George,
The very short answers to your questions are yes, yes, and yes....
After considerable time searching for someone who might possibly have the expertise to refurbish several of my own leather saddles (...I did not want to resort to sending Ideale saddles abroad to the esteemed Tony Colgrave in England without first exhausting all of my other options), I happened upon what has turned out to be a wonderful and somewhat unexpected solution. I came upon a gentleman local to me who happens to be a nationally recognized and award winning expert in crafting from scratch, repairing, and restoration of the most intricate and truly exquisite saddles - as in the equestrian version of antique, vintage, and modern riding saddles.
Since that time several years back when I first discovered this resource, I have had said gentleman restore / refinish numerous old cycling saddles of mine with amazing results (...I have even given him some that I thought way beyond redemption, only to have them come back to me looking and riding as good as new). In several of these instances, the saddle in question had scuffs, abrasions, cuts, and in some cases were outright missing chunks of their original leather, where the surface had to be ground, patched, and then re-dyed to match. Each time the resulting repair was quite literally impossible to distinguish as having been made unless you just KNEW that it had been done in the first place. And much to my surprise, even the most extensive of these repairs have required only a nominal amount of monies (...far, far less than the cost of purchasing a fairly nice but obviously well used example on the likes of eBay).
So, my suggestion would be that you perhaps search out any (horse) saddlery experts in your area of the country and consult with them as to the prospects of addressing your own (bicycle) saddle needs.
And for all of you clever folks who would think to ask the name of my local resource so that you might send your own projects his way, I have questioned him REPEATEDLY about whether he would like to take upon such work for others in the cycling community only to be told "no, thank you - I have quite enough work as it is". Should he ever reconsider his position, I will let others on this list know.
Robert "good ol' horse sense" Broderick ..the "Frozen Flatlands" of South Dakota Sioux Falls, USA
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of gholl@optonline.net Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 4:33 PM To: Classic Rendezvous Subject: [CR]Bianchi Celeste Leather Restoration
I have some Bianchi leather covered bars and saddle in the typical
celeste
color. Both have some very superficial surface areas, the largest
measuring
about 1 x 4 cm, where the color has been completely lost, probably by
rubbing. The underlying leather is intact, however.
I would like some restoration advice. What is the best way to repair
this
type of damage? Can the areas be recolored? Perhaps this type of thing
best
left to a professional leather restorer?
Any advice would be appreciated by,
George
George Hollenberg MD
CT, USA
er?