Originally Posted by
GhostRider62
Where did I say hammock?
I said dimple.
I really hate when people put words in my mouth.
My saddle has a little bump where my sit bone is, no sag.
And the guy who posted a picture of the Fred who turned his bike upside down in the rain as if that is comparable to a brief dunk in warm water. Seriously? I have ridden my Berthoud for around 48 straight hours with zero butt discomfort and rode my B17 Special Ti for 5 weeks of 1000 miles per week. Both broken in the same way. A Brooks saddle is what 100-200 bucks? Much less than a high quality plastic saddle. All the tales of woe and pain breaking a B17 in. It can be done quickly and worth the risk to me. YMMV. One problem is the lousy QC on their leather and storage. Some are very thin, some are thick leather, and some are so dried out that they are brutal to break in.
dimples are where it's at, as you say the qc thing is a factor. I've got three leather Brooks that I ride and are just dimpled, and one c17 that's ok for fast riding but I prefer the B17s.
again, the issue here is that a new owner doesn't do something to a new (possibly thinner leather ) Brooks and oversoftens the whole thing.
Techniques that can work for a pro could easily go too far with a thinner leather one. Your saddles have obviously turned out fine, given your experiences.
But from your experiences, you also are a real hard ass, so there's that, but your saddles have to be in great shape to allow you to do the hard ass stuff you've done.
I'll look around to see if I have some recent photos of my Brooks, I'd be curious to see how your berthoud and Ti look.