How to break in rock hard Berthoud saddle?
Sorry, I know, another leather saddle break-in question.
I bought my first leather saddle last year, a Berthoud Aravis, because they're supposed to be "the best." I put on over 1000 miles and it still looks exactly as-new and is just as miserable to sit on. None of the expected dimples have developed. I'm ready to either make it work or get rid of it. So if your advice is to just keep riding it, my answer is "NO!"
Based on all the reading I've done, I want to try the hot water submersion. But here's my question: I slathered at least a dozen coats of Obenauf's on it last year in the hope that it would do something (it didn't). If that's supposed to repel water, will something bad happen if I dunk the whole saddle? Will it soften enough to break in? There are a lot of things that people use to break in saddles, but now that mine is coated in one thing I'm worried about the effects of combining other things.