Dennis Young wrote:
>
> Mr Schmidt,
>
> I have heard of those saddles being 'modified', but have never seen one with
> such a treatment, or heard the term butchered used before. A well known
> Italian seller at ebay has one in his own collection, (modified as in
> butchered?). No amount of prompting will convince him to part with it.
> Butchered? How so?
Well Mr. Young, saddle butchering used to be very common and most pro shops provided this service.
The saddle cover would be removed and soaked and massaged in oil, usually neetsfoot oil (made from horse's hoofs) to soften the leather. Brooks, in their 1930s catalogs recommended neetsfoot oil or Proofide® be applied to their saddles (many today feel neetsfoot oil destroys the leather but apparently Brooks didn't believe this was so in the 30s).
Often the cantle plate in the rear would be recontoured; the sides would be pinched in slightly and it might be arched higher in the middle. The nose would be trimmed and rear of the saddle leather would be trimmed flush with the frame after the bag loops were be cut off. Sometimes the tension pin was drilled out. Often holes were punched along the bottom of the flaps so they could be drawn inward. Sometimes many holes were punched in the top. Often a second rivet was added to the top of the nose and sometimes an extra rivet was added to the middle of the cantle plate in the rear. Large rivets were always used to reattach the top to the rails, and sometimes the butcher's name was stamped in each rivet. The Brooks Pro saddle is based on what a saddle butcher would do to a B.17 Standard.
A pro racer would switch this saddle from bike to bike and would even have a set of steel handlebars bent to his measurements to transfer from bike to bike too (in the 1950s and earlier this was common).
All the above modifications are well within the capabilities of any CR list member. I have done five or so myself...
Chuck Schmidt SoPas, SoCal
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