Brooks Team Pro - how hard to replace frame?

Long story short, I bent the rails on my year-old Brooks Team Professional
saddle. I got the rails 90% back in shape, but I would like to try to
replace the frame. I can figure out how to remove the old frame (keeping
the nose piece intact), but I have no idea how to re-rivet a new frame. Do
I need a special tool? I imagine that I would place the rivet through the
saddle and frame, put the saddle upside-down and pound over the underside
of the rivet (????) to flare it out, then hammer the rivet head to conform
to the saddle surface.

Has anyone tried this out? I figure if I can't do it myself, I might as
well buy a new saddle for what I imagine the repair cost to be. On the
other hand, the leather is nicely broken in, and is really comfortable, so
I would prefer to keep it if it's economical.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Roger

On Jul 4, 6:05 pm, Roger Sacilotto wrote:
Long story short, I bent the rails on my year-old Brooks Team Professional
saddle. I got the rails 90% back in shape, but I would like to try to
replace the frame. I can figure out how to remove the old frame (keeping
the nose piece intact), but I have no idea how to re-rivet a new frame. Do
I need a special tool? I imagine that I would place the rivet through the
saddle and frame, put the saddle upside-down and pound over the underside
of the rivet (????) to flare it out, then hammer the rivet head to conform
to the saddle surface.

Has anyone tried this out? I figure if I can't do it myself, I might as
well buy a new saddle for what I imagine the repair cost to be. On the
other hand, the leather is nicely broken in, and is really comfortable, so
I would prefer to keep it if it's economical.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Roger

http://www.wallbike.com sells Brooks parts, including frames. I'd get
in touch with them. Maybe they could even do the work for you.

Roger Sacilotto wrote:
Long story short, I bent the rails on my year-old Brooks Team Professional
saddle. I got the rails 90% back in shape, but I would like to try to
replace the frame. I can figure out how to remove the old frame (keeping
the nose piece intact), but I have no idea how to re-rivet a new frame. Do
I need a special tool? I imagine that I would place the rivet through the
saddle and frame, put the saddle upside-down and pound over the underside
of the rivet (????) to flare it out, then hammer the rivet head to conform
to the saddle surface.

Has anyone tried this out? I figure if I can't do it myself, I might as
well buy a new saddle for what I imagine the repair cost to be. On the
other hand, the leather is nicely broken in, and is really comfortable, so
I would prefer to keep it if it's economical.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Roger


I'd get a new saddle. But, if you don't want to do that, why not send it
to Brooks? Bet they could do it for ya.

http://www.brookssaddles.com/brooksengland.html

Downing Street - Smethwick
West Midlands B66 2PA
England
United Kingdom



BC
has Google

"BCDrums" wrote in message
. ..
Roger Sacilotto wrote:
Long story short, I bent the rails on my year-old Brooks Team
Professional
saddle. I got the rails 90% back in shape, but I would like to try to
replace the frame. I can figure out how to remove the old frame
(keeping
the nose piece intact), but I have no idea how to re-rivet a new
frame. Do
I need a special tool? I imagine that I would place the rivet through
the
saddle and frame, put the saddle upside-down and pound over the
underside
of the rivet (????) to flare it out, then hammer the rivet head to
conform
to the saddle surface.

Has anyone tried this out? I figure if I can't do it myself, I might
as
well buy a new saddle for what I imagine the repair cost to be. On
the
other hand, the leather is nicely broken in, and is really
comfortable, so
I would prefer to keep it if it's economical.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Roger


I'd get a new saddle. But, if you don't want to do that, why not send it
to Brooks? Bet they could do it for ya.

http://www.brookssaddles.com/brooksengland.html

Downing Street - Smethwick
West Midlands B66 2PA
England
United Kingdom



BC
has Google

The cost of shipping to and from Brooks plus repairs may exceed the price
of a new saddle.

I've seen at least one person on the internet who does repairs and
modifications on Brooks saddles. There are probably more.

Chas.

"still me" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 4 Jul 2007 22:24:15 -0700, "* * Chas"
wrote:


The cost of shipping to and from Brooks plus repairs may exceed the
price
of a new saddle.

I've seen at least one person on the internet who does repairs and
modifications on Brooks saddles. There are probably more.

Chas.

