About the service
I hand-build leather bicycle saddles to order, from a blank hide to a finished perch that fits your sit-bone width, riding posture, and the bike you actually pedal — road, gravel, touring, or a fixed-gear commuter. Every commission starts with a fitting conversation: your saddle width measurement, preferred nose length, flex preference, and where the old saddle pressed wrong.
I work only in full-grain vegetable-tanned leather chosen at 4-5mm for the shell, tested for consistent temper across the hide so one side doesn't sag faster than the other. The shell is wet-molded over a hardwood or resin saddle form under sustained clamp pressure, then left to cure for days so the cupped seat, cantle rise, and nose taper hold their shape permanently rather than relaxing back flat after a few rides.
Rail and frame attachment is where cheap saddles fail, so I rivet and back-stitch the leather to a steel or titanium rail cradle with saddle-stitched thread pulled through pre-punched holes by hand — no machine lockstitch to unravel if one thread frays. Where a saddle calls for a matching grip, I hand-stitch handlebar wraps from the same hide and dye lot so the whole cockpit reads as one piece.
A new saddle is stiff on day one, and I explain the break-in conditioning routine — leather balm intervals, how to protect it from rain the first month, and how the seat will drop a few millimeters and mold to your riding position over the first 200-300 miles. I also cut a proofed rain cover for the transition period.
Turnaround runs 10-14 days depending on tooling and stitch pattern requested (plain, diamond, or a custom monogram stamped into the cantle). I send fitting questions before cutting any leather, a mid-build photo before final assembly, and finish every saddle with edge burnishing and a beeswax seal so the edges stay smooth for years, not just for the first season.
I work only in full-grain vegetable-tanned leather chosen at 4-5mm for the shell, tested for consistent temper across the hide so one side doesn't sag faster than the other. The shell is wet-molded over a hardwood or resin saddle form under sustained clamp pressure, then left to cure for days so the cupped seat, cantle rise, and nose taper hold their shape permanently rather than relaxing back flat after a few rides.
Rail and frame attachment is where cheap saddles fail, so I rivet and back-stitch the leather to a steel or titanium rail cradle with saddle-stitched thread pulled through pre-punched holes by hand — no machine lockstitch to unravel if one thread frays. Where a saddle calls for a matching grip, I hand-stitch handlebar wraps from the same hide and dye lot so the whole cockpit reads as one piece.
A new saddle is stiff on day one, and I explain the break-in conditioning routine — leather balm intervals, how to protect it from rain the first month, and how the seat will drop a few millimeters and mold to your riding position over the first 200-300 miles. I also cut a proofed rain cover for the transition period.
Turnaround runs 10-14 days depending on tooling and stitch pattern requested (plain, diamond, or a custom monogram stamped into the cantle). I send fitting questions before cutting any leather, a mid-build photo before final assembly, and finish every saddle with edge burnishing and a beeswax seal so the edges stay smooth for years, not just for the first season.
