I have quite an attraction for leather bike saddles.  Why?  Well, they are comfortable as heck once they are broken in, they will last a long time if cared for properly, and they are just so darned cute.

My personal saddle clutch includes a vintage Brooks B-15, a Brooks B-17, and a vintage B-66.  I use the B-15 on my Crystal singlespeed bike.  I ride this one most often, and have been happy with the ride for the most part.  I have been thinking of sturdying it up a bit by punching some holes in the sides and lacing it up.  I could do it like this but I don’t really think that using a drill to make the holes is the best way.   Here is a better “photographic discussion” from McBomb over at flickr.  Using a punch is such a better way to work holes into leather.  Anyway the sidewalls on the B-15 are pretty flimsy, and lacing it up should put some additional firmness in the seat (which it really needs).

The B-17 is mounted on my Gary Fisher Mt. Bike currently, although it is supposed to be Dorothy’s saddle.  I picked it up when we were living in Boston on the sale rack at EMS.  It really needs (as they all do) a good oiling, or treating, or whatever leather gets coated with to keep it nice and moist.  Well, not moist, but to keep it from getting rough and dried.  So that’s gotta be done so they are all good to go for the winter, which in the Bay Area  means rain.

The B-66 was a bargain at $25 so I picked it up from an online auction and haven’t done much to it except find a nut for one of the spring mounts, and conditioned the leather.  The B-66 has a little larger seat area than the B-15 and B-17 so it would be nice on a cruiser or maybe on the Mixte when I get that bike rolling.  Dorothy doesn’t much like the B-66, she’s had it on her Gary Fisher before.  I have a feeling it’s got something to do with the springs.  They are kind of weak and old, and the saddle does shift around under you a lot and it finds a way to dig in a little bit.  The sidewalls are a little weak on the B-66 as well, so this saddle might be improved by lacing as well.    A perfect seat to for guests who want to take a bike ride around San Rafael.

I looked around a bit on the old internet, and really didn’t see a good list of leather saddle manufacturers all in one place, so I thought I would start a list of some companies, old and new, who have built, or do build leather bike saddles.  Some of these companies aren’t around any longer, others are bringing Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturing know how into new versions of leather saddles.  And through it all, Brooks continues to make saddles much the same way they always have.   So here’s that list.

• Brooks – England
• Wrights – England – I haven’t really found a good article on Wrights.
• Ideale – France – Check this photo history of some Ideale Saddles
• Fu Jih (Tops) – Taiwan – If you have some money and want to buy a case of these, here is where you begin
• Imperial Products – Taiwan  sold under the marque Gyes.  You can get one at Crow Cycle, and for the price, (around $60) why wouldn’t you?
• Persons – USA – I like the saddles here.  They most closely match various Brooks models, but are (or at least were) priced quite a bit less.  It appears that they have exhausted most of their stock of the majority of their leather saddle lines.  I still don’t know where these are manufactured.
• Selle An Atomica – USA  – These guys have done their science, and have created a patented cutout and laminating process that makes the saddle comfortable for long rides, reduces numbness… Be sure to watch their video at the bottom of their home page.

I am a viewer of “How It’s Made”, and caught an episode the other day that had a segment where they went to Brooks, and showed how they make saddles.  Here is a version of it with a Russian (???) narrator.  Enjoy!