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Original Wintec Model Released in an Array of Colours |
Ron and Ken to this day find it hard to believe that it took them 2 years to think of making an everyday riding saddle from cloth covered foam.
The timing of this development came at a significant time in Ron and Ken's careers. Also good leather saddle craftsmen Ron had set off to Europe in order to assess potential export markets for Bates Leather Saddles. He returned frustrated as he learned the European Saddle market was flooded. Quality was not enough and without a unique competitive advantage Bates Saddles would not gain entry into the global market.
Ron and Ken put their heads together and agreed on wanting to target high quality, performance, high volume and low cost. Thinking along these lines it gradually dawned on them that they were already doing this to some degree with their Wintec Race Saddles.
Using laminated foams and race saddle materials Ken put together a Polo saddle Ron could test. Ron made quite a large impression on the Polo field this year and was amazed and excited at the saddle's potential.
Many months of testing, design and streamlining the manufacturing process followed in order to produce the first revolutionary Wintec saddle.
Wintec was released into the Australian market in March '86 and into the European market in September '86 at the Spoga tradefair.
Fascinated by the colours upon this initial release, riders bought saddles in blue, red, pink, grey and yellow. Red and White saddles were even made for Denmark in their national colours and although not in any other country the coloured saddles remained popular in Italy right into the mid 1990's.