Doug, while some others on the list might be able to give you a more definitive timeline on when this saddle was released & discontinued, I can say I bought this same model of non-covered Unicanitor plastic saddle brand new in 1974/75 and used it on my Masi for tens of thousands of road miles in the 70's in the name of lightness. It does have a certain amount of "give" when you sit on it which makes it tolerable (particularly if you're a teenager with a young posterior).
While it continues to sit on my old retired Masi for display purposes, there's no way I'd use it for daily riding these days. I think it was the lightest saddle you could buy in 1974/75 but I suspect current saddles with new carbon technology are just as light, if not lighter, and definitely more comfortable. The two areas I deviate from on the vintage bikes I actually ride are the saddles and the pedals.
So to sum up, they were used in the early to mid 70's, as an aftermarket saddle for road bikes and I suppose for track use too.
Mark Winkelman
Dallas, TX
> Sorry folks, no clue how that link got so messed up. Here is is again
> short http://tinyurl.com/
> <http://www.flickr.com/photos/40419143@N00/tags/unicanitor/>.
>
> Doug Van Cleve
> Chandler, Arizona USA
>
>
> On 3/28/08, Doug Van Cleve <dvancleve@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Howdy folks.
>>
>> I just got this in the mail today: http://tinyurl.com/
>> told this is a "pista" but I don't really know much at all about these
>> saddles. I have one of the old funky ones with the flat, slotted
>> rails that has the proprietary seatpost and it is much flatter and
>> wider than this pista. The Classic-Rendezvous page on Unicanitor
>> didn't seem to indicate that they came in different widths, so I was
>> surprised at how different the two are. The pista has much thinner
>> plastic and the the wishbone rails are some sort of lightweight alloy.
>> Anybody know what this is? As cool as it is, looking at it I can't
>> imagine that I will be able to tolerate riding it....
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>> Doug Van Cleve
>> Chandler, Arizona USA
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