7/5/14 2:12 AM

I put a new Torelli Uno Sport saddle on the Bridgestone.

Only other leather saddle experience is a Brooks. Very old, also not broken in when I got it. I sopped it with neatsfoot oil. It is pretty comfortable, but it darkened considerably. Like it was brown and now looks black.

I need to get the Torelli moving along as it is pretty hard. I do not feel sore after riding it or anything, but after an 2 hours I am looking to move around and am not getting much relief when I do.

It matches the bar tape perfectly, so I want to not have it darken. sigh... ;)

Can I loosen up the tension for a while in an effort to make it less hard? And tighten it before it gets too slack or similar? Or what can I apply that will soften it without darkening it. The oil on the Brooks worked really fast, I can use more patience with the Tipo, maybe just not 1000 miles of patience...

7/5/14 6:21 AM

I have a Brooks and a Berthoud, but I can't help as to break in. I've never put anything on them nor touched the tension, and they have been perfectly comfortable for me. They've both been soaked, and seemed to survive. I had a little muscle soreness (inner thigh) when I first rode the Brooks, but that went away after about a week, and I figured it was more me breaking in to the saddle than the other way around. YMMV

7/5/14 9:51 AM

I have had a number of Brookses, and they've all been pretty good. I followed the "break-in with neat's foot" with the first, but I don't think it made any difference--other than color. The rest have all been fine after 500-1,000 miles, and not that bad to start with.

My Velo Orange, on the other hand, was rock hard until almost 3,000 miles. There's some material reinforcing the leather on those.

7/5/14 10:04 AM

The Tipo has the center section of the sides brought under and rivoted FWIW. Like a tightly laced Brooks in effect maybe...

7/5/14 10:50 AM

...as it has a tendency to soften leather too much. It's fine for baseball gloves and similar products, but not bike saddles.

If you feel that you must use neatsfoot oil, apply it only to the underside of the saddle . That way, you don't soften the top (skin) surface, which makes it more susceptible to abrasion and wear from use. Use only something like Brooks Proofide or a wax-based leather preservative on the top. This also prevents darkening the saddle excessively.

7/5/14 10:57 AM

If leather get too soft, you can re-temper it by getting it very wet and drying it out again. My kid used to make cuffs out of leather for costumes. And once dried out after a good dip it got quite hard and kept it's shape FWIW. Not tried it myself.

Agree about the neatsfoot oil, my B17 is too soft now. I topically applied a bunch of coats and it was soaking it in big time. It was unused for 15 years, and I got it used back in NJ in the 90s sitting in a box at my friens LBS. I imaging if ridden a lot now it would be an issue as far a longevity of the leather/stretch/adjustment range et al. It is on a Hipster SS I don't ride much at this point.

I'll tell ya, the Bridgestone gets a lot of attention at the coffee/rest stops. The retro group here [and a big group it is] gets all gaga over the bar cons, the brown leather saddle and matching bar tape. There is usually a few folks at it admiring it when I look over.

And the gold paint gets a lot of complements. I always get the question "did you use spay cans?" from guys who you can see are already thinking of painting something after seeing it. ;) When I say I have a compressor and pro gun, they get all SNL 'Wild and Crazy Guys' in pointing down mode... ;)

7/5/14 12:11 PM

https://flic.kr/p/nUiWBv

7/5/14 1:52 PM

Yes, Tipo Uno Sport, Except I paid $31.00 for it new. I am about to get the matching saddle bag marked down from $75.00 to $16.95. ;)

It started the whole motif the Bridgestone...


I wonder if I put some heavy elastic web instead of the metal riveted under there if it might flex more...

7/5/14 2:03 PM

It might, but I think there's some material bonded to the underside of the leather. I think you're just going to have to ride it a while :-)

7/5/14 4:48 PM

Berthoud Saddle dressing is what I use....a can of this stuff lasts me an entire season and keeps the saddle looking new and just the right about of slickness....not slippery, but not tacky either.
http://www.wallbike.com/berthoud/saddle-maintenance/berthoud-leatherline-saddle-dressing

7/7/14 5:09 AM

I've been riding Brooks saddles for about 40 years, and the only bikes on which I *don't* have a Brooks saddle are the race bike and the TT bike. On all the other bikes (about a dozen in all), I have mostly B-17s with a couple of Pros. Over the years I've tried some other Brooks saddles, such as the Swift, but they're not as wide and I didn't find them as comfortable. The B-17s, I just ride, and they're pretty much comfortable straight out of the box. I was out on a bike with a B-17 for about four hours today, and didn't think about my backside or the saddle once.

