Bicycle Mechanics - coloring coming off of Ideale Leather Saddle onto pants

I just bought an Ideale saddle for 70 bucks and I dont think it has been used in about 25 years or so..The color was coming off onto my pants so I went to the hardware store and they gave me a spar urethane which is supposed to seal it. But it wouldnt dry even after like 2 or 3 days so i took it to a leather person and he sealed it with some glue or something. But i road my bike for about 5 hours yesterdayy and it was coming off again. And also I just accidently rubbed the saddle against my wall really hard and the color came off onto the wall and left a brown spot on the saddle (it is black) The guy also recolored it I think.

What do I do? Ive spent 55$ bucks trying to repair it (20$ at hardware 35$ at leather person) Should I just buy another saddle? Will this happen again if I get another one?

My Stella, circa 1972, came with an Ideale saddle; I don't remember the model number. All I can say is that it was a real good thing to wear black cycling shorts on that saddle; the color didn't show up so much on them!
Stella has had a plain plastic Unicanitor saddle since about 1975 or so.

I think it's something about the way the leather was colored / sealed -- not sure that there is a solution.

Are you living in the 19th century?

Or the 21st? Cover it up, Buck Rogers.
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s262/toronto505/ZDOT021.jpg

i like the look of the leather though..should i just buy a new seat? or does anyone know a way to seal it?

Clear plastic cover?

Or hang the seat on your wall so you can look at it, and get another seat to ride. You can't see the seat while you're riding, anyway, probably.

Don't seal it it will probably just make it worse. Leather needs to breathe - that is one of the benifits of a leather saddle. It will bleed a bit a first - just wear some gym shorts over your bike shorts if this is too much of a problem. It will go away in a short month or so.


Check sheldon for a much better more complete answer!
http://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html
http://sheldonbrown.com/leather.html

How about a good cleaning with saddle soap to try to remove any dirt or excess color that can be removed?

Then after it dries a very light coating of proofide.

I'd wash the saddle in salt-water. Salt acts as a mordant in dying materials. That is to say - it fixes the color to prevent same from running. Just be sure to wash again in plain water to remove the salt. Then saddle-soap, etc. can be used.

How hard can this be?

Don't wear pants.

^^ best suggestion yet!

Between the varnish and whatever was used to remove and recondition the leather you've got something that will take awhhile to wear away. Either wear black shorts or get another saddle.