Cardiff saddle conditioning question
05-15-10, 04:59 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 378
Bikes: Trek 600 Series, Miyata 610, Palo Alto Touring, Schwinn Paramountain
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Cardiff saddle conditioning question
This was my first leather saddle, and yes I did cheap out, but for the past year I have been pretty happy with it (but as I became more and more knowledgeable, I always wonder about Brooks and the love affair that could have been...now I have to stick it out bc that's how I roll). My questions are simple: (model mercia)
1.) Am I to understand that because there is a bottom woven layer for support/protection that conditioning cream would not penetrate this layer to the leather?
2.) I read the other threads and people complain about the sit bone dimples on the seat...I thought that was the whole point of leather saddles, that it molds to your bum. Is this bad then?
3.) Should I take out that middle string?
1.) Am I to understand that because there is a bottom woven layer for support/protection that conditioning cream would not penetrate this layer to the leather?
2.) I read the other threads and people complain about the sit bone dimples on the seat...I thought that was the whole point of leather saddles, that it molds to your bum. Is this bad then?
3.) Should I take out that middle string?
05-16-10, 11:00 AM
#2
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 378
Bikes: Trek 600 Series, Miyata 610, Palo Alto Touring, Schwinn Paramountain
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Hmm nobody?... alright i'm taking off the string and conditioning the underside and just assume the dimples are bad and save up for a brooks =<
05-16-10, 11:08 AM
#3
Senior Member
Originally Posted by Soma Roark
This was my first leather saddle, and yes I did cheap out, but for the past year I have been pretty happy with it (but as I became more and more knowledgeable, I always wonder about Brooks and the love affair that could have been...now I have to stick it out bc that's how I roll). My questions are simple: (model mercia)
1.) Am I to understand that because there is a bottom woven layer for support/protection that conditioning cream would not penetrate this layer to the leather?
2.) I read the other threads and people complain about the sit bone dimples on the seat...I thought that was the whole point of leather saddles, that it molds to your bum. Is this bad then?
3.) Should I take out that middle string?
1.) Am I to understand that because there is a bottom woven layer for support/protection that conditioning cream would not penetrate this layer to the leather?
2.) I read the other threads and people complain about the sit bone dimples on the seat...I thought that was the whole point of leather saddles, that it molds to your bum. Is this bad then?
3.) Should I take out that middle string?
I had the same issue about the fabric on a V-O saddle that I've since sold. I never did play with it. I couldn't tell if the leather was a solid piece or a leather composite of some sort. If it's a composite I do not want to destroy it. It WAS a $100 saddle, after all. but I'm a cheapskate.
What happens if you proofide the top? On mine it did not absorb anything.
Do the dimples result in a painful fit? If not, I'd just keep riding it. If you want to play, play with the tension screw, but I can't say if it is risky or not.
05-16-10, 11:12 AM
#4
PanGalacticGargleBlaster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Smugglers Notch, Vermont
Posts: 7,536
Bikes: Upright and Recumbent....too many to list, mostly Vintage.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 19 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
3 Posts
i've got nothing good to say about em but I've only had my one experience.
1.) thats what they say...the conditioning cream isnt supposed to penetrate through that layer.
2.) That was my main complaint and it was because the dimples took about 2 rides to be very pronounced, to the point of saggy and uncomfortable. Like a completely worn-out brooks. The point is to have a saddle molded to your bum, but it still needs to be firm and supportive which IMHO the cardiff was not.
3.) its gonna cause the sides of the saddle to bulge out but it will lessen any unfomcortable ridge that my (or may not) have developed along the centerline of the saddle. (Fwiw, some folks do the same tying thing to their Brooks saddle and i've considered doing it to mine but it causes the center ridge of the saddle to become more pronounced.) Of course there's always the route of really binding the hell out of the bottom with lots of lacing and creating a stiffer platform...there's some website out there devoted to hacking and tying tensioned leather saddles...
Just curious...have you tensioned yours much since you got it? Treated it with anything? What model do you have?
I had a White Cornwall. Looked GREAT, but unfortunately didn't suit me.
1.) thats what they say...the conditioning cream isnt supposed to penetrate through that layer.
2.) That was my main complaint and it was because the dimples took about 2 rides to be very pronounced, to the point of saggy and uncomfortable. Like a completely worn-out brooks. The point is to have a saddle molded to your bum, but it still needs to be firm and supportive which IMHO the cardiff was not.
3.) its gonna cause the sides of the saddle to bulge out but it will lessen any unfomcortable ridge that my (or may not) have developed along the centerline of the saddle. (Fwiw, some folks do the same tying thing to their Brooks saddle and i've considered doing it to mine but it causes the center ridge of the saddle to become more pronounced.) Of course there's always the route of really binding the hell out of the bottom with lots of lacing and creating a stiffer platform...there's some website out there devoted to hacking and tying tensioned leather saddles...
Just curious...have you tensioned yours much since you got it? Treated it with anything? What model do you have?
I had a White Cornwall. Looked GREAT, but unfortunately didn't suit me.
__________________
--Don't Panic.
--Don't Panic.
Last edited by Zaphod Beeblebrox; 05-16-10 at 11:16 AM.
05-16-10, 05:02 PM
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 378
Bikes: Trek 600 Series, Miyata 610, Palo Alto Touring, Schwinn Paramountain
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Zaphod Beeblebrox
i've got nothing good to say about em but I've only had my one experience.
