jhunt, while there are many people who enjoy their leather saddles there are a lot of other people who prefer not to enjoy the break-in period. My gf couldn't ride on any saddle in the level position and the taint relief she got was pointing the squishy saddle down, surprised me as the position looks awful but she likes it. I've been riding for 40yrs and raced in my 20's. While I got comfortable enough riding all day, as comfortable as one can get riding on a bicycle seat I wasn't able to get past the time required to break in a leather saddle. I've tried three times for 3-6mo and it just wasn't worth it given the saddles out there that work from day one to ten years down the line. You might consider getting a pre-broken in B-17 or experiment with other saddles. Putting in the miles can be enough of an effort if you're starting from scratch. Btw getting up off the saddle frequently, no matter what kind, can help.

There are B-17 with cutout taint relief and pre-aged ones.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/s...rooks-b17.html