Depending upon how you count it, a bicycle and its rider are in contact at three crucial areas: the hands, the feet and the bum. Of the latter, it is more accurate to say the ischium because we don’t actually sit on a saddle as if it were a chair. In fact, it’s easy to identify those who know little about the bicycle when they refer to the saddle as a seat.
Those who know me, either personally or otherwise, know that I am a devotee of Brooks saddles, still made in their shop in the Midlands of England. I say saddles because there are many of them in many styles, but they have one thing in common: They are all made of real leather stretched over a frame. They are made as bicycle saddles have traditionally been made and they have all of those same advantages and drawbacks. They are rarely found on racing bicycles today, but are frequently seen on touring bikes, hipster fixies, bike messenger machines and are used more than any other saddle to identify a handmade bicycle frame as a top-of-the-market product.
I imagine that anyone thinking about vintage bikes ridden over the old roads would expect they were ridden on leather saddles. That’s what I’ll be doing. Regardless, I’ll readily admit that most other elements of the bicycle have been improved upon, particularly the components, since 1987, the latest year of construction for a bicycle to be entered in L’Eroica. Pedals, for one, are vastly improved. Many of the other components, though more complex mechanically, show the improvement that comes with greater research, competition and technological advances. But, not the saddle.
Sure, you can now buy and use a saddle that weighs almost nothing. It will be made of composites or plastics or even have padding with a leather cover. It just won’t possess the individualized comfort or the aesthetic of the all-leather saddle.
Apart from Brooks, who dominate the category, smaller producers are making leather saddles including some fine ones from Gilles Berthoud in France. Their weight may exceed, by many grams, those racing and touring saddles made of plastic, but they trade that weight for comfort and durability that cannot be matched. The Brooks Team Pro saddle on the Moseman is nearly as old as the bicycle and provides day-long comfort, not to mention a handsome, well-worn patina.
L'Eroica Dreams 
Mark please don’t neglect the Pretenders , Chrissie Hynde can motivate like few others. My old teammate Darren always downed 2 Jolt colas popped a couple of No-Doz tabs and inserted the Pretenders tape in the deck at the same spot on the drive to the Velodrome every week. He was very fast but usually left lunch on the infield grass at some point in the evening.