I've always been curious about this .
My Frejus-Legnano , made in July or August of 1972 , came from the factory with a "Genuine Brooks Leather Professional Saddle" , and a Reynolds double butted tubing decal .
What the history on all of this English-ness ?
Did this come from the Frejus side of the marriage ?
Did this come from the Legnano side of the marriage ?
And yes , I do recall the thread from months ago ( maybe a year ) , about saddle customizers , in Italia , among other countries , who would take a new fresh stock Brooks saddle , remove the leather , custom-modify it , and put it back on with larger hand-peened rivets ( sometimes the rivets were even aluminum ! ) . And , I too was surprised to learn that the correct term for these saddle-cobblers was , "saddle butchers" , with no insult intended at all .
So ! We know that there were some VERY expensive customized Brooks saddles being ridden around in Italia .
But really , once the Unica-Nitor-Cinelli nylon saddles arrived , they just about took-over the high end of the Italiano market .
Anybody know the accurate story ?
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
> Ann,
>
> My suggestion for saddle is a Cinelli Unicanitor. Many bikes used the
> Unica #3, I believe it is the Buffalo Padded one. Any Unica of the time
> will work and look fine. Brooks are uncommon on Italian racing bikes in
> the 70's from my experience.
>
> Brian Baylis
> La Mesa (Monte capital of the world), CA
>
>
> >
> > Hey all....
> >
> > I'm trying to put together some spare goodies for the Monte, correct
seat
> > and pedals, for the purpose of display. Not for actual riding! I'm a
> > vintage traitor that way.... So shoot me, I like velcro <g>.
> >
> > I've never paid attention to vintage correct seats, except to say "ow,"
and
> > get rid of them as quickly as possible. Now I have to find one. What
seat
> > might be correct? Think mid 70s. It can be a little bit touristy as
the
> > Monte is coming out a little bit touristy.
> >
> > Ann Phillips, Decatur GA - where we resumed building an ark today