At 9:30 PM -0800 11/2/08, Tim Smith wrote: >The French Ideale saddles that were made back in the 60s and 70s were >great saddles. I owned several Ideale 88s. They were comfortable, and >very durable. The leather tended to be thicker, and generally better >quality, than comparable Brooks saddles of the same era. > >I believe (and I'm not looking this up, just going from memory) that >the 88s were touring saddles (mine were), generally comparable with >say Brooks B17s (or the lower quality B15s). The 92s were more >"racing" saddles, comparable with the Brooks Pros. > >That's what I remember--I could be wrong. Correction welcome. But I >did like my Ideale saddles. They were heavy, but durable and >comfortable.
OK, I did finally look this up. The saddles I owned were Ideale 80s, not 88s. Mine did not have the aluminum rails, but steel ones, like Brooks. There's a good description, with illustrations, here: http://www.classicrendezvous.com/France/parts/Ideale/Ideale_Kitching81.htm I also once owned an Ideale 2002, bought in 1976, after about 200 miles into my Bikecentenial ride. This was a plastic based saddle, with a thin leather cover over a thin layer of foam. Also comfortable, but not as durable as the all-leather 80/88/90/92s. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