1.) thats what they say...the conditioning cream isnt supposed to penetrate through that layer.
2.) That was my main complaint and it was because the dimples took about 2 rides to be very pronounced, to the point of saggy and uncomfortable. Like a completely worn-out brooks. The point is to have a saddle molded to your bum, but it still needs to be firm and supportive which IMHO the cardiff was not.
3.) its gonna cause the sides of the saddle to bulge out but it will lessen any unfomcortable ridge that my (or may not) have developed along the centerline of the saddle. (Fwiw, some folks do the same tying thing to their Brooks saddle and i've considered doing it to mine but it causes the center ridge of the saddle to become more pronounced.) Of course there's always the route of really binding the hell out of the bottom with lots of lacing and creating a stiffer platform...there's some website out there devoted to hacking and tying tensioned leather saddles...
Just curious...have you tensioned yours much since you got it? Treated it with anything? What model do you have?
I had a White Cornwall. Looked GREAT, but unfortunately didn't suit me.
1.) thats what they say...the conditioning cream isnt supposed to penetrate through that layer.
2.) That was my main complaint and it was because the dimples took about 2 rides to be very pronounced, to the point of saggy and uncomfortable. Like a completely worn-out brooks. The point is to have a saddle molded to your bum, but it still needs to be firm and supportive which IMHO the cardiff was not.
3.) its gonna cause the sides of the saddle to bulge out but it will lessen any unfomcortable ridge that my (or may not) have developed along the centerline of the saddle. (Fwiw, some folks do the same tying thing to their Brooks saddle and i've considered doing it to mine but it causes the center ridge of the saddle to become more pronounced.) Of course there's always the route of really binding the hell out of the bottom with lots of lacing and creating a stiffer platform...there's some website out there devoted to hacking and tying tensioned leather saddles...
Just curious...have you tensioned yours much since you got it? Treated it with anything? What model do you have?
I had a White Cornwall. Looked GREAT, but unfortunately didn't suit me.
05-16-10, 05:05 PM
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 378
Bikes: Trek 600 Series, Miyata 610, Palo Alto Touring, Schwinn Paramountain
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Road Fan
Re the dimples, all I can say is, I haven't had them work for me, in used saddles, and have never had them form for me.
I had the same issue about the fabric on a V-O saddle that I've since sold. I never did play with it. I couldn't tell if the leather was a solid piece or a leather composite of some sort. If it's a composite I do not want to destroy it. It WAS a $100 saddle, after all. but I'm a cheapskate.
What happens if you proofide the top? On mine it did not absorb anything.
Do the dimples result in a painful fit? If not, I'd just keep riding it. If you want to play, play with the tension screw, but I can't say if it is risky or not.
I had the same issue about the fabric on a V-O saddle that I've since sold. I never did play with it. I couldn't tell if the leather was a solid piece or a leather composite of some sort. If it's a composite I do not want to destroy it. It WAS a $100 saddle, after all. but I'm a cheapskate.
What happens if you proofide the top? On mine it did not absorb anything.
Do the dimples result in a painful fit? If not, I'd just keep riding it. If you want to play, play with the tension screw, but I can't say if it is risky or not.
05-17-10, 05:05 AM
#7
Zip tie Karen
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Fair Oaks Ranch, TX
Posts: 7,005
Bikes: '13 Motobecane Fantom29 HT, '16 Motobecane Turino Pro Disc, '16 Motobecane Gran Premio Elite, '18 Velobuild VB-R-022, '21 Tsunami SNM-100
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1464 Post(s)
Liked 1,537 Times
in
804 Posts
No Expert, But...
Originally Posted by Soma Roark
Hmm nobody?... alright i'm taking off the string and conditioning the underside and just assume the dimples are bad and save up for a brooks =<
I had an Ideale 90 in the 1970 through the 1990s, and it conformed to my shape. My cardiff cornwall is too new to have the indentations that you're experiencing. But I expect them after a hundred hours in the saddle.
Did you remove the string, and has there been a noticeable effect?
05-18-10, 04:40 PM
#8
Senior Member
I just bought a VO saddle (sprung version) which is made in the same factory as Cardiff. Mine was incredibly uncomfortable during my first 60 mile ride (after a few 10-15 milers). I loosened the tension and removed the "apron strings" to break it in. It is a good deal more comfortable now, I rub it down a bit with Mink Oil Paste and that seems to sink in from the top. The jury is still out but I will ride it as is until I have over 500 miles on it, it does keep getting more comfortable.
05-20-10, 05:51 PM
#9
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 378
Bikes: Trek 600 Series, Miyata 610, Palo Alto Touring, Schwinn Paramountain
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by irwin7638
I just bought a VO saddle (sprung version) which is made in the same factory as Cardiff. Mine was incredibly uncomfortable during my first 60 mile ride (after a few 10-15 milers). I loosened the tension and removed the "apron strings" to break it in. It is a good deal more comfortable now, I rub it down a bit with Mink Oil Paste and that seems to sink in from the top. The jury is still out but I will ride it as is until I have over 500 miles on it, it does keep getting more comfortable.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Bone Machine
Classic & Vintage
10
09-10-17 06:15 PM
KC8QVO
General Cycling Discussion
7
06-05-14 01:00 PM
