Bicycle saddle101 -- the
Altho many people still ride with Brooks, Wright, and other leather saddles (Brooks being the most currently popular -- and expensive) they are not common among "racy" cyclists, who prefer carbon fibre, kevlat, titanium seat rails, et al. Tho not a racer or psuedo racer even, myself, I find myself gravitating towards these "racier" seat as they are made of stuff that won't be wrecked by my sweat or by riding in the rain.
However, I have a few nice leather saddles sitting on shelves -- mostly for display -- a swift looking Brooks with huge copper rivets, a standard Brooks road seat, a "Badger" seat with the Hinault signature, etc. Whenever I find someone throwing away a junk bike with a decent leather seat, I pull the seat and save it. Don't know why. I don't ride 'em much.
Until now.
Now I've modified one of the leather saddles -- chopping the side skirts to reshape it -- and find it's a-ok.
A lot of bicycle work is hardly rocket science: just arts-and-crafts type stuff -- touching up chips with paint, making a bike distinctive by outlineing the lugs, wrapping bar tape. These are not difficult. Niether is modifying a leather saddle, tho' like many other types of bicycle work, working on a Brooks saddle or its equivolent is actually more art than craft.
The fixed gear gallery site (www.fixedgeargallery.com) in particular has a more detailed page on modification, but I decided to use a more do-it-yourself appoach. Razor box cutter instead of the tiny power saw, et al. Sand it down, weatherproof it, and off ya go. It's not on my Fuji anymore but I know I'll find a good spot for it -- maybe the track bike?
modified Wright Bros. Saddle pic
These scans will have to do til I get pictures on the bike....
Wright pic 2
It actually came out good!
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Better pics coming soon...
-- Elvis