Well, as I wrote some time ago now, I have been working to save this Brooks B-72 saddle from the edge of dry-rot oblivion. It has been quite the process with multiple applications of Proofide and some rudimentary 'blocking' attempts to bring back some semblance of form to the formerly dried out chunk of cow hide.
The results are encouraging so far. I have been letting the saddle sit to dry out some, with occasional buffings. I also have to finish up taking care of the undercarriage, now that things are looking as though this activity will be worthwhile to do.
Now, this might be the hardest part of all - What bike do I put this on? Plus, because this saddle uses a dual rail design, a sandwich clamp is used, which means I have to use a headless seat post. This limits how I can use the saddle, but fortunately I happen to know a place that has an alloy 27.2mm headless seat post on hand.
The B-72 requires an application where the rider sits more upright, so my gravel bikes are out, and probably so are my three fat bikes, which don't make sense anyway from the standpoint of cold, wet weather usage. Yeah, this may be something for someone else, but I would like to enjoy the 'fruit of my labors' for a little bit!
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| Still work to do under here.... |
Well, whatever color it was when new, I am about ready to ride this saddle and see how it feels. Stay tuned for this and more about the saddle soon.
I mentioned the 'crazy idea' I had on Monday and I started to act on it yesterday. My first order of business was to tear down the fat bike wheel with the 135OLD single speed rear hub laced to it and tear down the original Velocity Dually wheel for the rim.
The Dually still had the On One Chunky Monkey 29" x 2.4" tire mounted to it, so I had to remove this, the tape, and the valve stem to gain access to the spoke nipples. When I tore off the tubeless valve tape, I revealed the Velocity build sticker, which they sign and date when the wheel was built and by whom.
I had forgotten how long ago this wheel came to me! 2013! That seems like a long time ago now. I wonder if "Austin" still works at Velocity USA. Anyway...
Once I get everything apart, I can measure the hub, throw the ERD and all the other pertinent data into the wheel spoke calculator, press "Calculate", and then find out if I have the proper spokes or no. By the way, I forgot the original spokes Velocity used in this build are bladed. Hopefully I can reuse some of those.
Brakes will be next up after this, and then a bunch of smaller details. I won't do the eccentric right away. I want to do a 'proof of concept' ride or three after my initial build is complete to see how the bike handles and all.Then, if I am satisfied the bike handles well, I will order the eccentric and install the thing. But if this fails, I will go a completely different direction. We will see...
I should have an update on this one soon.
6 comments:
There's a good chance Austin might be Austin Russell, who has worked at Velocity for a number of years, and is @russellmakes on instagram.
I wish that On-One tire was still in production. I am biased, but it works so well in so many conditions
That Brooks saddle looks amazing considering it's original condition when you first acquired it. Sometimes perseverance pays off. How many apps. of Proofide has it taken so far? ....
@baric - I've applied Proofide twice to the underside and four times, at intervals of a week or more, to the top. The edges of the saddle have notably thickened back to standard Brooks levels, and that is when I took the cue to stop with the Proofide.
Very nice work on that Brooks saddle, Brother. It's coming around. It's funny because now that you say the saddle was black originally, I feel like I can see hints of that coloration around the edges of the saddle surface. Maybe it's just me?
@MG - Thanks! You are correct. I see the same thing as you are seeing.
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