Having lived places with hot and *HUMID* summers, I too have sweat saddles wet and incidentally accomplished the break in function. On my Trans-Am ride I had to judge when to put my saddle cover on just to give my Rambouillet's B-17 Special (hammered flat copper rivets) a break because it hadn't fully dried from the previous day's hot, humid sweat wetness.
While in KY I worked for a supplier to the equine industry and the leather shop produced all sorts of tack for horses and their handling. The final step for all of the leather goods, being for show, sales or training, was a dip in mineral oil to produce that dark brown coloration, weather proofness and pliability that would fit quickly without reducing strength or stretching. The leather master himself loaded the hooks, lowered items into the drum of mineral oil and took responsibility for the duration of the dip so the oil didn't go too deeply into the leather. This as a saddle break in method would be tricky, let it soak in too much and you might get a saggy outcome if you ride it too much. Let it be out in the sun and the mineral oil will eventually evaporate. I have a RIvet Cycle Works saddle now and I can say that the fit of the saddle is important. Breaking in can either optimize that or cause a saddle to sag to less than optimal, I found that true of the leather saddles of later B-17s right after Brooks was bought, those broke in too much and sagged past ideal fit. If your saddle fits, its hardness matters much less. The flesh covering your sit bones does need time to break in (toughen up) with a new saddle too, even a new one of the same model you've used forever. Andy Cheatham Pittsburgh On Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 10:35:54 AM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > TMI, but my ass sweats so much on rides in warm weather, I reckon that's > why I've never really had an issue breaking in leather saddles. > I'm sure most of us here do this anyway, but if not, try putting a > generous amount of Proofhide or Obenoufs on the *underside* of your > leather saddle as well as on the top surface. > > Brian > Lexington, KY > > > -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8941ad6b-a35b-4155-8b52-f538f1403550n%40googlegroups.com.
