I'm of the opinion that todays cyclists over think many things. I had a brooks on my Peugeot back when I was 17. I rode it rain of shine and parked it the same way. I ditched the saddle in about 1980, three years later because I got into racing then and had to be more "racer boy" and none of the adds sending corrections to my untutored brain included and cool about Brooks ... so I improved the perfectly formed but old fashioned Brooks with a plastic wrapped piece of plastic. Touring never was the same, and it was hardly possible ... but I did look cool!
In my old age I now think that the sum of my experience is "just ride it ... and don't worry over it". In fact I soaked my recalcitrant Brooks when I got it after about 1200 miles. It helped the break in remarkably I thought. Prior to that I could not escape the feeling that it was my derrière that was breaking in, not the Brooks.
So now ... I just don't worry about it. Rain or shine ... bring it on! Care free riding. And should I prove to be wrong, well a new brooks every three years, though that sounds extreme, would even then, probably cost only as much as the racer boys, on their nice racing saddles, spend in chamois creme anyways. Fair economy, I think.
Brooks saddle; $90 dollars US. Care free bicycling; priceless!
