Report back my recent experience.

On my third trial last Sat, I rode it on rollers doing aerobic TT test and found the riding experience had been improved. Before that I used hairdryer & proofide twice and forget about it for a while (because I had other cycling events).

Based on this good experience, on Sunday, I took it for 45k ride outdoors. Overall it's good. The edge of the cut-off was not as sharp as before, though it's still not soft enough either.

Maybe the leather has been softened a little somehow. Or maybe it's the small angle I adjusted after the first two trials. It might be because the first two trials on the roller - Isolate-Leg & Spin Step-ups training, put lots of pressure on the front.

Anyway, I will still try Brook B17 Imperial on longer courses later (after this Sat event).