A few weeks back I finally got the nerve to strip my Toupe Pro. The saddle had become a little less comfortable to me and the white didn't go with any of my bikes so I embraced the project.

I apologize for the lack of quality photos. The lighting in my work area is pretty poor.

Not a bad weight to start with




Less padding


And after A LOT of elbow grease





I thought about putting some sort of grip on the saddle but considering the size and shape of it - there's really nowhere to slide. To my delight, the shape is actually a lot more comfortable for me now and there is a good amount of "spring" in it to add a bit of comfort.

looks good. and the weight is even better! sub 100g is outstanding. I have pro as well, but the start weight is 10g more! doh.

i recently attacked my beat up toupe ti. in this tread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=110261

still figuring out if i'm going to epoxy the cracks and try using it. i don't have the nerve to strip my toupe pro yet. although sub 100g makes it much more tempting!

how did you get the glue off? it was hard, hu?

What exactly did the "elbow grease" involve? Did you apply something to the shell to get that finish?


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I repeatedly sprayed the surface with WD-40 and scraped the glue off with my fingernail and a credit card. It was seriously time consuming.

There is nothing applied for a finish - after I was done I washed it with Dawn.

That looks surprisingly good, better than a stock Toupe to my eye.

Impressive! Not sure if I have the guts to strip my Romin Pro.


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I thought that Specialized carbon railed saddles didn´t work with Ritcheys isp stubby (I even think I got that reply from Specialized when I mailed them). No issues?

Harold - I don't know how comfortable the Romin would be after a strip job considering so much of it's shape seems to come from the padding and not necessarily the plastic. I'll let you know when I pick up another Romin and gut it


Peter - Specialized isn't fond of their saddle having any pressure from the sides which this clamp technically does. That said, no carbon-only saddle rails are supposed to be clamped from the side. I have the clamp kit for standard round rails and the oversized for Fizik - the latter is what I'm using for the Toupe. It works. I'm sure it would clamp a little easier with the Selle clamp kit though.

Thanks. I'll let you gut it first!

Next time try something that will get rid of adhesive.
i.e. nail polish remover (acetone) usually will dissolve adhesives but be careful as it can also denature plastic if left on too long.
Put acetone on a cloth and wipe it on the saddle. It should turn the adhesive to mush which can be scraped off.

Acetone nor rubbing alcohol worked worth a damn. Perhaps you've never used WD-40 to remove gunk? You'd be surprised..

I have a typical process I go through with solvents.

I usually use: true acetone, nail polish remover (diluted acetone), isopropyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol...then I make my way to random stuff like WD-40, PB Blaster etc.

I guess I should try WD more.

In fairness, when I say I started with acetone - it was nail polish remover because it was handy. Then came rubbing alcohol and finally WD. Sounds as though we have a similar pecking order though

Anybody tried stripping a Toupe S-Works?

I have one that weighs in at 117 gram (130 mm).
I considered stripping it, but as the padding seems rather minimal, i doubt it would end out weighing less than a stripped Toupe Pro.