After restoring a few old bikes (see Retrobike) I have realised just because something looks a bit knackered it doesn’t mean you have to buy new again. And making something new again through your own efforts is extremely satisfying.
I’ve been wanting to re-cover a saddle for a while after seeing some threads on Retrobike where people have done a good job on Flite Ti seats.
However I’ve never managed to find anywhere to buy the leather. Plenty online but I wanted to see it before I bought it. I was on holiday in Wales and found a fabric shop that had LOADS of off-cuts so I grabbed 3 different ones to use.
(The pink one is actually red in real life).
I was going to try and find an old Flite to re-cover but the SDG saddle I have on my modern bike was looking very tatty. The new Bel-Air is chunkier than this version and I don’t like the look of it so why not try to revive this one?
So take off the plastic trim pieces.
Next pull out the staples and peel the cover off.
Et Voila!
Next job is to clean everything up. The foam is missing a couple of bits which came away with the cover but I think I can stick them back on.
Going to read up other peoples advice on various threads I’ve seen before I start gluing things.
Filled in some of the holes with hot glue. Made a crappy job to start with so had to keep redoing it to get it right. Keep testing the leather on top to make sure repairs don’t show.
Interested in why you decided to remove the original cover?
Would it not have been easier to recover over the old one, and then there’s less risk of damaging the foam?
It’s ok to do that if the original cover is smooth and in one piece but on multi piece and embroidered covers all the ridges will show through the new leather making it look lumpy and ugly. Might be tricky fixing the new leather down on top of the original cover anyway.
Wasn’t hard removing old cover anyway and I want to do a proper job!
BTW this is the next step in customising my perfect bike – 2009 Pitch Pro.
Now had Reverb on it and 2×10 drivetrain. Just added a Hope gold BB and brown grips. Keep adding gold ano to it which looks fab against the brown frame!
The lumpy bits were from the hot glue gun I used to fill in the holes in the foam. I kinda made it a bit worse than it should have been but I was experimenting and it was my first time. There would probably be a better method but I just used what I had at home to hand.
Looks worse in the pics than in real life and you won’t be able to feel it in use.
If I had a little staple gun I would bob some staples in like the original construction but impact adhesive is so strong they aren’t really needed. I’m a bit of a belt and braces guy so I might try to find a way to staple into the saddle.