Brooks Saddle Restoration

Veteran frame builder Dave Moulton recently wrote about switching to a classic Brooks saddle. This got me to thinking - I used to use one of those and quite honestly, since I switched I have yet to be all that happy with my bike saddles. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the trend was to go for a much narrower saddle with lighter materials. No question, the Brooks is a brick.

Sometine in the 80s a friend bought me a Selle San Marco Regal which was styled like the Brooks Pro but not built like it. I didn't want to switch, but I didn't want to offend my friend. Now I'm old enough to know better, and put comfort front and center.

I dug out my old saddle and it looked horrible! Something like mold seemed to be covering the surface and the beautiful copper rivets were oxidized something awful. I figured it was a lost cause. I decided to see just how bad off it was so I wiped it down with a disinfectant. Happily the powdery coating came right off and the surface of the saddle looked smooth and uncracked.

I decided to give it a proper cleaning with saddle soap - generally not advised but I figured it was an extreme case. I've been applying Neatsfoot oil liberally on the underside and sparingly on the top, using an artists brush for both control and reach underneath. The old saddle is drinking it up, and a bit of steel wool shows the rivets copper as if they were new. I have high hopes now that I'll have it ridable in a week or so. Here's how it's looking: