Jay - who knows, man ? by far the biggest variable would be how your local dealer was shipping from distributor stock. I think the big ideale disty at the time was Mel Pinto Imports on the east coast. Wayne may know.
But as for what came out of the factory, I'd be willing to bet that "the spring was the thing" after 78 or whenever it was. Vertical compliance being all the rage :- )
But to the bigger point - definitive information on what got built, when and how, is probably just not available - there are "discrepancies" even when comparing the bike you have in hand to the pictures in the catalog!
Our need for orderliness, consistency, and documentation came years later. Reminds me of questions like what gauge of Reynolds tubing was used in a 1963 Hetchins Vade Mecum? Was it 19/22 or 21/23 guage tubing ? Or, why don't Cinelli serial numbers run in sequence ? (they don't).
Because - back in the day - or before the day - who cared ?
I have seen examples of classic Ideale saddles (88s, 90s, 92s) built as late as the mid 90s, by the way.
Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA 206 618 9642 <mailto:mark@petry.org> mark@petry.org
Jan,
Marketing or not, this still does not answer my original question: "Does
anyone know if production of both styles continued simultaneously
thereafter, with the spring being an option, or was the non spring
version dropped?"
Jay Dubiel
Halifax, VA USA
At 2:04 PM -0800 1/9/11, Mark Petry wrote:
>>The alloy rails saddle had a reputation of riding more harshly than the
>>steel rail version, so this might have been pure marketing, or maybe
>>something was lost in translation. Looks to me like the leather's own
>>"give" is the real shock absorber.
The alloy saddles (pre-90 model) were quite popular in 1940s France.
The influence of the technical trials... you saw them even on camping
bikes, like the Rene Herse in "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles."
However, as Mark pointed out, they did have a reputation for a harsh
ride. Daniel Rebour noted several times things like: "This team used
the same tandem in the Poly de Chanteloup as last year, except the
alloy-railed saddle has been swapped for a steel-railed one to
improve the stoker comfort."
I once rode a 300 km brevet on an Ideale 57 (which was attached to a
1952 Rene Herse). The bike had wide 38 mm tires, and the saddle
leather was a bit harder from age and non-use, so it's hard to say
much. I do recall that my bottoms started hurting after only 10 hours
on the bike, which is unusual.
I haven't ridden any of the saddle with the little spring, but I
doubt that a little spring could make a big difference. The steel
rails offer considerable suspension travel, and the recent titanium
Brooks saddles are noticeably springier yet... whereas the tall rails
of the aluminum saddles are very rigid (as they have to be to prevent
cracking).
Jan Heine