Getting it on was a task, so much that I enlisted my boyfriend to finish the job. I took it off once in three months just to make some improvements (more on that later).

The buckling (it’s like buckling a belt) proves a little hard to close the bag and secure your contents. At full capacity, the straps aren’t quite long enough to buckle. Sometimes I need to spend up to 3 minutes rearranging the contents and stretching the bag to reach the first hole in the strap (this is a long time to fiddle with things if you’re trying to get out the door!). I just wish the straps had been 6 inches longer to make it more of a cinch to buckle. I also wish the buckling mechanisms were reversed. To buckle, you must bend over and buckle it underneath the saddle. This also makes it hard to leave home/work quickly. If you could buckle more on top of the bag (so reversing the locations of the certain fastening straps), that would be easier.

One night I could barely fasten the straps on the last hole. And then the 10-mile ride was a rainy one. The leather strap kind of disintegrated and weakened considerably. Now I can’t use the last hole because it’ll probably split sooner rather than later.

So I took the bag off my bike mid-December 2011 to see how I can make fastening easier. I looped some new, textured cotton straps with snaps attached to the ends. Now there won’t be any buckling, but just snapping two snaps (think life-vest snaps). After five 20-mile commutes (some rain, snow mixed in), the snaps seem to be holding up just fine. I have a much easier time securing my belongings.

I’ll keep the bag now that I’ve made my own improvements to it.

1) Select the saddle that seems to fit you in the store. Don’t bother to get an “Aged” version, because they do not last as long as the regular versions.

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Step 1) is important, because if you do this to anyone else’s saddle, you will ruin it for them.

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2) Take it home and Proofide the bottom thoroughly, and put a thin coat on the top surfaces.

3) LOOSEN THE SADDLE TENSIONING BOLT. Go ahead, loosen it all the way if you want.

4) The day you are going to break it in, put a moist washcloth on the back half of the saddle and leave it there for an hour or so.

5) Put on your cycling shorts that match or are darker than the saddle color, because a little of the saddle color may bleed onto your pants.

6) Remove the damp cloth, and ride for about five miles. By now it should feel bouncy like a firm mattress.

7) Ride for about another five miles. You should notice a distinct “hammocking” of the saddle, and it will be hard to sit all the way back on it.

8) Let the saddle thoroughly dry out.

9) Lightly Proofide the top of the saddle, or use regular wax-based shoe polish.

(This step merely exists to shine up the leather and limit the amount of water the leather absorbs, so just use plain-old shoe polish wax if the saddle already feels OK, or use Proofide if it still seems a mite stiff.)

10) Tighten the saddle tensioning bolt. (I had to use an adjustable spanner, as the supplied wrench slipped once I pulled the leather back into the stretched position.)

That’s it! Ride and enjoy!

–Alan, another satisfied Brooks customer.

p.s. I was able to mostly break in a new B17 saddle in about 20 miles, and it’s truly a joy to use now.

Is this the sort of thing?

http://www.velo-orange.com/visabagsu.html

I could never have used this for my former NYC commute with outdoor bike parking. That said, it looks great, and feels like it’s well-made. I just got mine recently, and I’ll put it to heavy use in the coming months – I can park inside my new office upstate.