Gene Portuesi’s Cyclo-pedia — Idéale (Page 39)

39 Gene Portuesi’s CYCLO-PEDIA, 311 N. Mitchell, Cadillac, Michigan 49601

IDÉALE

No. 90-3 COMPETITION SADDLE
A new IDEALE saddle. Hand treated according to the recommendations of Daniel REBOUR. NEEDS NO
“BREAKING-IN”. The suppling is done for you in the factory before the leather top is fitted to the
frame and is the equivalent of many miles of riding without the chance of the top becoming
mis-shappen. No ordinary usage, however intensive, could produce such a suppling of every part of
the leather top. Frame of chrome plated high tensile steel, Solid copper rivets with large heads.
Patented shrouded tension screw. Patented clip No. 3, all positions. (NOTE: This saddle is made
special for No. 3 clip. The 2 wires are 32mm apart). Size: 10 1/2 x 5 3/4″. Wt. 26 oz.

No. 90-2 COMPETITION SADDLE
Same as above (90-3) saddle, but with standard No. 2 seat clip. The two wires are 38mm apart. This
saddle will fit the Campagnolo No. 1044 seat post. Wt. 25 oz.

No. 91 SWALLOW TYPE COMPETITION SADDLE
Treated leather. Complete with No. 2 seat clip. Swallow type design giving greater freedom of leg
action. Wt. 24 oz.

No. 2 SADDLE CLIP – Will fit all standard saddles having the 2 wires 38mm apart. Wt. 5 1/2 oz.

No. 3 SADDLE CLIP – Replacement clip for No. 90-3 saddle having the 2 wires 32mm apart.
Wt. 5 3/4 oz.

No. 2000 SADDLE Wt. apx 17 oz.
RILSAN plastic saddle. Complete with No. 2 clip.

No. 2001 SADDLE
RILSAN plastic saddle. Top is covered with choice grain leather. Complete w/No. 2 clip. Wt. 17 oz.

No. 2002 SADDLE Wt. 17 1/2 oz.
RILSAN plastic saddle. Padded and covered with choice grain leather. Complete with No. 2 clip.

No. 39 SADDLE
Best butt leather top, black enamelled frame. Complete with clip. Size 10 x 5 1/2″. Wt. 22 oz.

No. 41 IDEALE SADDLE COVER
Fits all models. Made of plastic with elasticaded edge. Complete protection for the saddle top and
trouser seat. Wt. 1 oz.

No. 44 TAN SAD CHILD CARRIER
A fine quality child carrier. Spring mattress saddle with hand support and sturdy back and strap.
Fits on rear carrier. Wt. 4 lbs. 8 oz.

[One leaf, page 39, from Gene Portuesi’s Cyclo-pedia, given over entirely to Idéale. A second
Cyclo-pedia leaf is held here, page 46 of an earlier edition, and the two make a pair worth reading
together.

The earlier page listed one Idéale saddle in a paragraph among four makers. This one is a full page
under the marque’s own name, with the head badge set beside it and eleven entries. In the years
between, Idéale went from a line the catalog carried to a line it featured.

The masthead is the reason the two can be told apart at all, since neither prints a year. The
earlier leaf gives the address as 6447 Michigan Avenue, Detroit; this one gives 311 N. Mitchell,
Cadillac, Michigan. The business moved, and the archive files this scan to 1974.

The page is also where the two halves of the marque meet. The top of it is the leather argument at
its most developed: the No. 90-3 hand treated according to the recommendations of Daniel Rebour,
needing no breaking-in, the suppling done in the factory before the top is fitted, with the claim
spelled out at more length here than on any other sheet in the archive. The bottom of it is the
Rilsan plastic Series Racing 2000, 2001 and 2002, one of them merely covered in leather and one
padded beneath the leather. Both arguments are being made on one page by one maker.

Two spellings are kept as printed: mis-shappen in the No. 90-3 copy, and elasticaded in the No. 41
saddle cover entry.

The weights are in ounces throughout and no prices are given on this leaf.]