Originally Posted by
jens1956
Hey guys. This is brilliant. Thank you so much for your responses. On balance I think it best to leave it. It is not that cheap. And it has been impaired. I buy the old leather chair argument, but this one seems to need work with uncertain outcome. I will not go for a new one (et certainement pas britannique- mon dieu!) , because I took a lot of trouble getting period French components for the rest of the build. Hence the Ideale. Will just wait until the right one comes along. In fact I have noticed that in every cyclists mind there seems to be the perfect saddle - never to be found in real life. Bit like the perfect partner
Thank ou and kind regards, Jens
You're welcome Jens! Good saddles turn up all the time on eBay and there are several excellent French makes which are much more affordable than Ideale. Go to ebay.fr and type "selle cuir" or "selle velo ancien".
Here are Pearl and Henri Gauthier saddles, for example:
Ideale Saddles in good condition tend to command high prices; Japanese collectors seem to prize them. I remember one selling for over 2000 euros a few years back.
My perfect saddle would be a NOS 19'th century B17 - but I'm not even sure leather lasts that long. Here's the best saddle I have:
... which is a 1938 Brooks Swallow.