How do I revive an old Brooks?
 

Its off an old Raleigh that I hope to gently bring back to riding shape. What do I need to do to save this saddle? It seems to be pretty spread out.

TJ
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I'm kind of curious too-
A couple years ago, I picked up a box o' parts at a garage sale for $4.
I've sold 2 sets of bar end shifters for $35 and gave a set of decent (metal) platform pedals to my brother.
I was looking through it a few days ago and found a Brooks Professional that's a little worse for the wear! It has a small cut between 2 rivets near the rear corner edge, plus rust on the bottom.

You can punch the lower edge of the saddle, and lace the sides together with a leather thong, to control the splay.
I am not an expert, and both of my Brooks saddles have been used very little, but if that were mine, I'd nourish the underside with mink oil or Brooks' Proofide. How much is a black art, as far as I can tell. Here's a photo of a saddle that came pre-punched with the holes, as many used to. Note that there are at least two different diameters of holes.
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You can soak it in a bucket of water for a few hours or longer until it is soft and pliable and then dry it off with a towel, put crumpled up newspapers underneath it to help absorb water and to shape it and then wrap packing tape around the sadlle to hold it in the final shape you want it. Let it dry out at room temperature for a few days and then remove the tape and paper and apply either proofhide or other leather dressing as you would on a new saddle.

Reviving Brooks
 

I've had good to excellent results applying Proofide (the Brooks company's saddle dressing) to older saddles ( both on top and underneath ). However, they haven't been in quite the same condition as the saddle you have shown in the photographs. I have also used saddle soap with a moistened cloth, worked up some lather and applied that to the saddle surface. This cleans up the saddle and handles some of the abrasions. For abrasions, very light touchups with the tiniest bit of good shoe polish, along with a good buffing with linen cloth also helps to revive the appearance of the saddle.

Sheldon Brown's site suggests neatsfoot oil, even motor oil! He has stated that he obtained good results
from placing the saddle upside down in an oil bath ( oil in a shallow pan, say ) for an hour or so, then wiping it off and letting the leather regain its pliability. You could try any of these methods to see if it improves the condition of your saddle, trying the less extreme methods first.

Best of luck!

Sudevan

I have a great wife and she gave me a new Brooks for Christmas. Now from everything I understand about it, it should not get very wet. I know the old saddle is very dry, but soak it in water? Won't that make it curl like a dog chew when it dries?

TJ

To get some moisture back in it, I would wrap it in a damp towel for ~24 hours as opposed to totally submerging it.

Turtle Jack,

When I was first told this method last year by "Ace" Atkinson who is 88 years old and raced in the 48 Olympics I thought he was nuts but of course I just smiled, and then shortly thereafter I read the same thing on-line (CR maybe?) and I thought I would give it a try and it really worked on an old Wrights that I had. You have to use the tape so that it doesn't curl but dries in shape. Brooks are formed in a press when they are wet and they can un-form if they get wet without being held back in shape.

I recently did this with a 12-year-old Brooks Swift that was in otherwise very good condition but was completely dried out. I was trying to break it in, using Proofhide, and finally after showing it to the mechanic at my LBS we concluded that it was just so dry it wouldn't break it. He suggested the Sheldon Brown technique, which I followed, and which worked. The oil nourished the saddle and now it seems like a new saddle...gradually breaking in as I ride it.

Yes, I have done that, but only if badly misshapen. And use cold water, not hot. Its quite common to wet leather to work and shape it. Also, they seem to be finished with a lacquer type coating; you can wipe with lacquer thinner to clean, let it dry, re-dye with black leather dye and finish with Proofhide. Neatsfoot oil might be ok, I never used but have used Mink oil with good results. Honestly, if you talk to oldtimers (and poor college students in the 60s and 70s, they used motor oil!)

The rust could be removed with steel wool or a chemical rust remover.

I've brought back some that seemed like goners; worth a try.

sell it on ebay, be sure to use "vintage" and "track" in the description
then take the procedes and buy a new one