Reviving Brooks Saddles

Over the years, I've had a couple of Brooks saddles that were in pretty bad condition. One had a broken tension bolt and looked like it had been left out in the rain for weeks and then ridden for days. They get all stretched out and saggy.

This one wasn't sagged as badly as some, but too much to ride.

The first step is to remove the tension bolt. It's not an easy job sometimes but it can be done with some prying and stretching (and some swearing).

The next step is to stick it in a bucket of water and let it soak.

Once the leather is wet, it can be reshaped to its original shape.

To do this, I clamp the wet leather between two pieces of wood and let it dry.

Once it's dry, it time to put it back together.

I know you were hoping I'd show you some easy to get it back together, but I haven't found that easy way yet. I wish I had.

The only small help I can be here is to suggest you use a shorter tension bolt than the stock one. I'm assuming here that you are rebuild a Brooks Pro. The tension bolt in a Pro is 70 mm long. You can use a tension bolt from a B66 or Pro 'S' which is only 64 mm long. So you don't have quite so far to stretch thing to get the saddle back together. I buy my parts from Wallingford Bicycle Parts

I've done two saddles like this so far and both have come out well and held up well after the rebuild. One was far worse that the photo above.

I have another Pro with a broken frame and the parts to fix it, so I have a big job ahead.

I'll get to learn how to do the rivets.

I hope I remember to take photos!

Stay tuned...