Originally Posted by geog_dash
The English leather and retro design seem to endow Brooks saddles with heirloom status. They're bicycle parts. They carry a lot of constantly moving weight. They get wet occassionally. The cow is dead, it's not going to heal. I've been enjoying my B17 for a year. Three or four more would amount to my money's worth, beyond that will be bonus. Then I'm sure I'll get another of the same. Enjoy the ride.
Originally Posted by Bekologist
I ride All Brooks in Seattle all winter long, have so for the last decade, and haven't covered my seats for anything except if it is absolutely pouring AND I'm going to be inside all day. Errands like at the grocery store, neaugh or watching a movie, no. You want to avoid saturating the saddle, and if you know how to waterproof leather properly, its pretty easy. Just treat it with your own secret saddle dope, and ride. No worries. Here's a picture of a wet one for the doubting thomases. Parked out in Seattle weather all the time.
+1. Sage & wise counsel offered in these posts.
I have a 30 year old Brooks B-17 which has been ridden in the rain & wet for many miles. For some years that bike was kept @ night on the back or a boat I lived aboard. It also sailed back there for more then a few miles of the East Coast. Suffice it to say that this B-17 has had more than it's share of wet. Over the years it has been occasionally treated to treatments of various leather treatments, including but not limited, to Needsfoot oil, mink oil, Snow Seal, et. al. This saddle remains my most comfortable one.
To paraphrase geog-dash; "I've been enjoying my B17 for a 30 years. Three or four more would amount to my money's worth, beyond that will be bonus. Then I'm sure I'll get another of the same. Enjoy the ride." Bob