Gone to a Vetta place

After at least 20 years service, the trusty Vetta TT saddle fell in battle today whilst commuting through the canyons of Farringdon and Smithfields. There was a snap, then a sinking feeling as the saddle began listing to starboard. A few more metres and another rut, a piece of rail clattered into the road. And I still had to get to Wimbledon. With no other options, I had to press on, pedalling with weight off my perch. Got into work and managed to refit the broken bit of rail and secured it in the clamp by moving the saddle forward a bit. Creaked and cracked all the way home.

It's a sad day. The Vetta was robust but very comfy, even on long rides. I did have a Charge Spoon on last year – very nice, groovy and comfy, but this wore out in less than a year, so I put the old Vetta back on again. Oh well, it's pay day next week, so it's time for a viking send off and a new saddle...

RIP Saddle

Take the remains of the rail out, get them welded together, file smooth and you can still use it! The padding looks ok and the cover apart from the rips looks pretty good too.

Maybe it would deserve to be repaired, then recovered?? Local upholsterer could supply a bit of leather and they could recover it or have a go yourself!

It's surprisingly easy to re-cover a saddle, I did it to an old Vuelta many years ago (no photos though, sorry). You'll need very thin leather, which is usually the most expensive to buy, and lots of patience. Definitely worth doing IMO, especially if you leave the leather un-dyed.

MiniNinjaRob":3tn6v9fm said:

Take the remains of the rail out, get them welded together, file smooth and you can still use it! The padding looks ok and the cover apart from the rips looks pretty good too.

Maybe it would deserve to be repaired, then recovered?? Local upholsterer could supply a bit of leather and they could recover it or have a go yourself!

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I would be sad to see it go after all this time and good service. BITD, I could never afford the Flytes or other high end items, so the Vetta was the best option I could buy – truly a quality piece of kit that's survived from BITD. The synthetic coverings on the Charge saddles seem to wear through in no time at all. The Vetta's proved to be quite a hard wearing bit of kit – it won't go in the bin, it deserves better. Besides, I hate trashing things.

I'm going to have a think around some of your very good suggestions and plan the 'upcycling' project...

Thanks!

Koupe":29o8a0o3 said:

It's surprisingly easy to re-cover a saddle, I did it to an old Vuelta many years ago (no photos though, sorry). You'll need very thin leather, which is usually the most expensive to buy, and lots of patience. Definitely worth doing IMO, especially if you leave the leather un-dyed.

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Thanks! I'm going to source the materials and follow yours and MiniNinja's advice :idea:

I'm going to strip the bike down soon and prepare it for the winter. Will inspect all the vintage parts very closely – don't want them to fail at an inopportune moment!

I lost the Vetta SL saddle I had bitd, It was comfy & the nearest I could get to a Flight on schoolboy pocket money.

Save it man!

minor_LEGEND":284wkb9j said:

I lost the Vetta SL saddle I had bitd, It was comfy & the nearest I could get to a Flight on schoolboy pocket money.

Save it man!

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Will definitely save it – just been doing some research on t'interweb.

Question is, should I try to exactly replicate the original look or should I go the custom route?

I have a nos Vetta TT. Any interest?
Robert

For anyone who is interested, that's the posh vanadium version. 2nd lightest after the Ti and real leather instead of the faux leather on the manganese or cromo versions.

I had two of them off Roc6839, because they are may favourite saddle EVER.