Brooks saddles - blocking and butchering!
Author John SpoonerHaving read Bernard
Howard's
('Reminiscences' - Memories
of Cycling in the Fifties) mention of the 'blocking' of
saddles on your site I thought I would add a
little information to the subject.
I still have my 1960 Brooks B17F 'French' saddle supplied by Joe Whisker and I have asked lots of people from this era if they remember these saddles but no-one seems to recollect them. Maybe Joe only supplied a handful.
These saddles were specially made by Brooks for the Continental trade-team market which the teams then 'butchered' as required to suit their individual riders. The saddles had no holes in the top and no bag loops, they had standard size rivets and the leather was cut right back to the cantle-plate.
Right: John's B17F tailored to fit
In 1961 Condor Cycles started to produce their own 'Condor Brooks' pre-shaped saddles at £2 18s. Also Pete Russel at his Velo Sport shop in Wandsworth Road (near Fred Dean's) did a 'Velo Sport' pre-shaped saddle at £2 15s. I'm not sure if these were B17F or standard B17s before shaping.
I have spent a whole morning 'butchering' my B17F saddle - here's how to do it:
Hold the saddle rail close to the cantle plate one side at a time. Using a 'Thor' style copper/rawhide mallet beat each corner down a bit. Then, on a concave block of wood, lay the saddle upside down and beat the rear-middle of the cantle plate to give a curve. Do this slowly, a bit at a time, and keep checking until you are happy with the shape. Take care that the saddle does not become lop-sided! Then trim off the leather level with the cantle plate and cut back the nose leather making sure you don't cut too close to the rivet. Now use a coarse file to smooth off the edges. If you can get them you can fit the larger copper rivets - only replace one at a time though. Changing the nose rivet is very tricky so maybe settle for just the rear ones.
To soften and waterproof a saddle I always used olive oil. Turn the saddle upside down and run oil onto the underside turning the saddle to encourage the oil to run around, especially near the rivets. Let the saddle soak overnight. This is why these saddles were undrilled. The leather can be hammered with the rawhide mallet to soften it.
I have done this to my saddles since 1960 and no harm has come to the leather.
Many people will have their own 'magic stuff' to put on saddles, just the way they have recipies for embrocation. Olive oil and wintergreen was a favourite with riders but whether their girlfriends adored the pungent smell is another story!
'Blocking' is a term also used to restore distorted saddle tops. This can be done at home by soaking the saddle in warm water to get it really soft, then crumple up newspaper and stuff into the saddle to get the shape back. Be very careful and keep checking whilst the saddle is drying. Use a toestrap round the narrow part of the saddle to keep the shape intact while it is drying.
I still have my 1960 Brooks B17F 'French' saddle supplied by Joe Whisker and I have asked lots of people from this era if they remember these saddles but no-one seems to recollect them. Maybe Joe only supplied a handful.
These saddles were specially made by Brooks for the Continental trade-team market which the teams then 'butchered' as required to suit their individual riders. The saddles had no holes in the top and no bag loops, they had standard size rivets and the leather was cut right back to the cantle-plate.
Right: John's B17F tailored to fit
In 1961 Condor Cycles started to produce their own 'Condor Brooks' pre-shaped saddles at £2 18s. Also Pete Russel at his Velo Sport shop in Wandsworth Road (near Fred Dean's) did a 'Velo Sport' pre-shaped saddle at £2 15s. I'm not sure if these were B17F or standard B17s before shaping.
I have spent a whole morning 'butchering' my B17F saddle - here's how to do it:
Hold the saddle rail close to the cantle plate one side at a time. Using a 'Thor' style copper/rawhide mallet beat each corner down a bit. Then, on a concave block of wood, lay the saddle upside down and beat the rear-middle of the cantle plate to give a curve. Do this slowly, a bit at a time, and keep checking until you are happy with the shape. Take care that the saddle does not become lop-sided! Then trim off the leather level with the cantle plate and cut back the nose leather making sure you don't cut too close to the rivet. Now use a coarse file to smooth off the edges. If you can get them you can fit the larger copper rivets - only replace one at a time though. Changing the nose rivet is very tricky so maybe settle for just the rear ones.
To soften and waterproof a saddle I always used olive oil. Turn the saddle upside down and run oil onto the underside turning the saddle to encourage the oil to run around, especially near the rivets. Let the saddle soak overnight. This is why these saddles were undrilled. The leather can be hammered with the rawhide mallet to soften it.
I have done this to my saddles since 1960 and no harm has come to the leather.
Many people will have their own 'magic stuff' to put on saddles, just the way they have recipies for embrocation. Olive oil and wintergreen was a favourite with riders but whether their girlfriends adored the pungent smell is another story!
'Blocking' is a term also used to restore distorted saddle tops. This can be done at home by soaking the saddle in warm water to get it really soft, then crumple up newspaper and stuff into the saddle to get the shape back. Be very careful and keep checking whilst the saddle is drying. Use a toestrap round the narrow part of the saddle to keep the shape intact while it is drying.
Above - the finished article just how
John wants it!