CrowSeph

I have an old vintage saddle (selle italia sprint). Is not in perfect contisions since when i got it it was full of plants and even a nest of something under it. I took with patience and i cleared , since it is white i used some bleach and other stuff to make more whitish as possible.
Now i have a few roll of synthetis leather (with a very nice texure).
(Black spots are just a bit of dust)









Is better to keep the actual conditions or make a new cover with the leather?

For the pedals , i want to clear and remove all rust possible but is kinda hard since is not a fully flat surface. The only option i think is okay is the electrolysis but this one i have the fear that will ruins the bearings....
Any solution? electrolysis? replace? or keep at the actual conditions because "they are original"?

merziac

I'm in different to the saddle but I would treat it with some kind of dressing to stave off the cracking that is already winding up.

The pedals need to be disassembled and soaked in Evapo-rust or OA, then will probably have to be wire wheeled or cleaned up with partial bad chrame showing.

You could just wire wheel them but it takes off more than you want, not just rust, the original metal suffers for it.

CrowSeph

This is a similar job i have done on another saddle. You mean this as dressing?
is not super-smooth but i'm pretty happy about the results.

merziac

Maybe, I agree it turned out good but it was suede, brushed, to begin with. The white one is hard finish so apples and oranges.

I would be careful, very clean, it might discolor the white by pulling dirt or? through the finish, start very sparingly, tiny bit at a time.

You could also take it to a shoe shop to refinish or maybe get advice.

Wait, did you put new leather on the black one?

CrowSeph

Yep

merziac

Well it turned out nice, I would try and condition the white one before that with some leather creme or salve.

SurferRosa

... and overhauled with new grease and bearings after you deal with the cosmetics.

merziac

Yep, that too, especially if the innerds are ok enough.

Drillium Dude 

Nothing to add about the saddle or pedals, but I've got a question: Tomasini with one "M"? That's what I read on the seatstay cap engraving. Different builder than Irio Tommasini?

DD

CrowSeph

Next week i'm going to meet a shoe maker for some advice.

CrowSeph

Yes , the bike is called TOMASINI.
Somewhere in the forum there is a tread with the full photo of the bike.
I bought the frame for 46$ , i think that was a good deal even since the seller were asking for 100$ as starting price. The bike was missing the handlebar and the wheels and other little parts but since i had some spare parts i decided to assemble for the eroica event.
Now i'm doing some little works to make it perfect for next year eroica (hopefully without covid).
When i'm done i'll post some updated pictures ,if you want to take a look here is FEB-2019 https://www.instagram.com/p/BuDv8uoA..._web_copy_link

CrowSeph

degreased , sandblasted and inserted new bearings with grease too. But i think im going to use the first couple since for me looks more nice with that little spike. Also because they reminds me the campy pedals.
My friend came to my house when i was inserting the bearings , and told me i should paint. Do you think is better to keep in this way? or to paint for prevent the rust formation again?

scarlson 

I know nothing about Italian bikes or equipment, so I can't judge these pedals on value. If they are very valuable, it is worth disassembling them and seeing if someone can plate them, either with zinc (cheapest) or nickel or chrome (expensive and possibly prohibited due to environmental regulation). It should be doable and this would put them back to original.

If they are not so valuable, then just spray them with some cheap silver spray paint. This will stop the rust, and they may look slightly better than sandblasted. You may be able to heat them up a little before or after painting to make the cheap spray paint cure a little better.

Another alternative is to "blue" them using a bluing compound. This usually contains selenium dioxide and is commonly used on pistols.
Or you can get a "black oxide" finish by using some other chemicals, or by letting them rust and then rubbing them down with some oxalic or phosphoric acid followed by oil.
Or you can heat them up and put them in linseed oil to get a blackened oil finish.

There are lots of choices!

CrowSeph

interesting , definitely i need to take a look.

CrowSeph

update: today i cold-coated with zinc , it was cheap and the results is very nice. Sadly the photo image do not render the real shine effect

Now , i think i can focus on the saddle now.

CrowSeph

Update:
Used a white dye , fixed a bit the cracks and hand painted a new logo as the original.

67tony 

Holy crap... that's a really, really nice result on your saddle renovation.
Nice work!

shdwfx

Really nice work! Great transformation!

CrowSeph

thanks