A few months ago I made these one-piece card wallets as gifts to the family and friends we visited on our recent trip to Türkiye. Simone at Simétrie has been making a bunch more in different colours which she will be selling at the Big Design Market in Melbourne this weekend. You can also buy the Busyman X Simétrie One-Piece collection from the Simétrie online store.
What a pleasure it is working with Black Magic Paint in Portland, Oregon. This striking paint design adapted beautifully to the perforated leather application. I named it Halftone Patchwork Tickets. Recently exhibited at Made frame builders show.
Lulu's super lightweight Repente Latus saddle with perforated details in Baum Cycles' Champagne and Ruby Red.
Matt's initials (and logo) arranged in a repeat pattern of perforations on his S-Works Power saddle. Black leather with white dots to compliment his white and black Pinarello.
Reworking Gary's Power saddle again after the leather started to peel off at the nose. Hopefully this time with the full cover treatment it will stay intact. If not, at least it will be easier to re-glue any edges. The first time it was a plain leather recover, this time we added the 51 Bikes logo and some gold perforations to coordinate with his bar tape and frame.
For Adrian's Baum, S-Works Power saddle recovered in brandy colour kangaroo whip leather with arc shaped perforation detail on the seat section highlighted in metallic copper. The difference in colour between the saddle and bar tape is due to the extent of handling the saddle under in construction. Once the bar are wrapped and the the bike ridden the two will begin to match more closely.
For Gary's upcoming Bastion we recovered his Power saddle in fancy drum stuffed cow leather called Crazy Horse Shiraz. The perforated detailing is in a pearly rose gold pink to compliment the painted details on the frame. This one will definitely develop character as it patinas with use.
For Hayley in the UK I recovered two SMP Dynamics with some simple perforated detail on the seat area. The main purpose was to have a black saddle without the embroidered logo, the outcome is minimal and stylish. The larger perforations are black and the smaller ones are cool grey.
For Matthew's new Speedvagen I recovered this Berk Lupina in brandy colour kangaroo whip leather. The perforated design on both saddle and tape is a regular pattern but in irregular sizes. On the saddle the angled bands of colour beneath the perforations are from Speedvagen's palette; blossom, vanilla blue and milk chocolate.
Some minimal brandy kangaroo whip leather for this classic aesthetic Wondercross.
For Joe's Toronto built Mariposa Bicycles road bike I recovered this old Selle San Marco X Pirelli saddle. Different to the standard Regal, the side rivets were replaced with some special rivet plates which I needed to modify in order to reattach. The solution was to apply a matching yellow leather badge with the Busyman logo embossed. The original had a Selle San Marco rigid decal. Underneath, the saddle featured a Pirelli shock absorption system at the back where the rails insert. The butterfly motif is the Mariposa Bicycles logo.
Mark's SLR Superflow Boost recovered in Nike elephant skin (bovine) embossed printed leather.
A couple (more) SMP Dynamics for Tim. The grey one is in a supple bovine leather supplied by Leh Cycling to match their handlebar tape. The padding on the tan one was too deteriorated so we decided to convert it to a Forma and apply the new cover in matte kangaroo leather directly onto the saddle shell.
A third saddle I recently finished for Tara with some matching handlebar tape. SMP F30c with a flowing grid pattern of perforations which follow the contour of the centre cut out.
Tara sent a few saddles and some thick leathers to recover them. The first is a Fizik Versus Evo in waxed tan bovine leather which has a strong pull-up effect, my guess is that this leather should age very nicely. Through the centre channel panel is a fine perforated arrow. The second is a Fizik Aliante Open covered in a beautiful chocolate coloured shrunken bison leather. Both leathers were approximately 2.4mm thick, so the first step was to split them back to 1mm to be suitable for the purpose.
