Hello John,
The saddles were pretreated with a sort of oil. This is what made them "ideal" for long rides and why we called the B-17 a "brick". Black wool cycling shorts and few long rides will take care of it. Both of my saddles still look great after 30+ years and no corrosion to the rivets. The eBay item looks water damaged to me; just saying.
Tim Parker Vienna, VA
-----Original Message----- From: John Siemsen [mailto:velorosso@flash.net] Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 9:17 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR] Ideale Saddle - NOS with goop?
I have an Ideale 90 saddle with alloy rails. I think it may be NOS, but it seems to have a layer of wax on it. Saw this ebay auction for a supposedly NOS saddle, the waxy stuff looks very similar to mine.
Auction number: 350279753991
So is this a protective treatment put on at the factory? If so, how does one remove it? Maybe mine is not NOS, but I'd sure like to get the goop off.
Any help appreciated.
John Siemsen
Portland, Oregon