keeping a leather saddle dry

[pam_in_sc]

I love my Brooks Team Pro-S. I tried several modern saddles before
buying the Brooks, and hated them all. One women's model wasn't wide
enough for my sit bones and the other was like a rock under a little
surface give.

But now I'm planning to do a triathlon, and ride my bike in wet shorts.
So I need to either change saddles or cover my Brooks. I also want to
do a century ride or two this spring, so I am reluctant to change to a
less comfortable saddle. Wallingford Bicycles carries a saddle cover,
but they say it is only marginally wide enough for the Tream Pro-S,
which sounds not good enough. I could just use a shower cap or a
plastic bag--it is a sprint triathlon so only an 11 mile bicycle ride.

Anyone had good experience with any of these solutions?

Pam

 

[Leo Lichtman]

"pam_in_sc" wrote: (clip) So I need to either change saddles or cover my
Brooks. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Or, you could treat the saddle with a couple of liberal applications of
neatsfoot oil, to make it water repellant. (And then be sure to wear
dark-colored shorts, 'cause the oil will most likely transfer to the fabric
to some degree.)

 

[Roy Zipris]

My Brooks rain cover is a plastic bag from the market--as in "paper or
plastic?"--which I tuck under the saddle when the weather looks
threatening. I've done 50, 63, 75 mile rides sitting on such high-tech
devices with no problems.
--Roy Zipris

 

[wafflycat]

There's plenty of proofing creams & sprays available which should do the
trick. I periodically proof my leather saddles & have experienced no
problems as a result.

Cheers, helen s

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 15:03:21 -0500, pam_in_sc <[email protected]>
wrote in message <[email protected]>:

>I'm planning to do a triathlon, and ride my bike in wet shorts.
> So I need to either change saddles or cover my Brooks.
>Anyone had good experience

I have a Brooks on my wedgie. I have ridden it, in extremis, with a
waterproof saddle cover on (from http://www.ctcshop.com if I remember
aright). I found it quite uncomfortable, though I can't say why - I
certainly got a lot more sweaty than usual, and I got a bad saddle
sore that day.

I'd be inclined either to treat it liberally with Proofide and make
sure it gets time to air-dry afterwards (which would be no worse than
a really wet ride, something the Brooks can certainly stand) or use a
different saddle.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

 

[hhu]

If the saddle can handle the sweat from your ass, can't it handle a
relatively fresh water from a wet swim suit?

 

[hhu]

If the saddle can handle the sweat from your ass, can't it handle a
relatively fresh water from a wet swim suit?

 

[Neil Cherry]

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 15:03:21 -0500, pam_in_sc wrote:
> I love my Brooks Team Pro-S. I tried several modern saddles before
> buying the Brooks, and hated them all. One women's model wasn't wide
> enough for my sit bones and the other was like a rock under a little
> surface give.
>
> But now I'm planning to do a triathlon, and ride my bike in wet shorts.
> So I need to either change saddles or cover my Brooks. I also want to
> do a century ride or two this spring, so I am reluctant to change to a
> less comfortable saddle. Wallingford Bicycles carries a saddle cover,
> but they say it is only marginally wide enough for the Tream Pro-S,
> which sounds not good enough. I could just use a shower cap or a
> plastic bag--it is a sprint triathlon so only an 11 mile bicycle ride.
>
> Anyone had good experience with any of these solutions?

I keep a plastic store bag under the seat for just such emergencies. I
also have a seat cover to put over the seat so I don't slide all over
the place. I've used both on centuries and double centuries. Works
fine. Cellophane may also work but I don't know how well it will
last. I use cellophane on my bike computer to keep it dry. That allows
me to read the screen and press the buttons while still keeping the
computer dry.

--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry [email protected]
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only)
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II)
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog

 

[mark]

I've been using a grocery bag (actually a bunch of them) for a long time on
my two Brooks saddles. Works fine, cost is hard to beat.

I've found that if the saddle is properly treated with Proofide a small
amount of moisture won't affect it. You could probably just ride the
bike/saddle as is for 11 miles if you couldn't find or happened to lose the
plastic bag.
--
mark
"pam_in_sc" wrote
> I love my Brooks Team Pro-S. I tried several modern saddles before
> buying the Brooks, and hated them all. One women's model wasn't wide
> enough for my sit bones and the other was like a rock under a little
> surface give.
>
> But now I'm planning to do a triathlon, and ride my bike in wet shorts.
> So I need to either change saddles or cover my Brooks. I also want to
> do a century ride or two this spring, so I am reluctant to change to a
> less comfortable saddle. Wallingford Bicycles carries a saddle cover,
> but they say it is only marginally wide enough for the Tream Pro-S,
> which sounds not good enough. I could just use a shower cap or a
> plastic bag--it is a sprint triathlon so only an 11 mile bicycle ride.
>
> Anyone had good experience with any of these solutions?
>
> Pam
>