Campy Only Road Test: Rivet Saddles

In today's blog post, we offer our impressions of a non-Campy item: the new saddles from Rivet. Enjoy.

It wasn't that long ago that leather saddles were a hard-to-find item, limited to the bikes of a relatively few cognoscenti and to the ever-shrinking number of English bikes imported into the US. Plastic saddles--easier and cheaper to make and lacking the need to be "broken in" by the user--began overtaking leather saddles in the 1970s; eventually, a "quality" saddle had come to mean an a saddle that combined a plastic shell with a layer of foam and a thin leather or vinyl skin.

Our test saddle

Leather saddles, meanwhile, fell out of favor, except for those riders willing to accept the added weight, the break-in period, and the need to take at least minimal care of their bike seat. Those riders were rewarded with saddles whose comfort went a long way toward explaining by the Brooks B-17 has survived basically unchanged for more than 100 years.

Fast forward to the past ten years or so, and the growth in the custom bike industry, "country bikes," and randonneuring--all pursuits which place a premium not on weight or ease of care but on classic looks and comfort. Brooks of England, which had continued to carry the leather saddle flame almost singlehandedly during the lean years, was ready and willing to jump on these markets, and began ramping up production to meet the demands of the owners of these neo-classic bikes.

We're Riding "On the Rivet"

There's a new leather saddle in town--it's from Rivet Cycle Works, and we're riding one of the first production models. The photos speak for themselves--this is a gorgeous saddle that gives Brooks and any other leather saddle a run for their money.

We'll have road tests available soon. For now, enjoy the photos. More info on Rivet is available at their web site: www.rivetcycleworks.com