The world of leather saddles is these days a long way removed from the lightweight cycling mainstream, where minimalist carbon fibre shells represent the height of aspiration and weight is the main criterion when buying.
Weight, of course, is one of the two drawbacks of the traditional leather saddle, the other being vulnerability to a soaking, which can seriously damage the upper.
The new series of saddles from French touring and audax specialist Gilles Berthoud, previously best known for his pleasing light luggage items, hardly addresses either concern. It does, however, offer something distinct from the current market leader’s offering thanks to a significant rethink by Berthoud of several key design points.
Even the butt leather upper, with which we’ll start, gets a good going over. For starters, it is coloured using only natural dyes and is, apparently, hand-softened although you wouldn’t guess from handling a new one. Berthoud cuts his uppers using a five-axis CNC machine that makes light work of even the super-thick hide found on the saddle tested. Such precision cutting allows Berthoud to use a fixing method of his own design to secure the upper to the frame.
Countersunk stainlesssteel Allen keys in chamfered brass washers are threaded into brass inserts in the nose and cantle plates, allowing the upper to be replaced easily without the need to remove rivets or use special tools.
The nose and cantle plates are moulded in hard engineering plastic, grey rather than the black that would match the upper, and securely house the steel rails in the same way as a conventional plastic saddle shell. In addition to fitments for the upper mounting screws, the rear plate has two threaded inserts for a saddle pack holder.
First Ride
Although, like other leather saddles, the Berthoud feels bone-hard when new, it proved immediately comfortable from the first few pedal strokes thank, perhaps, to the pre-softening process claimed for it. Equally important, surely, is to get the angle correct. Since leather saddles change shape with initial use, they need to be set up at the start with the nose up in order to ensure the sit bones press against the correct part of the saddle, Start with a leather saddle dead level and you may find yourself sliding forwards.
With the angle adjusted nose-up for break-in, the Berthoud felt much like the saddle it replaced, a San Marco Rolls, for the first couple of miles, albeit one with a thin nose section. With a few more miles, the upper was forgotten but for one omission on the part of the maker; the lower edges are cut straight across to leave a sharp edge where ideally they should be chamfered or ‘skived’ to ensure they do not cut into the skin.
Attention with a suitable craft knife blade soon remedied this, allowing the essential rightness of the saddle’s shape to become apparent. A big mistake with a leather saddle is to go for too narrow a form, which places the sit bones directly over the solid cantle plate rather than flexible leather. The Berthoud Gent’s is reasonably wide across the back part and, so far, seems well suited to general road use.
So, early impressions are mostly favourable, only the sharp edges and grey colour of the plastic parts detracting from an otherwise excellent saddle that should, if build quality and the expected lifespan of leather saddles is anything to go by, last for decades.
More on RCUK as it happens…
Gilles Berthoud Gents Leather Saddle £190.00
