Brooks saddle or just the proofhide?
 

A Brooks England Flyer is on order for the commuter, but (butt) i have been thinking.

If I need to apply the proofhide to the saddle to break it in to fit my butt, why can't I just apply proofhide to the leather over my sitbones and break my butt in to fit the saddle that came with my bike?

For a savings of over 100-dollars.

Friday ponderings, thats all. The saddle I have is actually pretty comfy for commuting but I miss the ride I had on my schwinn, the torker is a bit stiff.

Dissolve the proofide in DMSO before applying it to your butt

(ps-> I know that brookses can break in just fine w/ no treatment whatsoever and I believe the proofide is only for waterproofing; I have been using snoseal for that instead of the official product)

I've never treated any of my Brooks, and they broke in fine after very few rides. Even riding in the rain, I've never found the saddle to get wet. I cover the top, and my fenders cover the bottom. The only time moisture is an issue is from sweat after 80-100 mi. in the summer. I'm more concerned about the leather drying out.

I use the proofhide on my Swift just for wate rproofness and to avoid dryingcracking. Even then ya only have to use it once or twice a year. the proofhide does nothing for breaking in. From what I have read the thinner seats such as the Swift and Swallow take longer to break in. The wider ones like the B17 are good to go right out of the box.

B17 good to go right out of the box? Mine was like concrete, and is just now starting to show signs of it starting to break in (after 100 miles).

After 5000 miles, mine is still like a block of wood. But is is comfortable.

Leather varies a lot. I have a B17 and a Flyer. The leather on the flyer is much softer than the B17, but I have hear others where this is the opposite.

z

Proofide is only for waterproofing, or so I understand. Breaking in is done by riding. That being said, I have three B17s and they were all comfortable from the start.

I got a pre-aged B67. It worked fine from the start, and I've done nothing to it in the past three years and nearly 10,000 miles.

Paul

Waterproofing??? There is no such thing for leather. Making it for tad resistant to water, yes, but not waterproof.

I proofided my brooks when I got it. It was a pre-aged but i still did it.

I have a Brooks Flyer that I've put about 600 miles into (about a month). At first the leather was incredibly rigid. I remember thinking that it felt just like sitting on hard plastic and had thoughts of returning it if it didn't improve. It has improved quite a bit by riding, and I think it will only continue to get better.

According to Sheldon Brown's site, you can use oil to help the break in process. Proofhide works also, but is much slower (again, according to SB's site).

If you can't waterproof them, does that mean they have to be covered when you're not sitting on them? I ride to Dallas, put my bike on a bus, ride the bus, then ride my bike to work, where it is stashed in a place where it could get rained on. So would I have to be putting the cover on and pulling it off multiple times, until I lost it? Or can you ride with the waterproof cover on?

You can ride with the waterproof cover on it. I'd get one if I were you since you like to stash your bike under a waterfall.

You can ride with the cover on, but the rivets will eventually wear holes in it.
Shopping bags work great though, and are easy to find laying around if it rains and
you don't have anything to cover your saddle with.