Steve/List
I consider myself fortunate and I suspect a few of the other Listmembers have already discovered what I am about to disclose to you. There exists near London a man who in my opinion is one of the most expereinced restoration artists on the planet, his name; Tony Colegrave. A few short years ago, Lawrence Kurtz here in Toronto introduced me to Tony and after seeing his work I am convinced the man is a Brooks Saddle Restoration Guru. The saddle Tony completed for me is the very rare Campagnolo Stamped Narrow Rail Brooks from 1960 to 1962 (don't hold me to the dateline but it's close to being 100% accurate). Tony restored the rails (nice even coating of black paint) and put a new top on the saddle. Because of the confirmed high quality of the restoration I can easily recommend his services. He does have a signature marques on the saddle which is the use of aluminum rivets instead of copper. In my opinion this is the only down side and perhaps what is needed is a source of copper rivets (CRList ?) to ensure 100% restoration accuracy.
You can reach Tony at his email address tony.colegrave@hotmail.com , I have his phone number let me know if you need it, and in the meantime I will secure Tony's permission to release it to everyone on the CRList.
I can tell you that the Brooks restoration cost me 85 Pounds Sterling, and with the value of the euro and the pound rising you might want to make your decision sooner rather than later.
Wayne ( Pleasantly saddled with a Colegrave restoration) Jolly, Toronto, Canada
> has anyone had the leather replaced on a brooks saddle? I have a B-73
> that's
> split almost completely across the front. The bike it's on isn't
> particularly
> nice, but the saddle isn't rideable as-is. I'm wondering if having it
> restored
> would be worth the expense, or if it would be cheaper to look for a better
> used one.
>
> Steve Birmingham
> Lowell, Ma