I recently bought an unused Ideale junior saddle from the early
sixties for my son's tenth birthday (no, it was not expensive) to use
on his touring bike. I had lent him my favourite narrow Brooks saddle
that he had been eyeing ("real men ride Brooks" is his view - soft
saddles are for whimps). The saddle was from the days young boys had
leather saddles on their racing bikes. It was an interesting saddle.
The first thing that struck me when I unpacked it was that it was very
light - indeed it was only 250 gram. This was a carefully designed
saddle. First, the leather was much thinner than on any adult saddle.
An adult should not try to ride it, as I discovered a bit late (the
saddle recovered). Further, not only was it smaller, but the rails
were also closer together to allow the tip of the saddle to be
narrower. The saddle fortunately came with an original special Ideale
seat clamp. All I had to do was get an old fashioned straight seatpost
without clamp.
This summer we did a tour along the Loire in France (mostly quiet and
flat), and my son rode well. It was the saddle, he and I agree on
that.
Willem
On 18 nov, 17:41, richard deandrea <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> The rectangular railed saddles are hard to come by these days, and when you
> do find them they sell for big $$$'s. The versions with round rails are more
> easily found.
>
> --- On Tue, 11/18/08, JoelMatthews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> From: JoelMatthews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: {BL} Re: Ideale 52 Saddle With Factory Cut Outs Sells for $712.00 on
> eBay
> To: "Bicycle Lifestyle" <[email protected]>
> Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 11:38 AM
>
> > I like them because the saddle rails are longer, so you have more fore
>
> & aft adjustment, whereas the Brooks adjustment is limited.
>
> > Rich
>
> That is a good point. Although you have to make sure you get the
> right model. Some Ideale saddle rails are round, others rectangular
> so will not work without using the bolted on saddle clamp and an old
> pole seatpost.
>
> Breezer (I think) makes an adapter for the latter. But I could not
> get the adapter to work with the Thomson front and back adjusting seat
> posts I prefer.
>
> On Nov 18, 9:52 am, richard deandrea <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:> I like them
> because the saddle rails are longer, so you have more fore
>
> & aft adjustment, whereas the Brooks adjustment is limited.> Rich
>
> > --- On Tue, 11/18/08, JoelMatthews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > From: JoelMatthews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Subject: {BL} Re: Ideale 52 Saddle With Factory Cut Outs Sells for $712.00
> on eBay
> > To: "Bicycle Lifestyle"
>
> <[email protected]>
>
> > Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 10:49 AM
>
> > They are not as technically perfect as Brooks. I think that is the
> > attraction.
>
> > They have that real custom made look. No two are exactly the same.
>
> > I have a few touring saddles which do not go as high as the racing
> > saddles (an actual Ideale 92 may - but you have to be careful as some
> > other factories made them as well).
>
> > It is amazing how the market is hotting up for them lately.
>
> > On Nov 18, 8:45 am, doc <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > > Two weeks ago an Ideale went for close to US$2200. I knew about
> these
> > > saddles, but never realized they were collectable.
>
> > > On Nov 18, 9:24 am, JoelMatthews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > > > A while back we discussed collectability of Ideale saddles.
> Take a
> > > > looks at this auction which finished this a.m.:
>
> >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:I...
>
> > > > I was thinking maybe this would go in the $400.00 range. Boy
> was I
> > > > wrong. Even with the economies in Europe, Japan and the US,
> there
> > are
> > > > people out there willing to go all out for certain models of the
> > > > Ideale saddles.
>
> > > > Personally, I prefer Ideale's touring and urban models.
> The big
> > money
> > > > will always go to racing, however, as that is the collector
> > > > psychology. There is more of an emotional kick to saying this
> > saddle
> > > > is exactly the model my childhood hero used winning the Tour
> than
> > this
> > > > is the saddle gramps had on the bike he road all the way out to
> > > > Yosemite.
>
> > > > This particular saddle appears to be unused or very lightly
> used. I
> > > > wouldn't recommend yanking a wonderful well worn Ideale from
> your
> > > > favorite ride. But if you have an older version sitting unused
> on a
> > > > shelf somewhere, there are certainly people out there interested
> in
> > > > them.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
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