Attempt to restore an old brooks from a old 70s Raleigh. Any one out there with some experience with this? Will it hold up on some light riding?
by jcar58
Attempt to restore an old brooks from a old 70s Raleigh. Any one out there with some experience with this? Will it hold up on some light riding?
by jcar58
6 Comments
if you want it for a show or collection bike, great! for any serious riding I’d swap to something in better nic
Not sure but it sounds like a fun project
Those cracks and wrinkles look superficial to me. The leather around the rivets looks to be in good condition and none of the rivets look like they are coming out of place.
What does the underside look like?
What happens when you push hard on the saddle, e.g. with your thumbs?
Did you use Brooks Proofide or something else?
I think I would be happy to use it for light riding and even longer rides.
I’ve cleaned up/restored quite a few. They generally hold up well, though sometimes they are dried out within the fibers of the leather. Just go ride it. If it’s going to fail, there’s not a lot you can do, but they’re the only saddle I ride. Nothing else is as comfortable. They give where the pressure points are.
It’ll probably last longer than you or I!
Looks great, just a word of caution, I just restored an old leather saddle in very similar condition to this, and used the brooks proofhide to get it supple again, and I’ve been having a huge issue with it rubbing off onto my clothing. I unfortunately realized this after 3 pairs of pants had a huge brown stain on them. I still haven’t figured out the solution as if buffed the hell out of it and it still happens, but hopefully doesn’t happen to yours