I don't use neatsfoot or anything similar over them - just rub a bit of the Brooks Proofhide into them when I first get them, and then a couple of times a year after that to keep the leather in good condition.

Every Brooks saddle I've owned eventually develops a bigger dent on the RH side than the LH side - i.e. the saddle is adapting to me rather than vice versa. As a long time saddlebag user, I also like the Brooks because they're one of the few saddles that will accommodate the Nitto saddlebag mounts, which make using a large saddlebag extremely stable and convenient. The mount uses a standard rear wheel quick release, and the bag can be mounted or removed in a couple of seconds. I've never found the bag loops that Brooks have on frame of their B-17s to be of any use at all:

7/7/14 4:36 PM

I've broken in a few new leather saddles, and I think it was the longer rides in hot weather that made me sweat enough to soften the saddle.

On new saddles that are too slippery, I'll put a damp washcloth on the saddle and sit on it for a moment before riding to improve the grip between otherwise dry shorts and saddle. Seems to work long enough to where my sweat takes over a half-hour into the ride.

I agree that the B17's have been comfortable out of the box for the most part.

7/7/14 4:57 PM

The saddle is described as "reinforced" leather, and as Andy suggests, if it is like the saddle pictured I would guess it is not like a Brooks or Berthoud at all, and the problem is probably the stiffener and not the leather. How you break that in I don't know, a drill maybe?

7/7/14 7:16 PM

quote:

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It matches the bar tape perfectly, so I want to not have it darken. sigh... ;)

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7/7/14 7:19 PM

yeah, the sigh was to myself/silliness. ;)

7/7/14 8:10 PM

I really like my VO saddle, but it took a couple of thousand miles before it felt broken in. It's very comfortable now. We'll see how it feels in a few months.

But I think a drill MIGHT be overkill... :-)

7/8/14 1:29 AM

Regarding the colour of leather saddles, those which come as the natural leather colour will darken with use, and if you have one which is dyed another colour, the dye will eventually wear off and the saddle will start to revert to the natural colour. I've had Brooks saddles that started out as black, light grey, and British racing green, and on all of them the natural colour of the leather eventually starts to show through. I have a couple of 30-year-old Brooks Pro saddles where you can no longer tell that the saddles were originally black.

7/8/14 11:13 AM

Amen to all that!

Although this photo doesn't show it so clearly, this bike's once-black Brooks Pro saddle is very much a brown saddle today (and looks great, btw).

7/8/14 4:07 PM

A beautiful bike, classic right to the crank and the FD.

Yes, leather saddles do change color. Natural ones darken, and black ones go to brown.

I've heard, by the way, that black Brooks saddles are one of the chief reasons that bike shorts are traditionally black.

7/8/14 4:37 PM

Front derailleur is way cool...

7/8/14 10:20 PM

Thanks, and thanks.

The front derailer works really well, and I was lucky to stumble onto such a classic barn-find.

Here's a "before" picture, as when I got it: (saddle was Henri Gautier)

7/9/14 7:32 AM

I sure would be somewhat reluctant to stand and put too much into those cranks looking at them. ;)

7/9/14 9:20 AM

nm

7/9/14 9:51 AM

Same idea as my Perailleur (which is a Rene Herse ripoff design):

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1ActGblq5bsWFa

DDDD, what is the make of that bike - I can't quite discern it.

7/10/14 8:27 AM

I like the Perailer.

That's a modern iteration, no?

Indeed, the E. Christophe's Stronglight cranks are steel, and with those 52-49t chainrings, one does have to "stand and put too much" oomph into these cranks to get up any good grade. On club rides, I usually try to rocket ahead early for climbs, in order to assure not getting left behind. Going slow uphill is not an option.
The unusually steep frame angles, 77+ degrees, assists with aggressive uphill efforts since I can get my nose well forward of the front axle, indeed in front of the entire wheel(?).
And btw, there's only 4 cogs in back, 14-16-18-20t.