DIY - Cover your cracked/old/crap saddle

this tip is for people who have brooks or other hard leather saddles, don't buy brooks proofhide which costs a bomb for such a small amount, get Chelsea Leather Food or Fiebings Aussie Leather Conditioner. I work with leather and there is not much difference in the products. And if you go for a saddle that has been left in storage for a long time or has been left out in the rain and it's gone hard, just treat it with leather conditioner on the top and underneath for two weeks and it will become supple again and mold to your shape.

Does anyone have any experience with replacing a rivet on a Regal? One of mine fell out somewhere, somehow, in the rain yesterday.

Does anyone have any experience with replacing a rivet on a Regal? One of mine fell out somewhere, somehow, in the rain yesterday.

A local leather shop had a replacement rivet for me. but it was not an EXACT match.

i recovered my specialized toupe with plain black leather (it was white before). it looks much smarter but i'm not 100% happy with it. I'll post a picture when i get round to it, i forgot to take photos before and during but it was relatively straightforward, just involved some sewing. I'm not sure if it will be waterproof but i've sprayed it with shoe protector...

great guide! thanks

Great thread. Sorry to drag it up again, but has anyone tried this with a Rolls? Should I take off the original cover first and how do I go about working with the badges and the plate at the back of the saddle?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

best way is to drill out the rear rivets and push out the front badges with a pair of needle nose pliers. cover and then replace front and rear plates with pop rivet. here are a few i have done in the past...

the one on the right is a rolls too with the badge filled and covered the left is a rolls which i have trimmed slightly.

Hi Skelator, great work!

Do you really need to drill the original rivets out?

I haven't got the tools for pop rivets, so was wondering if I took the original rivets out carefully I may be able to put them back or possibly glue them back on. I guess I'm starting out with a tough project, should've practiced with some simpler saddles first!

Hi Skelator, great work!

Do you really need to drill the original rivets out?

I haven't got the tools for pop rivets, so was wondering if I took the original rivets out carefully I may be able to put them back or possibly glue them back on. I guess I'm starting out with a tough project, should've practiced with some simpler saddles first!

if you're planning on doing this regularly invest in one, they aren't expensive and theyre easy to use

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=381395&c_4=4%7Ccat_14260298%7CRiveters%7C14260303&c_3=3%7Ccat_14260203%7CStapling%2C+Nails%2C+and+Riveting%7C14260298&c_2=2%7Ccat_16849334%7CHand+tools%7C14260203&c_1=1%7Ccategory_root%7CTools%7C16849334

or borrow one from a forum member or friend. the badge might look a bit daft with two holes, and you can easily get glueing something so fiddly wrong unless you're careful

Anyone had any sucess re-covering a concor? I think it might be difficult due to weird shape (esp at the back where the rails meet)

Great thread. Sorry to drag it up again, but has anyone tried this with a Rolls? Should I take off the original cover first and how do I go about working with the badges and the plate at the back of the saddle?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I did this on my tatty Rolls. I removed the old leather. Do it carefully or you'll remove some foam. The old rivets couldn't be replaced.

Instead of rivets I sourced some small brass bolts and nuts (m3 perhaps?). To fix the side badges back on, I removed any trace of the old rivet and soldered on a cut down section of thread from one of the brass bolts. I couldn't find the correct length brass / copper pop rivets and didn't want to use aluminium although it would have been easier.

Picked up some nice leather when I was in Marrakech. Turned out great.

Thanks for the tips Paul. I've actually done the restoration now. I managed to keep the badges on the sides intact when I removed them and the rear badges were scratched and the gold colouring all ready faded away so I sanded them down and polished them up and they now look chrome. I got hold of some roundhead rivets from a leather shop and put the rear plates back in.

All in all it's a satisfying result for my first time. Just bought a bargain kashimax aero and will be sorting that out next. Need to find some foam to put some padding back on it though. Anyone know what sort of foam is best for saddles and where I can get hold of some?

I got hold of some roundhead rivets from a leather shop and put the rear plates back in.

Sounds good. Where did you get the rivets from and how do they attach?

I got them from a site called saddler.co.uk they do them in Chrome or Brass. They only come in one size though so for the two holes where I needed a shorter rivet I bodged them in a bit to fix them in place. Looks good, just a little messy looking on the inside though. I'm gonna attempt to show some finished pics now...

...here goes...

I recoloured the Rolls logo using a Posca pen. The saddle is lovely and comfy, but maybe the wrong shape for my behind so hopefully the aero will suit me better. Just gotta find some suitable padding!

Anyone had success with using denim? or is it too 'grippy' ?
Want to use something that doesn't mind getting wet...

Anyone had any sucess re-covering a concor? I think it might be difficult due to weird shape (esp at the back where the rails meet)

I wouldn't call it a successful re-covering but here's my first try:

It was all fairly simple really. Until i had to glue the front and rear. The front is hard to get wrinkle-free, while doing that the leather got a little frayed. The rear is even harder because from the back the area you are gluing will be visible. It's nearly impossible to do it without wrinkles and not having the old leather underneath exposed.

I think i'll try this again, maybe removing the original leather cover first and i might use different leather. The cracked leather i've used looks nice but it isn't as strong as i thought it would be.

any pic of the back, please?

As you can see i couldn't get the leather folded nicely without showing some of the original leather + there are 2 folds visible (top rear). At one point i just cut the leather and glued it all together while swearing loudly. If you have some tips please let me know.

looks good to me...

Thanks for sharing, I will try to recover my old saddle.

looks good to me...

Thanks. I just finished the leather on my bars, will post some photos later on..
It's a bit of a show-thing though, i found out this 'cracked' leather is regular leather without the top layer, showing the leathers texture, but also weakening it.

Has anyone tried perforating or stitching the cover to create a pattern? I'm having a crack at this next week when I'm off, any tips would be good!

I reckon black cover perforated to show Blue underneath

I reckon black cover perforated to show Blue underneath

Good idea. And I don't think perforating the leather will weaken it a lot if you glue the area around the holes well.

I still have a lot of leather left so I'm working on a headtube sleeve with a stitched diamond pattern.

No it should be ok, small holes down the middle should work fine
Ordering leather today, what sort of thickness do people use typically?

Apart from (the excellent but in Australia etc.) Busyman, is there someone I can pay to professionally re-cover a Regal-e with perforated leather?