the Rivendell site (but apparently NOT on the above link) that it was possible to overdue the proofide, which would make the saddle sag.

I dunno if I overdid the stuff or not, but this warning is contrary to the advice to slather it up, or pee on it, etc.

Certainly stiffness has never been a comfort issue with my particular B-17. Given that all human bums are different, it seems reasonable to conclude that the situation is similar for the cows that donate the leather. Perhaps some saddles have more natural give than others.

I do think I should get the wrench and try a 1/4 turn or so soon.

Jay

Mine got completely soaked in the rain and I've noticed a sag since. It had around 500 miles on it when it happened. Guess I'll try a quarter turn or so first.

Mine got soaked too and I had to ride home with it that way for about half an hour. After that it was really droopy. I let it natural dry, very little proofride ect, very droopy. I gave it about five complete rotations, it fixed it. Its as tight as my other B17 which has never been soaked.

I guess that's why they put that there, wonder why people are afraid of it (dont want to unnecessarily stretch good leather?)

Strange, my B17 has over 1700 miles on it and I've yet to have a need to tighten it. I weighed over 200 lbs when I started using it and right now still weigh around 185. Mine has never gotten wet and mainly just seen Brooks Conditioner on it.

I did the opposite on both my recent honey B-17s: I loosened it. There's not much to let out when new, maybe half a turn or so. The one with about 1500 miles on it now is still fine - comfy right where it's at. I'm 147 lbs, by the way. No proofide or anything. My last saddle was an Ideale 90 from 1979. It lasted 31 years and many 10s of thousands of miles with no conditioner either. Ridden through rain, slush, searing heat, etc. The adjustment bolt finally snapped this year. It was quite a ways out by then.

Excerpt of a response from Brooks that was posted here in the past:


2/ Leather Tension

The tension is factory set and should be good for around the first 6 months of use.

Brooks recommend that you visually inspect your saddle every 6 months for signs that the leather has begun to sag, or that sit bone indentations are appearing or deepening on the top of the leather surface.

If your answer is NO, then do nothing

If your answer is YES, then give the Tension Pin a 1/4 turn in a clockwise direction (when viewed from the front) - remember that the Nut should be moving down the Tension Pin towards the rear of the saddle.

Whichever option you choose, you should then wait another 6 months and repeat the process.

It's relatively clear when to add the tension, but I've never seen any information about initial setting...

Currently I'm trying to restore old leather saddle (from soviet racing bike, almost exact Brooks clone), and it's quite interesting to find any recommendations on this topic.

Is there anybody with full saddle overhaul experience? How do you determine the amount of tension to be set on just assembled saddle?

If you own a brooks wrench...throw it away to remove temptation!!!

After that first ¼ turn you don't need to tighten it for at least 2 - 3 years.

+1. If it's sagging that much with only 350 miles on it, there's something wrong. It's either been ridden a lot wet or you've put too much crap on it to break it in.

I actually do absolutely nothing to my brooks saddles other than an initial coat of beeswax (homegrown). Nothing more -- well, other than covering with a shopping bag if it rains.

If you need more tension, use lacing instead of that screw. It's more adjustable and less potentially lethal to the saddle.

Be VERY gentle with that tension wrench!
And be very sparing with the Proofide. A little bit once or twice a year is plenty. A tin of Proofide should last you at least a couple decades if you only have one saddle to treat.