I have Brooks saddles mounted on several of my bicycles and pretty much love them all, however; I have learned a thing or two about Brooks saddles. Actually, what I have learned can be applied to just about all suspended leather saddles that have come my way.

As a rule, a used saddle will be more uncomfortable than a new one when first put into your use. True, a saddle will conform to your particular shape after some use but for the first few hundred miles it mught prove to be unbearbely uncomfortable as was the case with a Brooks B15 that looked to be little used but proved to be the bain of my bum.

Most of the Brooks saddles that have been fitted and kept were purchased new and broken-in to my shape. Such saddles are priceless when comfort becomes the issue. Those saddles are so comfortable that I do not even think about them while riding, something that I rarely think when using other perches, even the famed Turbo which I do run on a couple of my bikes.

Treat your saddle leather regularly. Do not get it wet and leave it so. Use the stretch adjustment only if the saddle shows signs of sagging in the middle and stretch only a small bit at a time. You cannot unstretch a saddle so go slow.

I use Proofhide exclusively as my leather treatment and have had good luck with it. There are other leather conditioners out there and my guess is that many would work just fine also.

Other than that, take a chance and recondition your old saddle. Try it out and give it a fair try. It takes some time to prove a saddle's worth in my opinion. That said, if the saddle really hurts, stop using it and try something else. Sometimes you and a particular saddle will never become good friends.