Leather toe strap restoration
 

Being new to cycling, I thought it was a good idea to buy vintage toe straps instead of new christophe ones so I bought a pair of vintage christophe/binda straps. They are a bit stiff and dirty and the colour of the straps are off-white. Now, I kind of regret buying them and wish I just went with new straps...What do you think? Any chance at returning these straps to their glory days or are they long gone?

Not too sure if pics will help...

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...nVw~~60_57.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...dig~~60_57.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...hng~~60_57.JPG

They look very nice to me. Remember that the darkened areas are on the inside where the strap threads through the pedal cage. Nobody will see that. The outside looks great. Even if you found a way to restore them, they would be back to this state pretty quickly.

Huh? Are those straps marked both Christophe and Binda? Is that one pair of straps????

You could try cleaning them with saddle soap and warm water, but I doubt it would do much.

Saddle soap, and they'll be just fine.

But it won't remove all that black stuff. Aluminum rub. But they are just fine now.

Linked the wrong picture in the OP. Fixed now. Thanks for the help guys. Is there a specific tool to apply saddle soap with?

Sponge, Bob, a sponge.

Or you could just get those same straps in BLACK. :D ;)

Dang. I thought we had an example of the super rare French-Italian alliance of strap making episode..

I would use something short and stiff, like a tooth brush or something similar. Not much water, just enough to develop a lather on top of the soap cake. I really sont think this is going to help these much though. In fact, it might even make them look worse. IMO.

White shoe polish would help a little- more than one coating.

Not those. Those or at least one pair are Binda Extras, they only came in that color. They are THE racing strap. Stiffer leather, laminated, a Binda Patent at the time. They did not stretch so your foot stayed IN the pedal when you Sprinted to Victory.

My favorite since 1975.

Later Binda made the Super with nylon reinforcement in bright white.

I think the original poster probably got a great deal on them and just does not know it until now.

Toe straps get aluminum oxide, they get smudged, they get splashed, give them some saddle soap and no oil and be Thrilled you have them.

Those were never white, off white or cream. No in my opinion for colorant.

Yes. Just clean em up the best you can and use them. Binda Extras are difficult to find these days and command exorbitant prices when you do see them. Even the non-laminated version tend to make ebay sellers price them at $100 plus. Not worth it by any stretch, in my view, but when you can knock down a set for about 50 bucks, they're good to have.