Mb277

Hello,
Bit of a weird one.

I recently bought a new saddle for my bike as the old one was no longer fit for purpose. It was probably original to the bike so it had a good 30/40 years of use. Remarkable really.
when looking for new saddle I was very keen to buy one that would look in keeping with bikes age. I find with new saddles you either get a stripped back racing type saddle with as much comfort as piece of wood after a long ride or a saddle that looks like a derivative of the Michelin man filled with Gel. Perhaps comfortable but hardly easy to look at. Brooks saddles are out of the question as there are too expensive and bring with them security concerns and worries of people just taking it off and leaving me with an uncomfortable ride home!

After looking for a while I came across this one:




I don't think it is particularity old but it suits the bike and it was cheap enough. It is a pretty generic saddle apart from the obvious "GT MK IV" riveted on to the back. The actual lettering is made of plastic riveted through a metal plate tied into the structure of the saddle. It looks like there might have been some distinguishing label under the saddle at one point but you cant read it now at all. My question is, although a bit of a hail Mary, does anyone know if it has some significance? i just wondered why a manufacturer would tack on a meaningless bunch of letters to the back? Grand Tourer mark 4? It seems unlikely but was it commissioned for a certain pushbike? similar to Brooks you'd think this is where a company might brand their product rather than embellish it?
If I don't find out it will hardly keep me up at night but i just thought it was rather peculiar and wondered if anyone recognized it.

Thanks for any input,
MB277

Rolla

Found this one on eBay. They say it's from the 70s, possibly from a Raleigh. Raleigh made a Professional Mark IV back then, and could have conceivably had the saddle badge made for that model. My recollection is that they used Brooks back then, but...

Koyote

Mb277 , you might get more responses in the Classic and Vintage subforum. You could ask a moderator to move this thread over there.

rsbob 

Judging by the rails, it may be out of a sunken U-boat. Sorry, can’t help you with the I.D.

PeteHski

No idea what it is, but definitely not "special".

Milton Keynes

Ah, it's just a little bit of rust...

KerryIrons

That saddle is neither weird nor special. It's a cheap saddle off a low-end bike. As others have noted it's possible origins, I'll leave it at that.

big john

Having had a number of saddles break while riding I wouldn't put that on a bike. The rails might be rusted inside, as well.

ClydeClydeson

I agree no reason to put that back on a bike (unless OP finds it more comfortable than anything they can find to replace it), but it is extremely unlikely that the rails are 'tubular' - they are almost 100% certainly solid steel with no 'inside'.

big john

You're probably right, solid rails. I didn't think of that, don't know that I've ever seen solid rails. Regardless, why risk it?

Mb277

Although I thank you for your concern, the rails seem solid. It appears the chrome plating has just flaked off making the rails look worse than they are.

Mb277

Thank you for your detailed response and research. It would be nice to tie it to a certain bike but I don't think I going to be so lucky!

honcho

I suspect those rails are good old solid steel