Leather Conditioner for saddles ... good idea or not?

[Doctor Morbius]

OK, here's my dopey question for the week. Has anybody use a leather conditioner such as Lexol to treat their saddles?

I'm talking about a Selle Italia Flite or something here, not a Brooks.

I just bought a small bottle of Lexol, which is supposed to "preserve, strengthen beautify leather and auto upholstery, saddles, boots, luggage, shoes, blah, blah, etc, etc, and so forth". Worth the trouble?

Thanks.

 

[artmichalek]

After five years of faitful service including several trips to the deck, my Selle Italia is still in fine shape without any treatment. It does not however get ridden in the rain very often.

 

[bernmart]

After five years of faitful service including several trips to the deck, my Selle Italia is still in fine shape without any treatment. It does not however get ridden in the rain very often.

As a precaution, I use Lexol Leather Conditioner on my Selle Italia Max Flyte Gel Flo about once a month. But like Art, I saw no sign of wear or stress on the leather in the four months I used it without treatment of any kind. Also like him, though, I don't get it wet very often.

 

[jarrah]

I use a similar product to Lexol's on the leather upholstry on my car - mainly to clean, but also to protect against the damage from UV (the sun here in Australia is a leather-killer) and to retain its water-resistance (in case of unexpected drink spills).

Given that my bicycle saddle isn't exposed to the sun so much, I wouldn't really consider it worthwhile. But seeing as a I have a 2-in-1 cleaner & conditioner as part of my car care products (http://www.waxit.com.au/proddetail.asp?prod=PIN720&cat=19), and it only takes a moment to apply, I probably would do it once or twice a year just in case. However my saddle is quite new, so I havent even considered doing this yet...

 

[Doctor Morbius]

Thanks guys. I think I'll give it a try on one of them just to see if it's worth the effort. Who knows, I may be the only guy in 2024 with a 2004 saddle!

By the way, although some of you have stated you seldom ride in the rain, the saddle is probably subject to plenty of moisture through perspiration ... or you're just not riding hard enough.