[CR]LEATHER FOR BARS

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PX-10LE)

From: "Alan Schaeffer" <bikes@neca.com>
To: <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 23:40:46 -0400
Subject: [CR]LEATHER FOR BARS

Hi, I'm Alan Schaeffer. I own Ordinary Bike Shop in the humble corner of Connecticut, and, among other things, a blue Hetchins that was at the cirque. I've been having a great time just listening in on the list, but I think I can be of help on leather for bars. I have stitched up quite a lot of the stuff of all types over the years from NOS of various kinds including much Rhode Gear, to that very sweet supple stuff that Mike Kone sells (complete with matching leather thong to lace it - very fancy!) to custom made by a leatherwork hobbyist. But by far the best I have worked with is made custom for sailboat rigging, chaffing gear, and ships wheel.. It is, needless to say, the toughest, being designed for extremes of exposure. This will take any real world conditions you want to give it. It has a wide variety of thickness', suppleness, surfaces, colors, and padding options, and is a dream to work with compared to anything else. Catch?...it is very expensive! On the other hand, a little perspective on the dollars is that a cheap estimate for labor to install this stuff (for one who does a nice job) would be $1 - $2 per inch! Any of you who have done this know why. Now, if you don't want to do that too often, really good leather is your best bargain. Be very certain of your stem length and lever choice first though. BTW, if you want to permanently solve another nagging problem of the classic bike I have also been able to obtain custom tooled hoods for old campy brake levers! These are done right and will probably be around long after most of us. I'm sure I could provide the product and/or info to anyone interested, and, having dealt with it, I have some samples available to mail out. You can contact me off list at; bikes@neca.com