Saddle - 03

SADDLE:
Ideale 2002 Titane - nylon plastic (Rislan or Nylon-11, a trademark product of the Rislan Corporation) shell - post 1976 with "Y" profile molded reinforcement spine underneath the saddle shell - microcellular Latex foam padding - Black leather cover - alloyed titanium frame rails - post 1975 STC sticker with "Bernard Thevenet" reference - 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 some fifteen years following the introduction of the revolutionary Unica (Nitor) saddle and its subsequent spawn of myriad molded plastic imitators, 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. Custom ordered Peugeot PY-10 CP bicycles made available in limited numbers to the general public during 1978 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). But it was the lightweight Ideale 2002 Titane seen here with its exotic for the time titanium rails that was standard issue for Peugeot-BP-Michelin and later Peugeot-Esso-Michelin team members from 1974 through 1981 - including both the years 1975 and 1977 when Bernard Thevenet rode to victory in the Tour de France upon one of these very saddles (...which is why his name is noted on the unique STC sticker affixed to post 1975 editions of this particular model).]