SEVEN DAY CYCLIST
CYCLING, BUT NOT USUALLY RACING

Now, this is quite significant, since it’s a lacquer, not a “food”; so won’t nourish leather, in the same sense as Proofide, or similar products do. Since we’re wandering towards winter, take this opportunity to treat leather, regardless of age/condition. Leave twenty-four hours or so between applying this and the leather lacquer.

    

How to apply

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Assuming leather is essentially clean and dry, round up some newspaper to catch any overspray and a couple of clean, lint free cloths. Squirt in short blasts from 20cm, working the slightly milky fluid into the hide with your chosen cloth. Even coverage, not saturation is what you’re looking to achieve here.

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Two squirts of the trigger proved sufficient, although some shoes benefitted from a third. Since we’re on the subject, some grades of hide may darken slightly, so try an inconspicuous area first.

 

We were generally ready to ride within an hour or so, based on two light applications. That said; overnight is ideal. I tend to apply these at the end of a ride, often coinciding with a wash, polish and possibly fresh chain lube.

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Case Studies

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Some high end but neglected mitts and my fixed gear winter/training bike’s long serving Bobbin bar wrap and Swift pattern saddle were obvious candidates. None showed any signs of discoloration, although all assumed an attractive satin, rather than full gloss texture. 

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Performance

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Generally speaking, I “feed” shoes, saddles and my motorcycle leathers every six weeks, or so. This has been noticably extended by using the leather lacquer, which is still very obvious, several damp weeks later.

 

I find some leather saddles just that bit too slippery, especially during the initial breaking in phase.

Brooks have become much softer in recent years, generally assuming 250 miles, whereas this titanium railed, swift pattern required a good 650. Improved purchase was immediately apparent on the first ride in very persistent rain, eliminating the annoying slide-even wearing very shiny Lycra.

 

Crucially, it wasn’t like sitting atop a strip of flypaper, subtle, periodic adjustments for comfort (especially racking up longer miles in the dead of night) were effortless. It’s been a similar story with leather covered saddles and the Bobbin handlebar wrap, inspiring confidence on some very wet descents.