Composites, microfibers, synthetics. They amaze in their qualities; light, strong, durable – unyieldingly stiff or unimaginably suple, depending on our whim. When modern components arrive on my doorstep, upon lifting the unremarkable cardboard box I often wonder whether there is anything at all inside or if perhaps the person on the other end of the postal system had allowed their mind to wander beyond the task at hand and neglected to place the product in the box before sealing it and handing it off to a worker whose uniform invokes the wrath of dogs the world over.
This was not the case when my vintage 80’s-era Selle San Marco Rolls was delivered from deep within the bowels of eBay. The box had a heft to it that hinted at something substantial within its confines. Freed from its cardboard prison, the saddle lay heavy in my hand, its heft signaling an inherent quality about it that only heavy products seem to convey. But the saddle showed its age; the leather was dry and worn, the brass trim and emblems tarnished black.
This saddle isn’t made of synthetics, it was no lost cause. This saddle is made of organic materials that require care and maintenance in order to maintain their beauty. And, when let fall into disrepair, they can often be restored to their original glory. Out came my polishes and waxes, and within a few minutes the leather covering the saddle which had only moments before been worn and gray was now gleaming with a deep, black finish. The brass, touched up with polish and the tarnish wiped instantly from its surface. Within a quarter hour, the saddle was once again a beacon of a bygone era.
These old leather saddles took a few hundred kilometers to ride in; not as long as their all-leather predecessors, but much longer than our carbon-shell, microfiber modern saddles. With time, the rubbing of chamois-clad tooshie polished the leather into a gleaming beauty which whispered of the long journey over which it had carried its rider as they forged their path together along La Vie Velominatus.
Heavy and big as they were, these saddles had character; one would somehow be more comfortable than another which was supposed to be identical. Each would develop its own unique finish as the characteristics of the leather cover and the shape of it’s rider’s backside would reveal its unique beauty over time. The saddles owned by the Pros in the 80’s and 90’s became impossibly shiny; I remember being enraptured by the sight of the gleaming saddle swaying back and forth as Gert-Jan Theunisse moved en danseuse up the Galibier in the 1989 Tour enroute to a solo win atop l’Alpe d’Huez.
If today’s saddles are marvels of lightweight and comfort, these old saddles were a looking glass into the history that rider and machine had forged together.
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@GT
Aesthetics matter.
@GT
What's your criteria for better - Comfort ? Looks ? Weight ?
There's only one of those where an old-style leather saddle will always lose to a modern saddle, which is weight.
On looks, it depends on the bike - a Flite or an Aliante looks out of place on a classic bike, just as a classic saddle looks out of place on a Bianchi Oltre or a Cervelo P5.
On comfort, well that's a personal thing depending on the shape of your arse, but I'll go for a leather saddle anytime. You will find many Brooks and Rolls in the audax crowd, who do 400-600km rides and more so that suggests that comfort is not better for modern saddles.
@ralph
I started with a B17 but soon moved on to the narrower, lighter models and I would only put a B17 on a cruiser or a town bike now. I have it on my fixie actually.
A Team Pro is a bit sportier and lighter, without going all the way to the narrower Swift and Swallow. I think the standard model is around the same price as a B17 and if you upgrade your bike you can just move the saddle.
@GT
The past informs the future - I find great satisfaction in looking where we came from and using that to try to better understand not only where we are today, but where we might be off to tomorrow.
The reason I started converting the TSX to a more classic setup - downtube shifters, monoplanar brakes, Rolls saddle, etc was because when it was set up with Ergo 10spd and other modern components, I simply never rode it; on any given dry day when given the option to ride either the R3 or the TSX, it was the R3 every single time.
So I agree completely with the sentiment that all these new things are better from a technical perspective. That said, there is something in looking back at where we came from that gives us reason to appreciate where we are today. To measure progress only be technical improvement seems short sighted to me, and misses the point completely.
Maybe its because I like creating things and building things that I appreciate what goes into a product's design, but there is something in the quality and attention that went into the production of components in the past that just doesn't happen anymore. The polish on the old Campa stuff, for example, is otherworldly. There was care and attention put into those parts and those old hand made frames, wheels, and tires, that is missing from what we ride today.
