Spa Cycles Wharfe Leather Saddle

There's been a bit of a resurgence in interest in more traditional cycling products, and in particular leather saddles. Some would argue that they never stopped being popular, but nonetheless, there does seem to be an ever increasing amount of choice.

Spa Cycles have brought out a range of three leather saddles at very modest prices to cater to this rising interest, of which the Wharfe is one. Looking a good bit like the Brooks Swift at first glance, the Wharfe is a sturdy and good looking leather saddle. At 151mm wide at the broadest point and 277mm long, it's a similar width to the Swift too, but 5mm longer. It's made from untreated Australian cowhide attached to a chrome-plated chromoly steel frame and weighs in a bit heavier than the Brooks at 580g by the Road.cc scales.

Although saddles are an inherently personal choice, and one man (or woman's) razorblade is another's armchair, it's probably reasonable to say that the Wharfe isn't really ideally suited to being a women's saddle. It's intensely firm, with a quoted (by Spa) breaking in period of about 800km and is very long, both factors contributing to it not being exactly female friendly. So, bearing that in mind, I've reviewed this from a more general non-female-specific viewpoint.

The lack of treatment of the leather of the saddle means you have to start treating it quickly and regularly with a leather feeding product, in order to both facilitate the breaking in process and also to protect the leather from our glorious weather. The slightly rougher surface of the less treated leather does mean there's more friction than on a treated leather saddle, but it's still a comfortable surface to sit on.

With time, the surface wears to a patina that gives much more of the low friction riding surface so beloved of leather saddle users. It really is a very firm saddle to start with, and the company's quoted 800km of riding for breaking in is probably pretty close to the mark. After 300 miles it was just about starting to mould and soften a little, and smooth off, although it gave no problems at all right from the box. The Wharfe is an ideal road bike saddle, or a neat option for those who like their touring saddles narrower.

Verdict

It's going to take some perseverance, but for a solid, well made leather saddle £40 is an absolute bargain.