Social Sources

One reason I enjoy trawling through my various social feeds is that it exposes me to stuff I am interested in and might not otherwise find, even without the help of an algorithm. The past couple of days that happened in spades.

First, John Gordon mentioned the Tourbon canvas & leather bicycle bike lock holster, saying he’d bought one immediately. Not the kind of thing I need, but I have long been in the market for a saddle bag that suits my road bicycle. They had a canvas handlebar bag that might just work and that was inexpensive enough to take a punt on. If it doesn’t work, hey, I’ll use it as a handlebar bag.

Then, Jeff Bell shared a “charming to watch” documentary about people who like to ride vintage bicycles. I watched it. It was indeed charming, a nice, straightforward film about interesting people doing things that interest me, with an additional nugget.

There was a brief segment in which the film visited Tabor, one of only five remaining makers of leather bicycle saddles in Europe. In the way of these things, I visited their website, and aside from a variety of lovely looking saddles, some of which might even suit my bicycles, they also made a leather tool bag that looks very handsome. Even if the Tourbon bag does the job, I might still find my way to this bag.

And finally, today I discovered that Brooks, that most English of bicycle outfitters, whose beautiful and expensive saddlebag has been on my mind all this time, is owned by Italian giant Selle Royal, whose saddle bags are nothing short of hideous.