Selle Italia tensioned leather saddles

[LittleWheelsandBig]

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/SASIEP/selle-italia-epoca-saddle
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/SASISTRC18/selle-italia-storica-saddle
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/SASIMIT18/selle-italia-mitica-saddle

Apparently made to celebrate Selle Italia's 120th anniversary. These look very similar to the Taiwanese leather saddles that come in a range of widths and have various detail differences between brands (Gyes, Spa, Rivet, etc.). Anybody know anything about them?

[Brucey]

launch blah here

https://www.velonews.com/gear/selle-italia-unveils-throwback-leather-saddle-line/

that they (AFAICT) say 'crafted' rather than 'crafted in Italy' tends to support the idea that they are made in Taiwan. Whether they are noticeably different from other Gyes saddles I don't know.

cheers

[rogerzilla]

Don't Selle Italia own Brooks?  You'd expect them to have them made in the existing facility.

Incidentally, having watched Gregg Wallace help make a (Brompton) Brooks on TV recently, the process is remarkably fast and there is a minimum of labour involved.  The profit on them must be epic at today's prices.

[robgul]

Don't Selle Italia own Brooks?  You'd expect them to have them made in the existing facility.

Incidentally, having watched Gtegg Wallace help.make a (Btompton) Brooks on TV recently, the process is remarkably fast and there is a minimum of labour involved.  The profit on them must be epic at today's prices.

Yes they do own Brooks - I've been around the Brooks factory at Smethwick a couple of times and it's like going back 100 years in British industry - fascinating.

The range of stuff just looks as is it's "Brooksalike" to perhaps meet a different price point, and for those that see Brooks being for corduroy shorts and Aertex shirt cyclists?

On the piece from velo news I loved this 

"From top to bottom, the new Sella Italia line is drenched with beautiful craftsmanship and details. Branded designs inlay the tops of the saddles and chrome details speckle the edges with the Sella Italia name found in the company’s original lettering style. "

Could have been written by an estate agent 

Rob

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Selle Royal owns Brooks, not Selle Italia. I think the two Italian companies’ owners are competing family (cousins perhaps?).
https://www.bikebiz.com/selle-royal-buys-brooks/

[Bolt]

I took a punt and bought 2 of the Mitica models on sale at £40.   Visually they appear to be extremely well made, significantly better than the Brooks leather saddles I've owned.  The leather is thick and unyielding but quicky absorbed a light application of proofhide, so I'm guessing they will break in nicely.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The Epoch seems to be the B17 Std look-alike, being 176mm wide. The width of the other models is not noted.

How wide is the Mitica? The overall shape appears to be similar to some of the currently fashionable short-nose saddles. Is that reflected in reality?

Being made from laminated leather, I doubt that the saddle will break in quickly, regardless of how much leather dressing you apply.

[The French Tandem]

launch blah here

https://www.velonews.com/gear/selle-italia-unveils-throwback-leather-saddle-line/

I do not think the embossing on the upper part of the leather will do anything good for your comfort!

A

[Bolt]

How wide is the Mitica? The overall shape appears to be similar to some of the currently fashionable short-nose saddles. Is that reflected in reality?

Being made from laminated leather, I doubt that the saddle will break in quickly, regardless of how much leather dressing you apply.

Here it is next to a Spa Nidd for comparison.  I've only done 50km on the one I've got fitted at the moment but the general feel and support of the saddle seems good.  I'd previously given up on  leather saddles as I found that they lost their support through sagging and suffered broken tension bolts and/or noses.  I think the thin leather used post BSE by Brooks was largely to blame?

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'd previously given up on  leather saddles as I found that they lost their support through sagging and suffered broken tension bolts and/or noses.  I think the thin leather used post BSE by Brooks was largely to blame?

I don't have and never have had a leather saddle, so this is just speculation: but I've heard people say the same, that post-BSE cattle are killed younger and leather is therefore thinner. And presumably this wouldn't apply in Taiwan or, say, Australia (where I seem to have heard the Rivet saddles are made)?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Gyes and most of the Taiwanese leather saddle brands use Australian leather. Rivet is made in the same factory but uses American leather. Just one of the detail differences between similar brands out of the same factory, along with different rivets, cutouts and so on.

[rogerzilla]

I have three old Brooks Professionals (pre-Team Professional) and they have legendarily thick leather - probably how they have survived the decades unscathed.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

In the old days, only one or two Professional saddles could be made from a hide because they could only use the thickest part of the hide and had to be orientated to match the hide’s grain.

Lower quality leather saddles were made from other parts of the same hide but oriented along the hide’s grain and the very cheapest leather saddles ignored orientation, to maximise the number of saddles from each hide. That practice resulted in faster and asymmetric stretching of the leather.

Leather tanning practices have changed over the years as some old-style tanning processes were extraordinarily bad for the environment. I suspect some of those changes may affect saddle durability too.