DIY - Cover your cracked/old/crap saddle

you could try a Charity shop. Plenty of old jackets.

ok, i had thought of that as well, il go in on tuesday :)

Scraps from a re-upholsterer.

ah good idea andy! theres one about 15 miles from where i live, perfect!

I've been using a full carbon saddle with no cover or padding for a while thinking my fat arse would provide sufficient padding! It is fine but a bit uncomfortable on any rides over 20 miles but not a major issue. The bit problem is that a bit snapped off the end so I filed it down but it started to wear away at the crotch on my jeans. After seeing this thread I decided to cover the saddle in leather. I bought a bag of scrap leather from a discount fabric place for 99p (which had about 3 pieces well big enough to cover a saddle and about 5 more pieces just too small (which could be used for other stuff like covering toe-clips I suppose). I didn't take much care measuring anything but I am more than pleased with the results. The whole job cost me about £3 (fabric, glue and 2mm thick foam) and I've got a nice comfy saddle now which doesn't rip my jeans. I will post before and after pics in a bit when I get my camera but I would highly recommend giving this a go. Nice one Jol and co for the tips!

before...an ebay bargain carbon saddle with titanium rails:

after (i left the back because the awkward shape could have caused trouble and I liked the idea of leaving a bit of carbon):

and underneath where I sewed the front:

I know it looks a bit weird with the front loosing an inch of carbon fibre in a crash and it becoming a bit square but it doesn't bother me. I tried this out as a bit of a practice and didn't really measure the foam or leather...or take much care when doing it but I'm happy with it. I will probably re-cover this in the future and defo do it to any other saddles I have.

anyone got any carbon saddles for sale on the cheap? my mate wants to cover a carbon saddle like I did. cheers

Who here knows about leather?

Further to the excellent stuff done so far in this thread, has anyone ever tried to extend this to having the same leather on handlebars and toestraps as well? Partly to save dosh, but also because it might look really nice to have the same stuff all over the bike. Simplest question first; where do I buy it?

What kind of leather would you reccommend? I suppose there might be a problem with the seat requiring quite thin leather while the toestraps should ideally be as thick as possible. Perhaps the leathersupplier can do several thicknesses/qualities in the same dye? If anyone has actually done this, what kind of tool did you use for the stiching bit? I remember seeing a step by step guide online before, but can't find it now. Lastly, what stuff to treat the leather with -if at all?

Sorry missed this. I did these bars and the ends of the clips a while ago...

You can get leather from Alma leather on Greatorex st for not much. £15 quid for about 5 saddles worth.

I have to leather to freecycle should anyone want.

Black thin-ish.
White punched thin-ish
light blue thick-ish
Red thick

All are soft and perfect for this kind of thing. Bars and clips more suited to the thick stuff. PM me if you are keen.

JOL

wow. that is nice.

Hey,

I just bought 3 saddles worth of really top-notch thin black leather for only £10 from CM Upholstery on 173 Stroud Green Road N4 (02072726311). The old boy who owns the shop is really nice, even looked after my bike while I went off to buy the other materials. A1 recommended.

John

DIY forever! I might give this a go on an old Turbo i've got - anything other than suede though cause touching suede makes me feel like I cant breathe...wierd.

freak

I covered my saddle following these instructions, but forgot to take a before photo so I appologize for that. It was originally a black KHS suspentech saddle which had "suspentech" embroidered down the saddle in yellow. The old saddle was pretty worn and ugly as sin, so I thought I'd have a go at recovering it. I used brown goat suede.

I'll get some better photos of it up at a later date but here is one of it on the bike. I am pleased with the way it feels but wish I had done a better job at the nose of the saddle.

Does the suede get wet? Could you proof it to stop it getting wet/soaked?

Has anyone tried it with fleece or fur?

As I have a few rabbit skins and a couple of sheep skin so was wondering if anyone had done something similar. I did try a search but did get anything like that.

I did something like that,to my girlfriends dirtbike,by using hotglue and panther fake-fur.has been there for 4 yrs now without tearing,and its been driven in winter,rain,etc.

Anyone know of a source or even how to apply the graphics/printng like on the side of suede Concors??

Are certain contact adhesives better than others?

I found a rolls on a mountain bike in a skip a few weeks ago so i had a crack.came out ok apart from some ruffels on the nose.
Lynx - i used bostic all purpose adhesive and its worked fine.

Do you think cotton /other fabric would work for this? Or too much friction/adhesive soaking through? Not sure how the denim version above worked out over time...?

A nice set of straight handle bars can be made from a 'YORK' dumbel bar. They are threaded which makes a good grip, Just need to rembember to wear gloves!!

I will try and post a pic.

An ironworker next door rides this to his job every day. Brooks 531?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28164070@N04/sets/72157623148031560/

Well over the past two days I have recovered four saddles with blue suede. The suede was from an awful jacket.

Well bought a pot (500ml) of impact adhesive from tool staton at £3.40 to give it a go. The seats had the covering damaged but some had the cover removed whilst the others had the cover still on and the suede was stuck directly to the material as removing the saddle covering would remove the padding and leave a plain plastic base, which would be quite uncomfortable.
is so long ago.

Jol thank and wish I read this so long ago.

where do you guys get the padding from?

Recovering motorbike seats, there the foam place between kings cross and Angel, think its called pentoville rubber. But I have got the gel inserts from used keyboards wrist rests to make a cheap gel insert for seats.

i know this is very late but i do know how you can paint on leather [not sure about suede, but could find out] without cracking
if the leather you are using has any varnish or treatment on it you first prep the leather [just the area you are going to paint on] with some acetone [nail polish remover]
then you get hold of paint called Angelus [you gotta order this stuff from the US which is a bit of a pain]
paint whatever you want on it in thin multiple layers and then varnish it
the result will be a really nice design [so long as you have the skill to paint well]
you can also airbrush [you have to increase the viscosity with medium so that it doesn't kill the airbrush] and stencil with this paint- airbrushing will give a nicer finish

i know how to do this because i used to customise trainers, which obviously get a lot of wear, so i'm sure it would work really well.

old thread resurrection, this guy does some pretty amazing leather work - particularly the ostrich leg leather cover.....!?

http://busymanbicycles.blogspot.com/