Originally Posted by broomhandlde
im also a proud new owner of a B17, and man, its gonan atake awhile to break it in. i had a ideal beofore that has seen better days. any ideas of breaking this thing in besides ridding? its just so stiff....
I broke in 2 saddles for my wife and my daughter like this: Take the saddle off the seat post, lay it on the floor, preferable a carpeted floor. Take shoe off and place foot on saddle. Start taking weight on that foot, gently pressing on saddle in the seating area. Especially place the heel where the sitbones go, in turn. Do this for a few minutes; the leather should have some "give" at this stage.
After doing this, these saddles were essentially broken in, not causing any discomfort. Longer rides will break it in further, causing 2 slight depressions where your sitbones go. If the leather becomes a bit damp from your sweat, this will accelerate the process.
All this assumes you are treating the leather with Proofide, Dubbin or Hydrophane - these product prevent the leather from drying out and cracking. Treat the saddle BEFORE you do the beaking in or leather fibres may break instead of sliding over each other.