"JMC" Grey Prolong 'S' Ti saddle restoration/renovation

[Peachy!]

Now then.......

A number of RetroBikers who are part of that special band of JMC worshippers (aren't we all?) have asked me upon occasion about the best way of sorting out their Specialized grey saddles, well @Joe*Pro has grown a pair and taken the plunge. @Spudly is likely to be watching this thread with interest.

Ok, so what has Joe sent me? Well, a poorly '93 prolong S Ti and a pair of half descent '94 cromo railed versions one with better graphics.




The plan? Easy-ish;
Skin the Ti and the better graphiced cromo and do a skin swap, along with of course a full clean up & dress up/repair. The result should hopefully be an immaculate and usable grey Ti plus an immaculate Cromo spare.
Yeah I know some purist might cringe at the thought of ripping up the Ti and yes I probably could make a half descent job of giving it a face-lift, but it would really only be fit for a wall hanger, one ride and it would undo my work.
Anyway, any poo-pooing can be directed at my customer!

First job was to attempt to find the proper colour grey, all three superficially looked different but I suspected this was just differing levels of dirt/use.



A quick clean test of the cleanest cromo and the knackered Ti proved that once upon a time they were indeed exactly the same colour.



The Job's on!

 

[Joe*Pro]

We are all stood right behind you cheering you on. Or at least me and @Spudly and @Repacker are. And @Once A Hero might be tempted as well.

 

[Magpiegifts]

Watching this with Interest Peachy.
Love a good restoration

 

[Peachy!]

Ok, decision time. After a close up study of all 3 saddles whilst cleaning, I’m in two minds as what to suggest as the best course of action for Joe.
You JMC replica builders will know that these saddles have slightly differing shapes at the rear so it’s not going to be a straight swap, but I’m not too worried about the fit, I recon it should work.
So original option A;
Swap the best CroMo cover for the Ti and restore the scruffier CroMo, resulting in an 7/10 CroMo and possibly an 9/10 Ti

Or option B;
Swap the scruffier CroMo for the Ti and restore the best CroMo, resulting in an 10/10 CroMo and possibly an 8/10 Ti

Thoughts?

 

[Joe*Pro]

Ok, decision time. After a close up study of all 3 saddles whilst cleaning, I’m in two minds as what to suggest as the best course of action for Joe.
You JMC replica builders will know that these saddles have slightly differing shapes at the rear so it’s not going to be a straight swap, but I’m not too worried about the fit, I recon it should work.
So original option A;
Swap the best CroMo cover for the Ti and restore the scruffier CroMo, resulting in an 7/10 CroMo and possibly an 9/10 Ti

Or option B;
Swap the scruffier CroMo for the Ti and restore the best CroMo, resulting in an 10/10 CroMo and possibly an 8/10 Ti

Thoughts?

My vote is: Go for gold, the Ronnie O’Sullivan of shots, we all preferred watching Jimmy White to Steve Davies. So stick the best leather on the Ti and hope the rest all fall into place with your trick shot and a bit of luck

Interested in others thoughts though ?

 

[Repacker]

Watching with interest!

Is the Bright Red S and SPECIALIZED in the pics the original unfaded ink - or just touched up with a Red Pen (like I did with mine)?

 

[Joe*Pro]

Watching with interest!

Is the Bright Red S and SPECIALIZED in the pics the original unfaded ink - or just touched up with a Red Pen (like I did with mine)?

Original unfaded to the best of our knowledge.

Unless my toddler has secretly been at it with his crayons!!

 

[raidan73]

What did you clean the tops with there @Peachy!? Looks like you've stuck something on and then peeled it off, along with the grime

 

[Peachy!]

Original unfaded to the best of our knowledge.

Unless my toddler has secretly been at it with his crayons!!

Yeah pretty sure these are original, well they didn’t come off when I cleaned nearly 30 years of arse rub off of them!

 

[Peachy!]

What did you clean the tops with there @Peachy!? Looks like you've stuck something on and then peeled it off, along with the grime

The masked line was just to show off the difference for this thread.
What do I use? A combo of cleaners and subtle blend of care & elbow grease.