SAFETY SADDLES.
A popular type of saddle on the early safety was the [Garford]. It had a leather top, which was mounted on a U-shaped spring, the open part of the U being in the rear. Necessarily this spring was a very heavy one, but it undoubtedly served the purpose for which it was designed, as, owing to its great height, it was particularly useful on the low frames then in use by those who desired a longer reach. In England, all bicycle saddles are made larger, longer and heavier in every way than our American models, and they are fitted with some sort of a flat or coiled spring.
A little later again, these large saddles were abandoned for the saddle of a smaller size, having a hooked pommel and steel cantle fastened to a very rigid and unyielding spring, and had leather tops, and of which the type known as the Sager was very popular. Another popular type still in use was known as the Mesinger, the base of which consisted of strands of rattan woven into a style resembling chair seats, and which was covered by a layer of stitched felt and leather, suitably mounted on round wire springs. The leather portion of this had an opening of a somewhat irregular V shape. The Climax saddle, which had a small degree of popularity also, was made of a series of small coiled wire springs which were nickel plated, but even this style of saddle was sometimes covered with thin pieces of leather. The next change in construction, as a variation on these, was produced by the makers of the Hunt saddle. Their saddle had a leather cover lined with all wool felt, which rested upon a laced framework of leather strands, these being fastened like the Mesinger, and having a bent wood cantle instead of one of sheet steel. The makers of the Sager saddle also made a pneumatic saddle which had a flat wooden base, through which protruded two valves, which were connected to two small rubber inner tubes, and these were covered by a leather covering which was laced to the wooden base. This pattern with some modifications is still made by the Sager Company. The above list, of course, is somewhat incomplete from the fact that of the many freak saddles that were introduced few survived, and therefore are hardly worth considering here as leading up to the present types of saddles shown in 1898.