SADDLE:
Ideale 2002 Titane - nylon plastic (Rislan or Nylon-11, a trademark product of the Rislan Corporation) shell - pre 1977 absent "Y" profile molded reinforcement spine underneath the saddle shell - microcellular Latex foam padding - Black leather cover - alloyed titanium frame rails - model 2002 Titane ... [With a distinguished heritage of having produced only the finest traditional leather cycling saddles since their establishment at the dawn of cycling’s first Golden Age in 1890, the French firm of Tron & Berthet S.A. eventually found themselves compelled by competition to offer an alternative type of construction. And so it came to pass some fifteen years following the introduction of the revolutionary Unica (Nitor) saddle and its subsequent spawn of myriad molded plastic imitators that Ideale finally joined the fray in late 1973 with a new line of saddles initially comprised of the models 2000 (...a Rislan nylon plastic saddle with steel rails), 2001 (...using the same steel rails and Rislan base as the 2000 but with a leather covering), and the 2002 (...again, based upon steel rails and a Rislan shell but having a thin layer of Latex foam padding underneath its leather cover). It was not until the year 1979 that Ideale would subsequently add the models 2003 (...a deluxe version of the 2002 having chrome plated rails) and 2004 (...again, similar to the 2002 excepting a thicker 15 mm layer of foam padding) to their lineup prior to the complete cessation of production in the mid 1980’s. With respect to the somewhat uncommon and oft coveted Ideale 2002 Titane seen here, it weighs in at a tidy 313 grams (...which is to say some 80 grams less than its standard steel railed 2002 counterpart). The 2002 Titane was de rigeur for Peugeot-BP-Michelin and later Peugeot-Esso-Michelin team bikes throughout the latter half of the 1970’s and is consequently the very same version of Ideale that Bernard Thevenet rode to victory in both the 1975 and 1977 editions of the Tour de France. Custom ordered Peugeot PY-10 CP bicycles made available in limited numbers to the general public during 1977 came fitted with a standard steel rail Ideale 2002 saddle by default with an option to specify either an Ideale 2002 Titane or an Ideale 90 Speciale Competition Titane (...at an incremental cost. of course). Please note that the various Ideale specific decals seen on this saddle are painstakingly accurate reproductions which I had custom made (...excepting that one found on the underside of the Rislan shell, which indeed remains a true original).]
