Leather Saddle Repair?

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 21:56:08 -0400, Steve Sr.
wrote:

My Lepper Voyager saddle has failed after only a little over 3 years
and about 10K miles. The 3 rivets at the nose of the saddle have
sheared off but the leather is still intact. The two outside (out of
5) rivets at the rear of the saddle are also showing signs of
corrosion.

Look in your local yellow pages for anyplace that sells tack and
saddles, and give them a call to find out if they, or someone they
know, does basic saddle and harness work. Anybody that does that type
of thing can replace those rivets. Failing that, check for a luggage
repair place; they also can replace rivets easily. If that proves
fruitless, try a tent and awning shop. Presumably you'd rather avoid
the ugly appearance and protruding flange that you would get by using
pop rivets, but as a last resort they would most likely serve well
enough.
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Steve Sr. writes:

I also noticed that this saddle tended to stretch a lot on use and
then tighten up once it dried out. I never tightened it while it was
wet. It would almost stretch so much that it would contact the top
of the seatpost. Is it supposed to stretch that much?

No.

Is this lifespan typical of a leather saddle. Do Brooks saddles hold
up any better? I notice that they seem to be held together with much
larger copper rivets.

I have two Lepper saddles which are on bikes I don't ride a lot of
miles on. I have several Brooks saddles, one of them- a Team Pro-
I've been riding since 1977 with probably 50,000+ miles on it. It's
my favorite saddle.

Take it to a good cobbler. Most likely he will be able to fix it.

HTH,
Ernie

"Steve Sr." wrote:

My Lepper Voyager saddle has failed after only a little over 3 years
and about 10K miles. The 3 rivets at the nose of the saddle have
sheared off but the leather is still intact. The two outside (out of
5) rivets at the rear of the saddle are also showing signs of
corrosion. The saddle has been well maintained with proofhide and
never exposed to rain.

I suspect that the rivets were weakened by corrosion caused by
perspiration and our humid summer weather. The rivets used were just
brass plated steel and once the brass plating was gone the rivets just
rusted until they were weak enough to shear off one by one.

I also noticed that this saddle tended to stretch a lot on use and
then tighten up once it dried out. I never tightened it while it was
wet. It would almost stretch so much that it would contact the top of
the seatpost. Is it supposed to stretch that much?

Is this lifespan typical of a leather saddle. Do Brooks saddles hold
up any better? I notice that they seem to be held together with much
larger copper rivets.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.

Steve

Tim McNamara wrote:
Steve Sr. writes:

I also noticed that this saddle tended to stretch a lot on use and
then tighten up once it dried out. I never tightened it while it
was
wet. It would almost stretch so much that it would contact the top
of the seatpost. Is it supposed to stretch that much?

No.

Is this lifespan typical of a leather saddle. Do Brooks saddles
hold
up any better? I notice that they seem to be held together with
much
larger copper rivets.

I have two Lepper saddles which are on bikes I don't ride a lot of
miles on. I have several Brooks saddles, one of them- a Team Pro-
I've been riding since 1977 with probably 50,000+ miles on it. It's
my favorite saddle.

If you can't fix your saddle, Thorusa is closing out its lepper ti
leather saddle for $75:
http://www.thorusa.com/lepper.htm

Seems like a good deal.

Steve Sr. writes:

Is this lifespan typical of a leather saddle. Do Brooks saddles hold
up any better? I notice that they seem to be held together with much
larger copper rivets.

Maybe you can get some new copper rivets from brooks and fix your
saddle : www.wallbike.com.

Rivet head size does not influence the life the rivet. Older brooks
saddles had small (pea-sized) steel rivets (e.g. regular brooks pro,
not today's brooks pro.) The large head size is to prevent the rider
from feeling the rivets beneath him / her.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Thu, 21 Oct 2004 21:56:08 -0400,
, Steve Sr.
wrote:

Is this lifespan typical of a leather saddle. Do Brooks saddles hold
up any better? I notice that they seem to be held together with much
larger copper rivets.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.

Wallingford sells replacement rivets in three sizes. They're for
Brooks saddles but they might be made to work.

http://www.wallbike.com/brooks/parts...es.html#rivets
--
zk

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 14:06:33 -0400, Steve Sr.
wrote:

I don't know what the manufacturer
does to the leather to soften it up for working and then make it hard
and stiff for use.

Howdy,

They soak the leather in water...

HTH,

--
Kenneth

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