Cyclists often ask me "how should I care for my Brooks saddle?". It's the same question I asked oldtimers over thirty years ago, and I hope to give you a better answer than I received from the "experts" of my youth. Leather bicycle seats are cared for the same way regardless of if you ride a Team Professional, a Swallow, a B-17 or the saddle with the regrettable moniker, the Lepper. It isn't so much what you DO to them as what you SHOULDN'T do to them.

Don't listen to the oldtimers of my youth and slather them with goop, bake them in an oven, hit them with baseball bats, or soak them in oil. If a saddle has the right shape it is darn comfortable right out of the box. A bicycle saddle isn't the same as a baseball glove, and it doesn't need to be ultra-flexible in order to work properly. That's the biggest fallacy, and it's the single cause of premature wear. Install your saddle properly, which is essentially level. There should be a very slight downward slope from the rear rivets to the center of the saddle, but when viewed from tail to nose it will be very nearly level. At this point the saddle should be quite comfortable, and will only become more so as you pile on the miles.

Now that you haven't tortured your saddle with oil, heat, and baseball bats, continue to neglect it by not treating it to such sensuous pleasures as sunbathing and refreshing showers. A saddle needs to breathe, but it doesn't need to drink water. As for sunlight, the leather has already been tanned, so try not to park it out in the sun uncovered if you live in Phoenix or Miami. If you live in Seattle or somewhere else with a lot of rain, one of the best things you can do is to carry a cover. Brooks makes them just for this purpose and they are quite inexpensive, they take up practically no space and will pop right on in no time if you find yourself cycling in a downpour. If you are constantly riding in the rain coating the underside with something like Brooks Proofide is a good idea. You can also give your undercarriage a little "how's your father" with something like Nikwax aqueous waterproofing. It actually works better on wet leather, so it's ideally applied after a ride in the rain. The saddle cover can also be used if you find yourself having to park your bike in bright sunshine for long periods of time, or if you are unfortunate enough to have to transport your bike on top of a car carrier (about the harshest thing you can do to your trusty steed is put it on top of a car and drive it at 75 m.p.h., especially in the rain). When your saddle does get wet, let it dry at room temperature (try not to help it along with a hairdryer or blow torch) before buffing it with a dry cloth or even your cycling shorts and moving legs.

Before you know it, your saddle will begin showing little depressions where your "sit bones" strike it. This friends is the true definition of "breaking in" a saddle, and when it occurs your backside will feel as if it is being treated to a day at the spa. It is for this reason, as well as leather's ability to breathe that you'll see pictures of the great Eddy Merckx using a Brooks saddle long after nearly everyone else had switched to the lighter Unicanitor. Eventually however, you'll notice that Mr. Brooks feels a little tired. Where once there was a spring now old faithful will look a little droopy, a touch swaybacked. This does not happen overnight. It might take a few years of diligent cycling, but someday the inevitable will occur and you will be forced to turn that nut at the nose of your saddle, thus tensioning the entire apparatus. As with everything else, do this sparingly and don't rush it. Some of you will not be able to resist turning that nut practically from day one. After all, it's there isn't it? Your care kit comes with a wrench, for Pete's sake, just begging you to start spinning things, right? You know who you are. Don't rush it.

And that's all there is to many many years of backside bliss on the bike. Don't slather your saddle with goop. A little Proofide every couple of months is all it takes. A small tin should last you for years. Install the thing correctly. Don't let it bake in the sun. Don't let it rot in the rain. Let it dry slowly. Cover it when you can. If you ride in the rain constantly use a saddle cover and give the underside a coat. Needless to say fenders are a good idea for ardent rain riders. Resist the urge to overtighten the tension nut. That's it. Now go out there and ride!