63 Continental Sport Tourist

[rollfaster]

Nice bike. Leave it as a touring model. I prefer a Brooks B66 over the mattress, but that is preference.

Only gonna service it, clean it up and ride. I love a brooks seat, although the seat on the bike is og it's not very comfortable. Woulndnt mind a really nice leather Sprint seat.

 

[SirMike1983]

Only gonna service it, clean it up and ride. I love a brooks seat, although the seat on the bike is og it's not very comfortable. Woulndnt mind a really nice leather Sprint seat.

It's funny but the mattress saddles run all over the place in terms of comfort. I've had some that were pretty good, and some that were hideous to ride. And this ran the entire period from the mattress fabrikoid and horse hair pre-war seats, to 1970s vinyl sponge rubber seats. The age had little to do with comfort, though the earlier saddles were a bit better made in terms of durability. I had one early, horse hair mattress that was hard as stone and ended up back in the parts box. I had another from the same era that was comfortable. Then I had a Schwinn mattress from the '60s that was really good - far better than the bad pre-war horse hair fabrikoid saddle. I had one Raleigh mattress saddle from the mid-70s come with a bulge in the area of the saddle where the groin ended up. That saddle was awful.

 

[GTs58]

Hard to believe that no one has commented on the 11-22-63 date.

I was in the 4th grade and came home for lunch that day. The Wallace and Ladmo show was interrupted with the unbelievable news. I was late for school after my lunch break due to the sad event. The principal announced the news over the intercom when class resumed and I already knew what had happened. A couple kids were crying like they lost there father. One of the girls weeping was Dallas Uptain. School was released early.

 

[rollfaster]

Yeah, just horrible. Wish the bike could have had a positive date in history. Still pretty wild!

 

[Eric Amlie]

Only gonna service it, clean it up and ride. I love a brooks seat, although the seat on the bike is og it's not very comfortable. Woulndnt mind a really nice leather Sprint seat.

Since you don't care for the seat, I would take it off, box it, and store it for the next owner. That old stitching will probably start coming apart anyway. Save it in good condition for the next collector.
My personal preference for an upright style bike is an older Brooks B72. I bought a brand new one, but I think they changed the shape at some point. It's just not as comfortable as the older ones.
BTW: I have one of those Efkade seats also. It came on a 1960-61 Continental tourist. I have it boxed up and sitting on a shelf for the next guy.

 

[rollfaster]

Since you care for the seat, I would take it off, box it, and store it for the next owner. That old stitching will probably start coming apart anyway. Save it in good condition for the next collector.
My personal preference for an upright style bike is an older Brooks B72. I bought a brand new one, but I think they changed the shape at some point. It's just not as comfortable as the older ones.
BTW: I have one of those Efkade seats also. It came on a 1960-61 Continental tourist. I have it boxed up and sitting on a shelf for the next guy.

Boxing it up for safe keeping is a great idea, I do have several newer mattress seats( Schwinn) that I could use, but think I'm gonna try and grab one of these.

 

[GTs58]

That Conti, and you deserve a better seat than that. My 98% original late 1961 Conti Tourist had the original Holland made saddle and when I refurbished the seat frame I took off the cover and gently cleaned the vinyl, the back skirt stitching disappeared. Got it fixed, installed for pics and then put a B-66 on it for riding after trying an old 60's mattress saddle.

Here's my 61.

 

[rollfaster]

A few pics of the components. Just about everything is stamped Sprint. Currently getting a rebuild.

 

[rollfaster]

We'll, here she is all cleaned up and reconditioned. Derailleurs and brakes need adjusting then ready to ride. Og seat is boxed up and cleaned up a 60s mattress I had laying around. It'll work for now.

 

[GTs58]

Premo example!
Is the pivot bolt on the rear derailleur to tight?