Have you ever wondered how a bike saddle is made? It just plops out of a replicator or something, right? If that seat is a handcrafted Brooks saddle, then the answer is "no." Gadget Lab reader Graham Glen was lucky enough to get a tour of the Brooks factory in Smethwick (in the West Midlands in England), and he snapped some photos of the goings-on there, which he has very generously allowed us to use here.

The thing that strikes me is the simplicity of the process. Metal parts are stamped out and heat-treated, flat pieces of leather are soaked and then formed in molds and the parts are all assembled by hand. After seeing how much work goes into a single bike seat, these famously expensive saddles start to look cheap. Follow along for a tour of the factory.

Wire is fed into a machine and is quickly twizzled into springs. These become the "suspension" on some of the more comfortable models.

These pieces are stamped out, cookie-cutter style, ready for the next stage ...

The flat metal plates are stamped and bent to turn them into the rear saddle support. This is where the rails join on, and – on the final seat – the part that you see riveted to the leather upper. After this, they are heat-treated and separated, either for painting or plating.

From another machine come the saddle rails, which runs from front to back and join onto the seat post.

The leather is cut by hand. Graham says "It takes a very skilled human eye to decide where to cut the saddle top from, both to ensure optimum use of the hide and to get the correct softness."

Saddle tops wait to be formed.

After a thorough soaking, the leather is pressed in these blocks into its final shape, ready for assembly and finishing.

The logo goes on, to make sure people know how much you spent.

Everything is put together by hand, from the adjustment bolt in the nose to the rivets at the back.

The finished item is ready to support somebody's butt for the rest of their life. If you want to see more of Graham's excellent photographs, head over to his Picasa gallery, and read his account of the tour.

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