Quote Originally Posted by pooks
Thanks! I only rode it about a mile (HOUSE was about to come on!) but it WAS slippery and I WAS sliding forward if I wasn't careful. I assume that means the nose needs to be raised, even though it doesn't look like it?

Also, I'm sitting way on the very back of the saddle, same as the other one. I can't figure out if that's the typical place or if I'm sitting way back behind where people typically sit. But it feels okay when I do that (as long as I don't slide forward).

I put some proofhide on it last night and then polished it. It still feels slick to me. I wonder if I didn't use enough.

Anyway, I'll be riding today! And I need to figure out how to adjust it -- that's a new one for me!
If you feel you are sliding forward, tilt the nose up a bit more- just a TINY BIT at a time! You'll know if you tilted the nose TOO far up when your girly bits get too much pressure on a several mile ride. When I tried tipping the nose down a bit, I felt I was constantly sliding forward onto my hands- highly annoying! As soon as I tipped the nose up- problem gone.

Expect some sit bone soreness for at least the first week as your butt adjusts to the hard new leather and the new seat shape- my soreness went away after that. Our bodies need to adjust to new things.

Take plenty of Proofhide on your finger and rub it in everywhere you can on the UNDERSIDE of the saddle too. You don't need to do that more than once, I would think.
But proofhiding the top (and edges!) should be done several times. Rub plenty of it into the surface with your fingers, let dry 15 minutes, buff off. A Q-tip will cleanup any stuff that gets in the top holes. I've Proofhided mine twice now in 2 weeks, about to do a third time. (I rode on it for several weeks first without putting anything on it just to check it out) I've ridden for about 5 weeks total on it, and I just noticed for the first time yesterday two subtle indents forming where my sit bones go- wheee!
I rode on it 40 miles on Monday and only got a little soreness (along with the entire rest of my body, considering my previous longest ride ever was 23 miles!)

My DH put neatsfoot oil on his new honey colored Brooks, and the color turned to a rich brown instead of honey. Still looks nice, but it's now a lovely brown saddle. I put only Proofhide on mine, and the honey color has only deepened slightly, but did not turn dark. So if you want to keep the honey toned effectas much as possible, I suggest using ONLY Proofhide.

I would think sitting far back on the seat is a good thing as long as it doesn't cause problems...