How Many Miles?
 

I have a Brooks B-17 saddle. At mile 20, my butt hurts and I can't ride much more. How Many miles does it take to break this thing in before it break me? LOL Is there something I can use to speed up the break in process?

Are your sit bones hurting, or some other part? If it is your sit bones, just give it time, the seat will get better. I wouldn't try to speed up the process. I simply used Proofide as recommended, and let time and sweat take care of the rest. Anything used to soften the leather will only screw it up, and shorten the life of the seat.

You didn't say what kind of bike or what your riding position is. I have B-17s on two bikes and they were comfortable for me immediately. Both of these bikes have upright positions so I'm sitting on them rather than leaning as if in more of a racing/road bike position. I do have a B-17 narrow on another bike that I'm replacing because it just doesn't fit my amply derrière.

I have a normal road bike without an upright handlebars. I was thinking of getting Profide and work it into the seat. Would that work?

How many miles? Depends on you and the saddle. My first B-17 took about 500 miles (a little over a month) to get really comfortable. The Team Pro took over 1,000 miles. Another B-17 took about 75 miles. Proofide may help some, but I think that's more a leather treatment and preservative than something to soften the saddle.

Obenauf's Heavy Duty LP (Leather Preservative). Doesn't have liquid oil so won't soften excessively over the years, but helps a LOT at the beginning.

My new aged B17 came with a particularly tall hump at the nose, causing some small amount of crotchular agony. I emailed Brooks about it, jokingly saying I was tempted to hit it with a baseball bat. The reply suggested that if I had to, a rubber mallet would be better. Fortunately for me, a slight tilt down took care of it, and now it's quite comfortable.

My commute would be 13 miles. The only thing is that it involves downtown riding which scares me a little bit