New Brooks & Proofide
- Thread starter Theseus
- Start date
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GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
having slathered the underside with 'hide and not rubbed it/polished it off
once a day for a week
once a week for a month
once a month for a year
once a year for life
failing to do it is simply spitting in the face of the rain gods.
well it's what the old man told me anyway.
once a day for a week
once a week for a month
once a month for a year
once a year for life
failing to do it is simply spitting in the face of the rain gods.
well it's what the old man told me anyway.
biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
always clear the dirt and grit of first
Herzog
Swinglish Mountain Goat
- Location
- Bern, Switzerland
As Garz wrote, do the underside (this is often neglected!) and use mudguards in the rain!
sidevalve
Über Member
Did the underside once or twice and the upper the same then just the upper every six months or yearly on mine. Rub in well with the fingers and thats it. If you do find yourself out in heavy rain without any mudguards scrunch up a plastic carrier bag and wedge into the saddle rails. Not perfect but it keeps the worst off.
My Brooks developed an irritating noise a couple of months after getting it. Greasing the seat post which normally sorts these things out had no effect. In the end I removed the saddle and applied a fillet of proofide everywhere that metal touched leather then heated it all up with a hair dryer so the proofide ran and penetrated anywhere it could. I haven't had a sound out of the saddle since!
As for routine proofing I follow GregCollins offering above. I use mudguards all year round so the underside is less of a problem.
As for routine proofing I follow GregCollins offering above. I use mudguards all year round so the underside is less of a problem.
I have now started on this regime ...
However I have heard tales that you don't want to get the hide too supple as it will stretch to much and become useless. Is this a myth?
sidevalve
Über Member
The idea is not to get the hide supple [it's not a leather coat] but to "lubricate" it as it adapts to your bum shape [if it needs to, mine fitted more or less from the day I bought it but that's just me]. After that all you need to do is keep it from drying out with an occasional rub over.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
To use Proofhide to make a Brooks supple would require a tin containing many many litres of the stuff applied daily over a very long period of time.
Another myth is not allowing the saddle to get soaking wet. I've had one you could wring out after being hosed down by Scottishland weather for three solid days. It turned into a hammock, and the underside was on the rails. Got it home before it dried used a tennis ball and some string to gently form it back into shape, put it in a warm place to dry out, proofhided it, added a bit of tension, viola, robert is my mother's brother. It now has a very matt and discoloured (very very dark) surface but works fine.
Those who apply neatsfoot oil, dubbin and any/all other forms of shite in a misguided attempt to obtain suppleness deserve all the pain in the bum they get.
But that's just an opinion....
Hicky
Guru
I have use Leder Gris(altberg boots, supplied red tin) for one reason only....it is what is in the cupboard.
Coated the underside about 4/5 times and the top sparingly over a year, I use mudguards and the bike is kept indoors.
I have done a good few thousand miles on it and cant say I notice any differance in suppleness, however it is comfy(B17N).
Too many myths and put about....you either take to it or you dont!
Coated the underside about 4/5 times and the top sparingly over a year, I use mudguards and the bike is kept indoors.
I have done a good few thousand miles on it and cant say I notice any differance in suppleness, however it is comfy(B17N).
Too many myths and put about....you either take to it or you dont!
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
It either fits or it don't.
gwhite
Über Member
- Location
- Auchtermuchty Fife
Not really.
Proofide is merely a combination of wax, oils and citronella and its purpose is to provide a temporary waterproofing to the saddle top which is "pressure rolled". As a result, Proofide when applied to the top surface does not penetrate at all and when applied to the underside (a new recommendation by the new owners in response to the American market mostly riding without mudguards) it will offer a degree of waterproofing. Repeated applications to the underside will cause softening of the leather and will eventually cause stretching. Previously the original owners discouraged the practice of applying Proofide to the underside for exactly this reason.
It's worth knowing that the leather saddles sold by Spa have a waterproofed underside as well as the leather being itself waterproofed. These use leather too thick to develop the usual depressions but work using the "hammock" principle as does
Berthoud.
Davidc
Guru
- Location
- Somerset UK
Everything Greg (Grumpy or Collins to taste) says above - all 3 posts are spot on.
I'm on my fourth.
1) nicked with the bike - 7 years and 140,000 miles of use (a B15 not a B17)
2) chewed up by mice - 15 years and 200,000 miles of use
3) sold with the bike - 9 years and 120,000 miles of use
4) on its second bike, 11 years and 40,000 miles of use
Yes, that's half a million miles with my bottom comfortably on a Brooks.
All have been treated as Greg suggests, all have been comfortable all the time I've had them*, all have been well rained on, and all the bikes have had mudguards.
* 'though I didn't try riding on No 2 after the mice got it.
I'm on my fourth.
1) nicked with the bike - 7 years and 140,000 miles of use (a B15 not a B17)
2) chewed up by mice - 15 years and 200,000 miles of use
3) sold with the bike - 9 years and 120,000 miles of use
4) on its second bike, 11 years and 40,000 miles of use
Yes, that's half a million miles with my bottom comfortably on a Brooks.
All have been treated as Greg suggests, all have been comfortable all the time I've had them*, all have been well rained on, and all the bikes have had mudguards.
* 'though I didn't try riding on No 2 after the mice got it.
