Brooks or non-Brooks complete frames?
 

I'm a leather worker 9-5, and a bike enthusiast the rest of the time. I've had great success putting new tops on the odd old Brooks frame that comes my way. I'd like to try and make some more for a few friends in my small town who are asking me. Does anyone know of a cheap way to get my hands on complete frames? Any metal frame that has nose+tension pin should work. The cheapest I can find the Brooks frames new is $35 plus shipping, which is a bit steep. Does anyone know of any non-Brooks saddles where they sell their frames separately?

Sorry I do not know the answer to your question, but you should make handlebar and seat bags out of leather for bikes and sell them to all of us!! Especially if you can make them to match the honey brooks!

+1!!!!! I'd be interested!

You might have some luck getting frames from a manufacturer like gyes: http://www.gyes.com.tw/

After all, it says "NO ORDER IS TOO SMALL OR TOO BIG FOR US" right on the home page. ;)

...and if you can replace the leather tops on Brooks saddles, you should consider making a business out of that. Most people send theirs to the UK for that service now....

There are occasional listings on eBay for frames, and even more for ass-hatchet saddles that should be sold that way, but are being hawked as usable -- those go cheaper than most similar saddles, but not as cheaply as they should. If you make a saved search on eBay, you can have them email you notifications of matches that turn up daily. However, there seems to be a problem lately -- I'm not getting daily updates for mine presently.

I ruined a Team Pro one time riding in the rain without a cover. It would have been fun to see what you could do with the saddle. Sorry to say that I ended up tossing it.

That was the only other company I've tried so far, and they told me no dice. But thanks, I appreciate the help!

Hmm, I think we could definitely do it (and match the honey), I just don't think it would be cheap! To do a good job would require a fair bit of hand stitching and care. However, something like bar wrap would be pretty easy.

I'm in Ontario. I'd like to do a few more to confirm the consistency of my results. So far so good, though. If people are interested down the road, perhaps I can offer that service when I know I can stand behind the quality. I can't do that right now, though. Not sure what it costs to get done now, but even using the best portion of the hide as in the high-end Brooks line, it shouldn't cost too much...

+1!

I have a old brooks that is ripping at the nose I wanted to get repaired.

Great advice, I been trying to match my honey brooks, but never did..

I got brown leather bar tape, but no match...

http://www.cehoward.net/brookhoney.jpg

I, for one, would like to see some pictures of the results. I have several dried out leather saddles and frames to match.

Yes, please. Let us see some of your efforts FatCat. Your customer base may be right here if you're in to making them.

making the frames would be no big deal for a wire forming company. Look to people that make trade show and POP (point of purchase) display stuff. I just tossed two big punch press machines that could have made cantle plates. Bad ft.

That saddle doesnt look honey... I am pretty sure your tape would match my saddle!
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6041/...950c3ecf_z.jpg
IMG_8042 by Lucas James 78, on Flickr

I think there's a market for stuff like this, too!

http://vintageprobicycles.blogspot.c...by-almarc.html

+1. The leather on some of them is completely busted! :eek:

Wow, I had no idea there was such interest for this kind of thing! I don't have any pictures of the few saddles I've redone, sorry. I will try to see if I can get some. In the meantime, you folks have convinced me to order a couple new Brooks frames, and maybe just sell them to some friends at cost. I'll do a honey and a black one and post the results of those projects in a few weeks, then people can judge for themselves if they're actually interested.

Thanks for the tip about ebay auto-emails. That'll come in handy, as I didn't know you could set that up.

fatcat,

Tell you what, I have a Wrights frame that's good with a torn top, and I have a NOS B15 top that was
made after a few too many beers by Brooks! If you want to play with that I could send them up to you
I'd like to convert the B15 top to a Swallow like top (which would hide the poorly stamped sides and backwards
holes!) and I could then test it for you...
well it's a thought.

As for where to get frames, Buy old dead saddles on ebay.

Marty

fatcat,

Here's where you can get most of the parts, when they have them in stock:

http://www.wallbike.com/catalog/sadd...saddle-parts-0

Unfortunately they're out of stock of quite a few items.

I too am in the market for saddle frames and parts as you describe, since I've been teaching myself to put new leather on them. A few friends have contributed frames for me to work on, I traded for one from another forum member, I bought another one at a swap meet, and I have a lead on a couple more. Some people, when something is broken, throw it away; others put it in a box. We just need to make contact with the latter....

Good luck!

Wall Bike seems to carry them, at least the B17 frame. You would have to get the tensioner, nosepiece, etc. as well, which they appear to be out of.

http://www.wallbike.com/catalog/sadd...saddle-parts-0

EDIT: rhm beat me :)

I'm torn about this... If I'm replacing the tops, it seems why pay $30-$40 for a dead saddle when I can just get a brand new Brooks frame for that much and it'll look like it just came off the store shelf when I'm done... But, to be honest, I have yet to develop the patience for most ebay auctions, so maybe they can be had for much cheaper than I imagine?

rhm, glad to see you're doing this too. Nothing more satisfying than riveting a top on and watching a piece of leather turn into a gorgeous saddle. Yes, I just might go the route of wallbike when they're in stock. I was hoping some knock-off brands would sell their frames for cheap, but I guess that's not the case.

lotek, I wouldn't want to attempt to convert a Brooks top to swallow-like. I'd much rather just put a new swallow-shapped top on. I haven't done a swallow yet, so don't feel comfortable with that. However, if you're interested, I'd love to purchase your B15 top and/or your frame straight up from you. The B15 top would be particularly helpful to have to play around with. PM me if interested! Or, maybe rhm wants to take you up on your gracious offer?

Ha ha, I already PM'd him about that, but obviously you have dibs.:innocent:

I too have my doubts about converting a B15 to a swallow, but then again, it shouldn't be that tricky, right?

Oh, I should mention, the saddle I bought at the swap meet was a junky old French one, very narrow, and I paid $4. The nice French saddles were by Ideale, but there were lots of off-brand ones that were often quite nasty. I got one of those. Don't even think about paying $30-$40 for a dead saddle, even if it's a Brooks or Ideale, and certainly not a cheap one. $10 plus shipping would make me wince.

fatcat,

I'm going to use the base as I do want to put a new top on the saddle, as I said the Wrights swallow is tearing, it was a poor
design at best.
The B15 top is old, it was found in the Brooks factory along with a few others under the floorboards (at least
that's what I was told). The punched holes are wrong, one side to the front of the logo, the other to
the rear of the logo, definitely a few too many pints that day.

Marty

I say go for it, rhm. Be sure to let us know how it goes. Do you have any pictures of some of the saddles you've recovered? I regret not taking any of the couple I've done...