Leather Saddle Experience

[freiston]

I wasn't sure where to post this but Bikes & Bits seems to cover it. It's not a question, request for advice or even a little gem of wisdom - just sharing a little "experience".

A few months ago I was given a Selle Italia Epoca leather saddle (some say it's similar to a B17). I gave it the treatment as per the instructions with the supplied cream and "broke it in". To be fair, it didn't need much breaking in and was comfortable from the outset even if a little "stiff". It soon started to give and shape itself for a better fit but as it did, I realised that there were pressure points that needed addressing by tweaking the saddle position. With my previous saddle, a Charge Spoon variation, I suffered with chafing but not with pressure points. The main improvement was by increasing the height of the saddle - the laden height is lower than the unladen height and I had not taken this into account. Any way, my experience was good and I ultimately arrived at a good saddle position.

Due to trips away and illness, including a nasty bout of Omicron which left me quite unfit for a while, I ended up not riding for two months. Last week I got back on the bike and made my first few "recovery rides": short slow rides starting at about 8 miles going up to 17 miles over the week (plus a day or two).

When I got back on the bike, I noticed a few pressure points, even chafing and that I was sliding forward on the saddle. I put this down to two things - i) I needed to break my arris in to the saddle after the break, and ii) I had lost core strength and was not supporting myself through the feet/pedals as much as previously. With this in mind, and with my previous experience, I decided that the saddle didn't need any adjustment but I needed more rides.

Today, when getting the bike out, I heard a rattling coming from the saddle and realised that the tension bolt was loose. I had read up on leather saddles before using it and had heeded the advice to leave the tension bolt alone no matter how strong the temptation (as it rarely needs tightening and many initiates have ruined a good saddle by over-tensioning it). But this was too loose so I got an allen key out and tightened it up, using my finger to stop the nut from turning rather than the spanner (lest I overdid it). I can still grasp the nose and give it a small degree of lateral twisting but can't move it to and fro (which I could before tightening it).

When I got on the bike, the difference was immediately noticeable and I had the most comfortable ride of the week - no more pressure points, no more sliding forward, no more chafing - and the road bumps were less noticeable too. I'm still scared of overdoing the tension but I've realised that there are times when it does need re-tensioning.

[simonineaston]

Thanks for sharing - it's good to hear about a leather saddle experience, as they are such a personal thing for a lot of users. Any hints and tips always welcome!

[freiston]

Cheers

[pwa]

Caution with the tension bolt is a good thing, but I would do it up a little bit more than finger tight. Otherwise there may be a danger of the bolt moving around a bit in use and causing damage to itself or its points of contact.

[freiston]

Caution with the tension bolt is a good thing, but I would do it up a little bit more than finger tight. Otherwise there may be a danger of the bolt moving around a bit in use and causing damage to itself or its points of contact.

Thanks - I will keep an eye on it. I used an allen key to turn the bolt but used a finger against the flat of the nut to stop it turning; as the tension increased (pretty much as soon as I turned the allen key and took up the slack), the nut tightened against the "nose frame" and I reckon that I didn't even need my finger at that stage. I understand that the Selle Italia arrangement is different to the Brooks, having an allen bolt so that the nut doesn't have to be turned. My saddle did come with a little spanner for the nut, very similar to the Brooks spanner, but I couldn't get it onto the nut. I didn't take a close look - I think the gap between the nut and the frame was narrower than the thickness of the spanner (the C shape of the spanner preventing me from slotting it directly over the nut from below).

[Audax67]

One of mine was in the habit of coming loose and rattling until put Loctite on it. No negative effects so far...

[freiston]

I hadn't considered that the bolt might have worked loose rather than (or as well as) the leather stretching and causing the bolt to be loose. An oversight that I feel a tad embarrassed about now