timesofplenty Report post Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) I like old bicycles, 1930s-1940s USA-made in particular. BITD there were a few companies making saddles for American balloon-tire bicycles in basically 2 types: pinch-pan (double-pan, top pan covered in leather, another pan on the underside to hold it tight), and sewn-edge (single-pan, some with covered edge some w/o). The pinch-pan type are fairly easy, been doing those for a couple of years. Last week I finally jumped the mental hurdle and tried sewn-edge. Here's the first, ~1939, no edge covering, original type and weight of leather, original thread type, original stitch-per-inch count. Here's attempt #2, ~1940, deep-bucket pan, edged: I always look for points to improve on, but I'm pretty happy with how these are coming out. Working on some more today Edited June 24, 2015 by timesofplenty Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Matt T Report post Posted June 24, 2015 They look great! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirtclod Report post Posted June 24, 2015 Nice Job !! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snubbyfan Report post Posted June 24, 2015 Those are very nice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrmCa Report post Posted June 25, 2015 Are they hand stitched or machine? If machine, did you use a binder for the one in the bottom 3 pictures? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
timesofplenty Report post Posted June 25, 2015 Are they hand stitched or machine? If machine, did you use a binder for the one in the bottom 3 pictures? Hand stitched with NOS 1930s-1940s thread. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chriscraft Report post Posted June 25, 2015 Great work on the sewn-edge Timesofplenty. I believe these vintage seat coverings are among the most sought out by vintage bicycle collectors. The old pre-war bicycles were just made too well. I too tried to replicate some of the old seats but found original leather seats hard to acquire . They are just hard to find and are just out of my price range when trying to buy them off ebay. What I really liked the most was that a this time, only a few companies were making seats. These seats were placed on every brand bicycle and motor cycle of this era with a beefed up undercarriage. Its a great item to reproduce as it can be mounted on many different bicycle models. What weight leather are you using? What type of leather was used on these old seats? Here is an picture of an old Troxel bicycle saddle on a very rare motorized bicycle, the first Harley-Davidson. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
