Johnny Alien

Ok I posted in the "value" section that I picked up a late 80's Bottecchia. I am in the process of cleaning and doing regular overhaul maintenance and it will soon be coming to tape and saddle time for me.

It has the original saddle which is a Selle Royal "Dolphin" model saddle. I like it but it is white and with the bike being white that is waaayyyy too much white for me. So I have the following choices.

1. Put an older black Brooks B-17 on there. This is the saddle in the pictures below. I threw it on just to see what it was like. I think I like it but I am not sold yet. The only problem seems to be that the saddle is not perfectly straight. It leans back a bit and there is no way to adjust that with this stem. The original Selle Royal saddle curves up in the back. Regardless if I go this route I will get black ribbon tape as it is a favorite of mine and goes good with black leather.

2. Put on a honey Brooks B-17. If I go this route I have some honey Brooks bar tape that I would put on. The same saddle problem would exist (although I am not convinced it's really a problem). The real issue with this one is whether or not honey would look good with the white.

3. Find another Selle Royal or Selle Italia saddle to go with it. I am open to suggestions here. If I go this route I would also use the black ribbon tape. Another alternate here would be a Cinelli Unicaniter saddle.

4. Find a version of the Selle Royal Dolphin in back. I really like this option as it still seems fairly original but I cannot find these anywhere. Even in older ebay sales there are none. Oddly enough there is one on ebay now but in white and severely overpriced.

CardiacKid

One of the great things about a C&V bike is that you will be riding a bike that is unique. You can enter a charity ride like the Hotter 'n Hell, that has 17,000 riders and there is a good chance no one else will have a bike like yours.
Listen to your own instincts and do what you want.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

you should be able to tilt the nose of the seat down by loosening the bolts that clamp the seatpost to the rails of the saddle. I have never seen a seatpost that didn't allow for angle adjustment, and if I did I'd probably throw it out and get one that allows for it.

To my eye light colored bikes look best with Tan leather...if it were mine i'd do the honey brooks with a matching wrap.

Bike looks awesome.

Is it a replacement front fork or is that original?

Johnny Alien

It didn't seem like a normal seatpost that could adjust that way but perhaps I was just tired when I was messing with it.

I think I am leaning toward the honey brooks stuff as well. Perhaps I will throw the saddle on quick and see what it looks like.

The fork is original. I am not sure when they started doing it but by the late 80's the forks were entirely chrome.

RobbieTunes

I vote honey and I'm pretty sure you can fix that tilting saddle problem.
The honey has elements of the red in it, and is a great offset to a white or cream frame.

John E

There is nothing wrong with a black saddle and black tape. I like the look of colored or white tape for the first few miles, but it tends to get grungy pretty fast.

Johnny Alien

Yeah I think I was just smoking something. There is definitely a way to tilt the saddle and I fixed it tonight. Sometimes I just need to take a step back.

gridplan

I would change the cable to something other than white, maybe red or blue. But whichever color I chose for the cable, I'd make the handebar tape match. I'd also opt for a different saddle. I like Concor Profil's on 80's bikes, but that's just personal preference.

Little Darwin

I have always likes the classic look of a black saddle and black bar tape, especcially with black hoods.

I would possibly pick a cable color that picks up one of the other colors on the frame... Maybe red, or one of the accent colors.

CMC SanDiego

+1 on the Brooks Honey, and I recommend the Velo Orange sewn on Elkhide barwrap. It matches the honey saddle very well (once it's been proofided). I've been riding one of my bikes that way for 3-4 months now and get a lot of comments, and comfortable riding from the combination.

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mkeller234

Yeah, colored housings would be a nice touch. I saw a black and red Motobecane today that had red housings, it went together really nice.

Johnny Alien

I was thinking of doing the red housing. Especialy since I am going to be removing the Look pedals.

I don't do those kind of pedals.

Honey is obviously the leader at this point and I think I agree. I am going to throw the honey saddle on after work and take a photo to get opinions.

CMC SanDiego, I already have the Brooks tape but that VO Elkhide Wrap is nice. Also I am a huge Fuji fan and that is a very nice bike!

Johnny Alien

OK...here it is. Sorry for the bad photo (not like the first ones are good) but my skills are limited and it was raining outside. My garage is in a state of bike project disarray at the moment. (My porch was in a state of yardwork disarray in the previous shot)

Thoughts??

gridplan

Honestly? I don't think honey-colored saddles (or earthen tones in general) look very good with white. It looks okay with the Fuji in part because there's greater contrast with the dark blue paint. Honey-colored saddles and matching bar tape always remind me of randonneurs for some reason.

RobbieTunes

I'd tell you to send what you were smoking to me, but I've had the same problem.
Generally, a good night's sleep and the light bulb comes on....

I still think the honey's the best bet. Elegant, classic, mixes with the white and red.....and more unique.

RobbieTunes

My LBs has a little darker red (won't fade to pink) for $1.50/foot. Matches the honey.

RobbieTunes

Once you change that cable housing to blend with the lettering and saddle, you'll have an ace.

Tigerprawn

I was in a somewhat similiar bind... I have a primarily white Peugeot and I kept trying to think of what color brooks I wanted on it.

I have a black B17 which didn't look bad at all, but I kept thinking honey would look good. I'm pretty darn happy with my Peugeot + honey colored saddle and bar covers. I already think your's looks amazing.

I couldn't decide on the housing so I stuck with white. I was this | | close to going with orange. I think you're bike would look fantastic with red to bring out the decals and the tiny hints of red in the honey saddle.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

The housing looks cut sort of short to my eye.

Johnny Alien

This bike looks amazing. I think it has sealed my decision.

Johnny Alien

It might be a tad short but I am 99% sure that this is the stock housing from the factory.

Johnny Alien

Here are some updated photos. I did not change out the housing but will probably do that in the future. Again I have to apologize for garage clutter. I am gathering things together for a yard sale and they are stacked in the garage at the moment. I think the bike came out really really well.

djeucalyptus

just looks like not enough is fed through the braze-ons. in the above pic, it looks a bit long up front, hence a bit taught at the back. easy adjustment (assuming it's not rusted/fused in place at the braze-ons). (although the front break cable looks a bit unnecessarily long, but could all be in the camera)

and to add to the thread, I think I dig the final color The white housing seems to be throwing it off a bit... I'd vote for a nice red housing myself. I think that would help the bar tape color pop a bit more too.