I think it's a total loss, better send it to me and I'll scrap it for
you.

Actually, it's not hard at all to do but how hard depends on your
current rivet style. I've rebuilt a couple of saddles with copper
rivets. You might need to do all of them to get a good match.

Basically you just remove the old rivets by drilling the back side
off, then insert the new rivet from above. Get a vise and some steel
rods - 1/2" and 3/4" - clamped in to give you a small anvil
surface(s). Place saddle so rivet top side is on top of "anvil" and
saddle is upside down. Hammer on the bottom with a large flat end
punch to flatten the inner side of the rivet. You need three hands -
one to hold the saddle in place, one to hold the punch, and one to
hammer. Flip it over, place the rivet so the flat end is on your
"anvil" (1/2" or 3/4" as appropriate). Hammer with small metal working
hammer to shape top. Use a rough file and shape. Hammer again. Shape
again. Work with finer file. Eventually it looks good.

If the rivets are the uniform small type, you can dispense with some
of the shaping but you need to be more careful in the initial under
side flattening. You may want to trim the rivets stem with some
cutters before you use them if they will be too long, you want enough
poking through that you can get a good expansion but not so much that
you end up bending the shaft or can't get it tight.

It's a whole lot easier if you are going to refinish the leather as
you can sand the leather lightly overall and make the rivets smooth.
You'll need to be a lot more careful with the files if you don't
intend to refinish.


I once kludged a Brooks Pro saddle onto Ideale flat alloy rails. Had an
Ideale with trashed leather and a Brooks with broken rails. I cut the
Brooks rails off in the rear leaving enough to thread with a hex die. The
Ideale was attached to it's rails with nuts. The Brooks front end fit
without a problem.

The saddle worked fine except for the old style Ideale alloy clamp
designed to mount on a straight alloy seat post. I could never get it to
stay at the correct angle. Don't remember what ever happened to it.

Chas.

"* * Chas" wrote:
The cost of shipping to and from Brooks plus repairs may exceed the
price
of a new saddle.
I've seen at least one person on the internet who does repairs and
modifications on Brooks saddles. There are probably more.

"still me" wrote
I think it's a total loss, better send it to me and I'll scrap it for
you.

Actually, it's not hard at all to do but how hard depends on your
current rivet style. I've rebuilt a couple of saddles with copper
rivets. You might need to do all of them to get a good match.

Basically you just remove the old rivets by drilling the back side
off, then insert the new rivet from above. Get a vise and some steel
rods - 1/2" and 3/4" - clamped in to give you a small anvil
surface(s). Place saddle so rivet top side is on top of "anvil" and
saddle is upside down. Hammer on the bottom with a large flat end
punch to flatten the inner side of the rivet. You need three hands -
one to hold the saddle in place, one to hold the punch, and one to
hammer. Flip it over, place the rivet so the flat end is on your
"anvil" (1/2" or 3/4" as appropriate). Hammer with small metal working
hammer to shape top. Use a rough file and shape. Hammer again. Shape
again. Work with finer file. Eventually it looks good.

If the rivets are the uniform small type, you can dispense with some
of the shaping but you need to be more careful in the initial under
side flattening. You may want to trim the rivets stem with some
cutters before you use them if they will be too long, you want enough
poking through that you can get a good expansion but not so much that
you end up bending the shaft or can't get it tight.

It's a whole lot easier if you are going to refinish the leather as
you can sand the leather lightly overall and make the rivets smooth.
You'll need to be a lot more careful with the files if you don't
intend to refinish.

* * Chas wrote:
I once kludged a Brooks Pro saddle onto Ideale flat alloy rails. Had an
Ideale with trashed leather and a Brooks with broken rails. I cut the
Brooks rails off in the rear leaving enough to thread with a hex die. The
Ideale was attached to it's rails with nuts. The Brooks front end fit
without a problem.

The saddle worked fine except for the old style Ideale alloy clamp
designed to mount on a straight alloy seat post. I could never get it to
stay at the correct angle. Don't remember what ever happened to it.

