I did a Adventure Cycling tour with 15 other riders, several had Brooks. Two of them had an unbelievable amount of sag in their leather, I almost laughed when they said that their saddles were perfect and did not require any treatment or water protection.
One of those guys with the sag in the saddle put his bike upside down to check the tires and wheels in the evening, left it upside down all night - and we had a big thunderstorm that night. Next morning his Brooks was sitting in a puddle. That is not the right way to treat a saddle.
By the time I got around to taking the photo, some of the puddle had soaked into the ground so it was no longer in a puddle, but it had been in a puddle for a few hours.
Originally Posted by
chasm54
..., maybe I should say that I've never had a problem with the B17 and rain. I have mudguards/fenders on the bike, which pretty much deals with spray from the road, and my backside protects it from above. If I need to leave it outside in the rain when I'm not riding it, I simply slip over a shower cap that I leave tucked under the saddle the rest of the time. I've had that saddle about 6 years, it's been ridden in all weathers, it's fine.
Same here, BUT, I get a little tired of having to be almost obsessive about keeping it covered at night, even if that is only from the dew, or putting a cover on it during daytime if I am riding it in rain. I did ride it in several days of rain, it did develop a bit of extra sag, but when I got it dried out I tightened up the adjustment screw a tiny bit.