Road Fan

Regarding a company trusting its long legacy to a formulation for leather dressing, that's exactly what Brooks has done with Proofide.

We're here speaking of leather dressings as if they are absolutely good for leather or absolutely destructive for leather. I think it's more horses for courses. My shoe repairman only has leather dressings for dress shoes and handbags, and some other products for baseball gloves. For baseball gloves he uses silicone for waterproofing. If he had seen it as destructive he would not be selling them, there are so many prodcts in the marketplace. He also advocates some French products for those wanting something special - he does not say it is inherently better than anything else. It could easily be that what is good for ⅛" leather in a baseball glove is not at all what is good for 5 mm leather in a bicycle saddle. Same for hiking boots versus leather saddles.

I have a great old pair of Herman's Survivor boots with steel shanks, 10" uppers, Vibram soles, and sewn welts (I think they're Norwegian welts, but I'm not sure). I think the shoes were made in New England, and I bought them around 1980. After they sat in my closet for about the last 10 years I took a good look at them, to see about wearing them outdoors on our park walks. No signficant blemishes, so I wore them on a short walk, but they were too stiff and I got a nasty blister. While waiting for it to heal, I experimented with Obenauf's paste. Three light coatings each allowed to sink it, then several days of letting the leather absorb all that oil, and they now feel much more supple. And they worked great for a 1.5 mile walk with Mrs. Road Fan. It's too soon to say there has been any harm, the shoe is far more comfortable than it was, and the degree of flexibility in the upper of the shoe is far more than what you will ever get in a bike saddle. Again, I'm not sure that what is good for hiking/hunting boot is good fo a bike saddle. But some saddle sellers and saddle makers have endorsed Obenauf's. Riv has recently sold it, and Selle AnAtomica recommended it several years ago. And Rivet recommends it.

Regarding Ideale saddles like a vintage 90 or 92, I don't have any instructions. My new one that I bought from a famous shop in 1984 did not come with any instructions. When I asked "should I use Proofide, the guy shrugged. It was very hard, I kept it but did not ride it. Last year I tried it out on a bike for a few short rides, and it fit nicely and with my added pork was decently comfortable. Since it is now going on 40 years old I added a light Obenauf coating to add some oil, which it soaked up readily. ir feels pretty good now in indoor riding. The new Ideale company, which only sells the Ideale 90, offers a leather dressing branded as Ideale. It might be worthwhile to see if they recommend it for older Ideale saddles. Regardless, I was exploring around my saddles and found some long-neglexted Brooksies. I lightly Proofided the Brooksies and my ideale 92, with a very light coating. We'll see!

Road Fan

Me neither, and I completely agree about boots versus bikes. My point is, not everything good for boots or outdoors leather garments is necessarily good for bike saddles. However they are not all fatally harmful to the saddle, for some purposes.

Road Fan

Yes, for Sella AnAtomica today that's correct, and it's been that way for a while. But I've been a customer of theirs since the original management lead the company. I don't recall what year, but in the past they sold a leather care kit with products from Feibing's including a paste that was a lot like Proofide, except for having mink oil - I recently bought the kit on Ebay. If I recall it was also billed as a waterproofer. I don't think they sold Obenauf, but I could be wrong. I wish I knew what S-A's original owner used, if anything, since he was a very capable randonneur and he evolved the design of the saddle to suit that kind of riding. There even used to be a choice of cut-out designs.

merziac

@Road Fan

Agreed on the formulation, that being said, and I agree that as with many things you proceed at your own peril.

From my own process which is using an alternative very sparingly that has so far proven out, the Langlitz dressing has had great results across the board, old, really old, used and very used, new and almost new have done just fine so far and I also contend that it has sped up break-in as well, again with no ill effects or sagging so far. Some of them are 7, 8, 9 years along so I am convinced that they will be fine.

Road Fan

As far as Langlitz, Limmer, or Ideale, I have no idea. There are quite a few products in this class of goods, and I really only need to know about a few that I can actually buy within my local area.

I agree, if they still are fine they will most likely go on for a while. My best Brooksies from the past have been lost in silly selling and theft in a few cases, but I have a decent set of saddles now.

The idea of proceeding at your own peril seems to be built in at Brooks, as well, since they always recommend using their dressing sparingly. So slathering on a Brooks is proceeding on one's own peril, as you say. My own metrics are: the saddle needs oil more than it needs silicone, I don't want it too smelly, and I'd rather depend on a shower cap and fenders for heavy rain protection, than on saddle goop that goes beyond the thin coating level. So, Snowseal has too much of a chemical smell, old Proofide (I think this is age rather than composition) can smell rancid, Feibing's Snow-Proof Weatherproofing has some mink oil but feels and smells good, and while Obenauf's is suggested for some measure of water proofing, it feels and looks good on some objects I've applied it to. I've been Proofiding toe straps for years, and have used Obe. on them this year. We'll see, as you say!

Bad Lag

I've once used some boot wax on the BOTTOM of my Brooks Pro (NikWax?). I have used only Proofhide on the top. The saddle is 45 years old and is better than new.

merziac

@Road Fan

Also agree on the toe straps, as well as preserving them, it helps them thread through pedals with sharp castings, especially MKS Sylvan's that are my go to.

Road Fan

I don't have a go to, I just have a few pairs of old ones that came with bikes, they're from the 1970s and 1980s. I'll keep my eye on Sylvans when I need to replace!

The Golden Boy 

I used SnoSeal on my brand new B17 and it's sagged far more than I believe it should have-

I've been unhappy with every application of SnoSeal that I've used it on.

merziac

Well most pedals can be overhauled to last literally forever, that being said Sylvans in particular are a very good substitute for any C+V.

They are one of the best values in cycling IMO, great price, looks and tough as nails.

jonwvara 

Just to stir the pot, there's always Lexol. It has enabled me to resuscitate a couple of hopelessly dry old saddles.

Big Block

Have you thought about asking the manufacturer of the leather treatment you want to use if it is:
(a) appropriate to use on a wet moulded, tensioned vegetable-tanned bike saddle and
(b) if they are prepared to guarantee that their leather treatment will perform to the same standard as Brooks Proofide?

I would be most interested in the answers you receive.