After several days of rubbing shoe polish on it started looked ok, so I decided to lace it (using the stock holes) with an enormously positive effect, achieving a narrow, racing (kind of) saddle, with an extremely hard top ridge.
Then came an idea to cut out an opening in the hardest and most "sensitive" section of the ridge, imitating the Brooks Imperial models.
The end result is just as I expected - way less pressure on the perineal area, more weight on the bones.
NOW, I thought it would be great to take off some more weight off the saddle. Do you think it would be save to chop such "imperialized" saddle in a similar manner to yours? Did you ever try/see such saddle chopped?
I'd love to get these looks!
What I fear is that the leather is too stiff and will break in heavily flexed areas. Or... is there a magical trick to restore the flexibility of old leather in order to minimise the risk of breaking?
Hey Skully,
ReplyDeleteI admire your ingenuity - true pieces of art you're making out of these saddles.
Following your inspiration I bought myself an old VeryBest K leather saddle, similar to this one, only more worn out:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s222/rocvaleparts/AUTOMOTO%201945/rocvale%20bikes/Photo1390.jpg
After several days of rubbing shoe polish on it started looked ok, so I decided to lace it (using the stock holes) with an enormously positive effect, achieving a narrow, racing (kind of) saddle, with an extremely hard top ridge.
Then came an idea to cut out an opening in the hardest and most "sensitive" section of the ridge, imitating the Brooks Imperial models.
The end result is just as I expected - way less pressure on the perineal area, more weight on the bones.
NOW, I thought it would be great to take off some more weight off the saddle. Do you think it would be save to chop such "imperialized" saddle in a similar manner to yours? Did you ever try/see such saddle chopped?
I'd love to get these looks!
What I fear is that the leather is too stiff and will break in heavily flexed areas. Or... is there a magical trick to restore the flexibility of old leather in order to minimise the risk of breaking?
Any ideas are welcome!
Thank you,
Tom Dabrowski