But to your more tactical assertions, putting the padding in the shorts is only better for the people selling the shorts; the pads in my bibs wear thin in a season and are unridable after two; this old Rolls saddle of mine is going strong after twenty-some-odd years. So no, that's not better.
10 or 11 speeds gives more gear choices, but the drivetrains wear out twice as quickly as the old 7 speed sets did.
Finally, your Golf GTI may be faster than your Ferrari 208, 308, or 328, but it won't be around in 10 years, whereas the Ferraris are already 35 or more years old.
To ChrisO's point, it depends on how you're measuring "better".
@frank A1 I could not have put it better myself.
Finally, your Golf GTI may be faster than your Ferrari 208, 308, or 328, but it won't be around in 10 years, whereas the Ferraris are already 35 or more years old.
Plus Thomas Magnum...would not have been seen dead in a Golf GTi....not even a mark 1 Rabbit.
I the same kind of vein I would interested in everyones views on Di. There is a lot of marketing hype in this and huge resources are being put behind launching new bikes with EPS or Di2, but I just cannot see why I would want to. Yes the shifting is smoother, yes it self trims but honestly some of the love I have for the bikes it the pottering about, the adjusting, the cleaning, repairing even something as simply as changing my own bar tape a couple of times a season to make my cheap bike look lovely...
Why would I want to ride a piece of machinery that is designed for self locomotion under human power, that is then reliant upon a battery and actuators for gear changes that I can do myself with a flick of my thumb or finger....is this really progress? I feel a bit like a Ludite and I am sure in 20 years time ppl will be saying "I'm building a retro bike, with manual gears!" in the way that we talk about down tube shifters and toe clips but somehow I am just not sure you won't still find me on my manual gears....after all....would you rather have a Ford Fiesta automatic or a Porsche 928...the price is largely the same these days. One will cost you more to run, but you accept when you take it on that it is a labour of love...
@Deakus
It seems almost every item these days needs a battery. I will resist putting anything on my bike that needs one, with the exception being lights at night. I might have a couple "non-exact" shifts on the rear cassette per long ride - big deal. What next, electronic ass wipers?
@itburns "What next?" Well talking drivetrains of course. "Your next SHIFT is approaching. SHIFT now please."
@frank
Next Columbus (steel)* frame that I find and secure is going to be built 8 speed. I think the are greater in *many ways*.
More or less to his dying day (when he began to meditate on more pressing matters) my father was obsessed by Sturmey Archer hub gears and was convinced that dérailleur gears were the work of the devil.
It took more than a decade since he passed on to that great highway in the sky for me to find out that Henri Desgrange thought exactly the same thing.
Dad was also able to cycle 150km's in a day on his three speed hub geared bike wearing only Sta-Pressed slacks and using a Brooks B17 (although he had the cutaway version). Up top he always wore a vest, cotton shirt and tweed jacket with a tie if he was in danger of meeting on of his customers. As his hair fell out he took to wearing a corduroy cap to keep the sun at bay. Shoes were brogues with a glued on rubber sole for grip and wear. No toe straps obviously. He had no conception that you could possibly need padded shorts (never commented on but surely some perfidious continental fashion used by Hitler and Mussolini and therefore not to be trusted).
Now here's a thing - he was still rocking this set up the year before he was called to glory and, at the age of 65 and with a post cancer colostomy bag, managed to ride round the whole of Scotland in two weeks carrying his own tent. His wheelset would have been new in 1955.
I've only just started to understand - maybe, here and there, he had a point - good reliable kit that you can fettle yourself will take you a long long way. My Fisik saddle is great - but could I face it for two weeks without two pairs of bib shorts, Savlon, a shower (and attached hotel room), Mrs Engine in the support car and a shaved undercarriage?
@unversio
How long before the drive train equivalent of the Happy Vertical People Transporter?
@unversio
I love the Ultegra 9 speed on my 'cross bike. It was great even when covered in sand during today's race. I'm planning 'cross bike #1 and will try to get NOS 9 speed instead of 10.