Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Recovering a saddle
  • paddy0091
    Free Member

    Anyone done it?

    I’ve got a couple of Flites that are rather worn. Seen it done before, ages ago though.

    I’m thinking Marine Vinyl (leather type stuff) + Spray mount and a decent stable gun.

    joelm76
    Free Member

    It’s worth searching for this topic on retrobike, much good advice. I was thinking of recoving a flite, got as far as getting the leather from ebay, realised it was too thick and gave up. poor effort. Thickness of leather is key! – it just wouldn’t fold under the saddle well enough. Best comment I remember about this was a guy who had bought a 2nd hand leather jacket from a charity shop and used it to recover a number of saddles…

    paddy0091
    Free Member

    Ahh, well if I have any success I shall post it on here. That’s why I’m thinking non-leather, but tough stuff. For ease of covering, etc.

    Will have a look on retrobike, and cheers for the tip!

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    emanuel
    Free Member

    Hi,I hd written a long reply,but it seems to have got lost.
    So.
    I read a thread on pinkbike 4 years ago and decided to give it a try.
    done a few now.
    weight-adds 30-100g depending on leather thickness.
    comfort.makes quite a difference.
    technique.
    contact cement works best.
    I only use real leather.the thinner it is,the easier it is.
    warm leather stretches more(good)
    draw a rough outline.with opverlap.
    if your saddle has those plastic covering things at the sides and back it’s easier.
    start with the nose then do the back,then the sides.
    it’s fiddly,a pain to get perfect,and you’ll need to do a few before you get them perfect,but it’s not difficult.
    have a look at busyman cycles for inspiration.

    don’t be afraid to peel it off and start again.
    toptip-cut little triangles out of the overlap,like those cardboard models you’d buy as a child.
    cotton bar tape makes a good scuffguard on the sides.if it’s thin leather.the thick stuff can be a bitch depending on saddle type but it holds up amazingly well.

    have fun.you’ll be picking little balls of contact cement off your fingertips for a day afterwards.
    there’s a bloke ion the us doing pretty crap work,he has a website,good example of how not to do it.

    not got any pictures,did one dark green,another tan leather,creases in the leather look pretty good.
    if you have any questions,I’m happy to help.
    if you’re good at arts and crafts type things then I’d reccomend it.otherwise just buy a new saddle,it takes me about 3-4 hours to do a saddle.
    remember,stretch the leather as you go.some small pliers help.

    .

    emanuel
    Free Member

    you can use anything.ripstop,fabric offcuts,ripstop nylon.seen some denim ones,but remember it’s going to get grubby sooner or later.so something dark will be best.
    besides,leather makes it more comfortable.

    JoeG
    Free Member

    I recovered one saddle with leather from ebay.

    The original cover was about 6 pieces sewn together with some contour, so I had to put 2 small creases on the rear of the saddle to take up the extra material. I used Elmer’s spray adhesive (solvent based) on most of it, and contact cement to attach the leather to the plastic saddle form underneath. I didn’t use any staples, but did use some binder clips until the contact cement dried. Make sure that you cut the leather larger than you will need; it is easy to trim more later, but you can’t add it back on!

    I have not used the saddle at all, so really don’t know how good of a job I did or didn’t do…

    globalti
    Free Member

    I’ve done it several times.

    You need Evo-Stick and a proper staple gun helps too; I have one that belonged to a coffin-trimmer. Find an automotive trim supplier and blag a sample a couple of square feet of vinyl, leather is too difficult for a beginner and not stretchy enough. There is a whole hidden industry of people who specialise in re-trimming cars and boats and specialists who supply them with all the velours, vinyls, felts, carpets, headlinings and backing materials. The one I use is Segal Motor Trimmings in Manchester – Mrs Parker is the boss. They will post to you but that would be pricey. Yellow Pages is your friend here. I guess a yacht chandler might be able to help too. Maybe buy a couple of metres and store the rest for future use – it’s one of those jobs that gets easier with each successive attempt.

    Pull off the old cover and cut a new piece a bit bigger but have sharp good scissors ready for quick adjustments. Do it somewhere warm and warm up the vinyl so that it’s really pliable and stretchy. The rest is kind of self-explanatory and you’ll see how it was done in the original factory as you pull off the old cover. The hardest part is distributing the vinyl along the back edge of the saddle so that it doesn’t bunch and fold when you bend it round to glue it underneath, this takes practice and a certain understanding of the properties of the warm vinyl. You might be dissatisfied with your first attempt and want to start again but you’ll learn fast! Finish off as the factory did, with a couple of staples under the nose. Use the glue as a contact adhesive and stretch that vinyl further than you think it can stretch, so as to get a good tight even fit.

    emanuel
    Free Member

    some good shit here,leather has a grain thing going on,so it will stretch more in one direction than in the others.
    I dunno about staples,if you have a thin carbon shell (like on an slr) I’dnot use them.though I’d like an ex-coffin trimmer’s staple gun.
    have a look

    paddy0091
    Free Member

    thanks for all the replies, will have a good study when I get time 🙂

    fotheringtonthomas
    Free Member

    I have done this with leather ,and as an upholsterer i suggest if you use leather soak it ,as then it will become elastic and once it dries it shrink fits, however using glues becomes tricky.

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

The topic ‘Recovering a saddle’ is closed to new replies.