If the leather has truly stretched to the point where you have a distinct center ridge and two deep "cheek pockets", just tensioning the saddle won't help. It will just make the ridge all the more prominent, and you won't be any more comfortable.
When you are ready for drastic measures: Soak the saddle in water. Really soak it, like submerged for a week in a tub, with the tension bolt fully slack. That will soften the leather enough that it can be reshaped. Reshape it by hand, massaging the ridge down and the dents back to something that looks like a new saddle. Stuff something waterproof into the saddle and truss it up to hold that shape, than let it dry thoroughly. Give it time. Once it's dry, polish it as best you can with Proofide (or your favorite balm). The surface won't be as shiny smooth looking as a new saddle, but it was unrideable anyway, right? DON'T apply a bunch of Proofide to the bottom, that will soften up the leather again and you don't want that. Just polish the top like it was a pair of dress shoes. Before riding the saddle, put a bit of tension back on the leather. Don't overdo it, but as you ride it do add a bit of tension as needed to help retain the shape. To that end, two more things to do. One, lace the skirts. That will help the top stay flatter. Two, if you're brave enough to go this far, cut out the center of the saddle a la Imperial / Anatomica. Fancy shaping not needed, just a nice oval cutout. If there's no material in the center, there is no way for a ridge to reform. I have posted on that topic before. I have soaked, reshaped and cut out a B17 (granted, a late-90's vintage one with very good leather) and it made the saddle much nicer. These days I prefer my Rivet, but the hacking the otherwise-useless B17 gave it a new life. Bill Stockton, CA On Sunday, August 30, 2015 at 8:57:34 AM UTC-7, Lungimsam wrote: > > So I have only had this saddle for 10 months and I have divots where the > sit bones sit to the point of feeling the rear of the frame dig into my > rear end when I ride now. > > People say these saddles last for 20 years or so. But mine is becoming > unrideable at this point. > > Any advice? > > It is a sprung Flyer, so I am not sure if tension bolt tightening will > help. Wondering if the springs will just rise with the tensioning, making > the saddle more concave and the rear frame piece more pronounced. > > Anyone have experience with this? Any solutions? > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
