Classic & Vintage - Saddle cover?

I used to have a white seat cover with elastic i used back in the 80s on my turbo saddle. it fit snugly so did not move about, offered no padding and was somewhat plasticized if i recall correctly. the elastic may have been in thin world champion color bands.

does anyone still produce anything similar? thanks.

eric
fresno, ca.

I've used shower-caps (hotel giveaways), oven-bags, even plastic shopping bags on my Brooks, but I usually try to avoid riding in the rain!
- Wil

By saddle cover I assume you mean a rain cover/ saddle protector?

If so, I'd highly recommend a Randi-Jo. I bought one of these at BikeCraft a few years ago and now have three of them for my leather saddles. They're (far) better made than Brooks', very high quality rip-stop material (and surprisingly inexpensive). And while they're mostly for various Brooks (and Brooks-style) saddles, Randi-Jo is a small enough operation that you might be able to have a cover custom made to fit your seat.

I remember using those covers from the 80's on my saddles too. they were made out of lycra with a very thin vinyl/rubber type of waterproof coating (in different colors) that makes them waterproof. They worked really nice and looked very good on the bike that I kept them on the saddle pretty much all season long. What's nice was, they also protected the saddles form minor cratches and scuffing and extended their lives by minimizing wear, specailly for suede leather covered saddles.......Unfortunately, I haven't seen those covers from the 80's since.....the 80's and I've been watching eBay for them for some time now. Most of the ones that do pop up are dead, ripped and worn out. I do wish some company will bring them back again for us.

Chombi

yeah chombi, i think you know exactly what i mean but i don't recall the one i'm thinking about as being pure lycra. i had one of those too and it slipped a bunch while riding. the more plasticized one is what i'm looking for.

and no i don't plan on riding in the rain. it's more of protection from scuffs and other stuffs for my old black turbo which still looks good, probably because i used that saddle cover so much. i just can't seem to find it anywhere. i also would like a white cover, just to have the saddle match the white cork on the handlebars.

thanks, i'll check out the randi-jo.

eric

thanks for the randi jo recommendation. they seem really functional and attractive, offering some good looking prints. problem is, i want one that hides the valuable brooks from potential thieves, but their covers' nice prints are rather unavoidable. oh, dilemma!

The Randi Jo looks very nice indeed. But if you want budget, they still make the lycra ones. Here's some for dirt cheap.
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/ProductDisplay?storeId=10052&langId=-1&catalogId=10551&productId=1114244&utm_source=Google_Product_Search&utm_medium=pla&utm_campaign=datafeed&cm_mmc=Google_Product_Search-_-PLA-_-Datafeed-_-Fort%20Waterproof%20Saddle%20Cover%20Null%20Null&CAWELAID=984630370&catargetid=1630495291&cagpspn=pla
It took me about one minute to find this on the net.

I definitely get your point about anonymity; in fact that's partly why I got my first Randi-Jo- having a black saddle cover with 2" white letters spelling "Brooks" on it seemed to be a thief-magnet. If you're more concerned about that, have you checked out the Aardvark covers? They're plain black, lycra/ neoprene, and pretty cheap. The downside with the Aardvark is that, while outer neoprene protects your saddle pretty well by locking out moisture, it will soak your a** in the rain.

I also seem to remember Carradice making a fairly nondescript one from heavy canvas; it's also a better much design than Brooks' own (in fact, I've never been able figure out why Brooks doesn't just license them).

I remember those lycra covers and was just thinking about them this morning when I was testing the Trek.

Some were waterproof but alot were simply lycra covers in different colors and designs to dress up the rather boring saddles we all had back then. I think places like J&B imports, WSI, Univega, and even even.. OH crap! I can't think of the name of the place I think it was up around Summerville Mass where used to buy alot of Wald stuff for the shop.

I'm surprised that most don't don't seem to remember the very thin rubber-like coatings those lycra covers had in the 80's? They did provide a margin of waterproofing to protect the saddle leather. Remember how the coatings eventually started cracking and peeling off after a couple of years of use on a bike which tells you it's time to get a new one. Maybe because the coating was half the time applied to the inside of the cover and the bare lycra material is exposed on the top...... I owe the survival of my white, perforated Turbo saddle I got back then to those covers. Aside form the now off-white appearance of the saddle, it still looks nice..... It pretty much spent most of its life in the 80's and 90's under those covers.....

Chombi

I still have one of those, Chombi, and yes, its interior coating is peeling. Pretty nice. Has a zipper in the nose to tighten it down some. I put it on the bike when transporting it to my riding trail, but don't sit on it.

It took me about one minute to find this on the net.

thanks rootboy, it took me about 2 minutes' time. you're better at googling than me. :)

but, i am looking for white. part two of my needs. and i'd prefer snug to maintain the turbo's shape. i'm NOT in dire need for this, i was up late, looking over the bike, wondering if there was a solution and thought people here would know if the originals exist or something akin to them. thanks for the heads-up on everything but my search continues. hey, maybe i'll find my original white one (which if memory serves had started cracking decades ago) in a box somewheres with the missing jerseys, cleated leather shoes, GS pedals. I did find a stash which included NOS gum hoods for my modolo levers so not all hope is lost :).

eric
fresno, ca.