You could have bought the Zeus Idéale seat pin top clips to mount the
Rebour 90IR aluminum saddle frame on a Campagnolo #1044 or Zeus copy. I
rode that setup for many years, until it was loaned/wrecked.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

In article ,
Roger Sacilotto wrote:

Long story short, I bent the rails on my year-old Brooks Team
Professional saddle. I got the rails 90% back in shape, but I would
like to try to replace the frame. I can figure out how to remove the
old frame (keeping the nose piece intact), but I have no idea how to
re-rivet a new frame. Do I need a special tool? I imagine that I
would place the rivet through the saddle and frame, put the saddle
upside-down and pound over the underside of the rivet (????) to flare
it out, then hammer the rivet head to conform to the saddle surface.

Has anyone tried this out? I figure if I can't do it myself, I might
as well buy a new saddle for what I imagine the repair cost to be.
On the other hand, the leather is nicely broken in, and is really
comfortable, so I would prefer to keep it if it's economical.

If nobody's pointed it out already, you can readily get all the parts
you need from Wallingford Bikes in NOLA:

http://www.wallbike.com/brooks/partsandaccessories.html

For the riveting, looks like a hammer, anvil and drift punch ought to
get you through it.

In article ,
A Muzi wrote:

* * Chas wrote:
I once kludged a Brooks Pro saddle onto Ideale flat alloy rails.
Had an Ideale with trashed leather and a Brooks with broken rails.
I cut the Brooks rails off in the rear leaving enough to thread
with a hex die. The Ideale was attached to it's rails with nuts.
The Brooks front end fit without a problem.

The saddle worked fine except for the old style Ideale alloy clamp
designed to mount on a straight alloy seat post. I could never get
it to stay at the correct angle. Don't remember what ever happened
to it.

You could have bought the Zeus Idéale seat pin top clips to mount the
Rebour 90IR aluminum saddle frame on a Campagnolo #1044 or Zeus copy.
I rode that setup for many years, until it was loaned/wrecked.

Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes someone to tell you
that you haven't. I'd like to have seen a picture of that setup.

* * Chas wrote:
I once kludged a Brooks Pro saddle onto Ideale flat alloy rails.
Had an Ideale with trashed leather and a Brooks with broken rails.
I cut the Brooks rails off in the rear leaving enough to thread
with a hex die. The Ideale was attached to it's rails with nuts.
The Brooks front end fit without a problem.

The saddle worked fine except for the old style Ideale alloy clamp
designed to mount on a straight alloy seat post. I could never get
it to stay at the correct angle. Don't remember what ever happened
to it.

A Muzi wrote:
You could have bought the Zeus Idéale seat pin top clips to mount the
Rebour 90IR aluminum saddle frame on a Campagnolo #1044 or Zeus copy.
I rode that setup for many years, until it was loaned/wrecked.

Tim McNamara wrote:
Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes someone to tell you
that you haven't. I'd like to have seen a picture of that setup

That was an interesting search odyssey. Here's the 1970 Ron Kitching
Handbook:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...t/IDEL4TIM.JPG

Note the 'long' versions, matching Campagnolo's #1044 post lengths, are
significantly shorter than today's 250mm 'short' posts.
c.f. periodic comments on Jobst's fit.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

"A Muzi" wrote in message
...
* * Chas wrote:
I once kludged a Brooks Pro saddle onto Ideale flat alloy rails.
Had an Ideale with trashed leather and a Brooks with broken rails.
I cut the Brooks rails off in the rear leaving enough to thread
with a hex die. The Ideale was attached to it's rails with nuts.
The Brooks front end fit without a problem.

The saddle worked fine except for the old style Ideale alloy clamp
designed to mount on a straight alloy seat post. I could never get
it to stay at the correct angle. Don't remember what ever happened
to it.

A Muzi wrote:
You could have bought the Zeus Idéale seat pin top clips to mount the
Rebour 90IR aluminum saddle frame on a Campagnolo #1044 or Zeus copy.
I rode that setup for many years, until it was loaned/wrecked.

Tim McNamara wrote:
Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes someone to tell
you
that you haven't. I'd like to have seen a picture of that setup

That was an interesting search odyssey. Here's the 1970 Ron Kitching
Handbook:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...t/IDEL4TIM.JPG

Note the 'long' versions, matching Campagnolo's #1044 post lengths, are
significantly shorter than today's 250mm 'short' posts.
c.f. periodic comments on Jobst's fit.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

We sold Zeus and I never saw one of those model 53 Ideale seat posts. I'd
probably still be riding that saddle if I had.

Chas.