Your so wrong! Granted ,sometimes they do need to 'wear in', but if it's a regular commute that won't take long with UK weather. It depends on the posterior.
As for maintenance, all that's required is occasionally oiled with saddle soap or nests foot oil, a cover will stop stains.
The occasional soaking from rain won't harm it, indeed it will soften it, but too much rain will eventually rot it , so a bag over it if is left outside.
This may seem a lot of bother ,but it is not, once broken in , it will give more than a lifetime comfort.
You can even buy them presoftned, take no need of some prejudice, A Brooks is one of the best.
So, I buy a premium product to protect my delicate butt, but then have to use my delicate butt to soften it.
Rain would soften it for me, but would also rot it.
And to prevent it rotting, I have to oil it, but then I need to cover it; with something oil proof so it doesn't stain my trousers, but not too slippery else I'll fall off, but also stiff enough so that it won't wrinkly under me and cause pressure sores, and all the while covering the leather that is primary selling point and reason for the over-inflated price.
And it'll "last me a life-life". Hm. I have less than half a life time of riding left in me, and I'm quite sure my £9 sturdily constructed plastic one will more than last me out. And it was comfortable from the get-go.
And I thought the whole justifiction for selling them without pre-softening them, was so that they would mold to the owners butt. (Of course if you, like most people don't always sit in exactly the same position it makes a fallacy of that idea; but I guess it allows them to charge more for the pre-softening.)
A fashion statement; pseudo-antique bling.
