Second Thoughts on Leather Saddles

Killed my first Brooks saddle (a Team Pro) last night when I was caught in the rain. It only required 20 wet miles (with no fenders) to complete the task. The B-17 on my grocery-getter is still fine after a winter of riding, but requires more attention and planning than any other bicycle component I’ve ever owned (e.g. planning where to park, whether to ride, and how many plastic bags to bring).When deciding to try Brooks saddles I was overwhelmed by the amount of positive chatter surrounding them on the Internet. I want to add a dissenting voice to the cacophony, and certainly recognize that there is a market for these products. Leather saddles seem to be a religious issue (on which the high priests have disagreed) for people old enough to have owned one when they were the only option. The Brooks saddles had a lot of foibles, and I learned a lot about my own saddle preferences by trying them

Pro

• Unlike vinyl, leather is very hard and slippery. Having previously used standard padded vinyl saddles I had not appreciated the advantages of such a surface
• Brooks saddles have a great classic look (most easily appreciated while not riding the bike). Instant cred with the Vintage Bicycle Quarterly crowd
• Not uncomfortable at any point (when new or broken in)
• The tail end of the saddle is high and nice to lean on when mashing
• Weighs a lot (good for training, bad for racing)

Con

• Constant creaking over bumps or during heavy pedaling begins during the first ride. Can be temporarily silenced by turning the tension bolt (which I did only once on one saddle– adding tension is verboten as it can only be done a few times)
• Saddle flattens out as it is used (I weigh 195 lbs, an began to notice this after the third ride on both B-17 and Team Pro). It is possible to “lace” the saddle to reduce this effect
• Adjustment range of seat rails is much smaller than any modern saddle. This limitation can be addressed with the addition of a setback seatpost
• The nose of a Brooks saddle seems to be canted upward (B-17, Team Pro), requiring the rails to angle downward to avoid putting pressure where it’s not wanted (this is a problem for both upright and laid out positions). Some seatposts lack sufficient adjustment range to accommodate this strange requirement (what rider would want the nose of their saddle to slant upwards?)
• Leather saddles can be easily destroyed when wet. Avoiding water requires constant mindfulness: before the ride (Might there be rain while the bike is on the roof rack? Could the shaded portions of the route still be wet from yesterday?), during the ride (Is that wet pavement ahead? Is it getting cloudy? Is my rain cover slipping? Maybe I should build that dedicated rain bike with fenders), and after the ride (Saddle got a bit wet, so can’t ride it tomorrow)
• The saddle has it’s own maintenance regime and requires special chemicals (the specific details of which are an open controversy). It’s not a lot of work, but it is a lot more work than any plastic saddle
• For me, none of the Brooks saddles were more comfortable than a standard vinyl saddle over long distance (e.g. centuries and more)

The Brooks saddle looks great on a parked bike. Riding in New England I need equipment that enables and encourages me to ride in marginal (especially wet) conditions. The special needs of a leather saddle accomplish precisely the opposite. Given the cost of Brooks saddles it’s easy to justify experimenting with a variety of plastic saddles in search of a comfortable one.