Odd saddle (or should that be seat) Q

My mate at work is a bit of a chap....at likes his bikes, well, build for chaps.
He has just bought a retro (NOS) Brooks Colt seat/saddle* but the rails are too wide to accomodate his post clamp. His frame is modern and shite, but I didn't say that , seatpost is 27.2 I think...whats the solution?
Thanks
Carl
*Seat or saddle, whats the correct term :?

Squeeze the rails together ?

id bend the rails too

after looking at pics courtesy of google id try using 2 adjustabe spanners on the rear vertical part of the rails or some large jawed mole grip type pliers directly where the clamp goes

using rags to protect the paint of course

it might be possible to put one rail in the clamp and pushing the other rail in , alternating sides to keep it from going crooked . the biggest problem will be keeping its shape as it lacks a hull

borrowed this from sheldon brown

"You'll notice that I do call them "saddles," not "seats." There is a reason for this. A "seat" is something you sit on, and is designed to bear essentially your entire weight. Recumbent bicycles have "seats," but conventional upright bicycles have saddles. A saddle is intended to carry some, but not all of your weight. The rest of your weight is mainly carried by your legs, and some by your hands and arms. "

but i prefer to say seat , saddle sounds a bit crap

ie

i do say fine sir my saddle is making my posterior rather stuporous

mate my seat is making my fooking arse numb

Don't bend the rails! You'll ruin it.
The problem is, Brooks saddles predate micro adjust seatposts. You either need an old fashioned seatpost clamp as found on old Raleighs, or Brooks do an adaptor.
If he wants to swap it for a honey coloured B17 (which will fit his seatpost as is) or a really nice Rolls, give me a shout.

chris667":2okd9nud said:

Don't bend the rails! You'll ruin it.
The problem is, Brooks saddles predate micro adjust seatposts. You either need an old fashioned seatpost clamp as found on old Raleighs, or Brooks do an adaptor.
If he wants to swap it for a honey coloured B17 (which will fit his seatpost as is) or a really nice Rolls, give me a shout.

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Thanks for your replies fellas.

I think he is rather smitten on his 'half-a ton' saddle...must admit it does smell and look nice (NO...I don't make a habit of sniffing saddles )

Feels hard as....do they really need 1000 miles to break them in?

Anyways....I'll pass the info on....cheers

They don't look it, but they are really comfy. They never get soft, but they mould to your ar$e. Breaking in is a myth.
Brooks saddles are an unimprovable design. They've been making the B17 for more than 80 years without a change, and it's still the preferred choice on most touring bikes. How many other bike parts can say that? And, of course, it's period on any bike restoration.
Just keep it dry, and don't bend the rails.

chris667":2hu0azy6 said:

Don't bend the rails! You'll ruin it.

The problem is, Brooks saddles predate micro adjust seatposts. You either need an old fashioned seatpost clamp as found on old Raleighs, or Brooks do an adaptor.

Click to expand...

But a Colt is a fairly modern Brooks, isn't it? Late mid/eighties at the earliest. Two-rail saddles had been standardised - more or less - for a long time already.

As much as I love Brooks saddles, their quality control hasn't always been the most consistent. I've had Team Pros with quite a wide variation in rail position, lopsided tops, uneven rivets...

I think if it were mine I'd just clamp it in - as long as the disparity isn't huge.

Another problem with Brooks used to be that their rails were made from thinner rod than many other brands. That meant that some seatpost clamps (commonly Laprades and their imitators) could bottom out before the saddle was firmly clamped.

While I understand what you're saying, I think your advice about clamping it into a micro adjust seatpost is rubbish, and might well ruin it. Lots of the current saddles aren't meant for micro adjust seatposts either, it doesn't make them wrong.

I have a Brooks on my Audax bike and it's brilliant! It was more uncomfortable than the most uncomfortable thing I could ever imagine happening to my arse to start with but now it's it's got a fair few miles on it, ahhhh, it's as comfortable as sitting on a plump Andrex puppy.

chris667":1ri9np2j said:

While I understand what you're saying, I think your advice about clamping it into a micro adjust seatpost is rubbish, and might well ruin it.

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Well, you're entitled to your opinion. You might be right.

I know that I've had some Team Pros that seemed a bit wide for a modern seatpost clamp, and some that seemed about right. To me that suggests a variation that isn't deliberate. If, as you say, a B17 should fit a modern post, then the more recent Team Pro, Colt, etc. certainly should. I've put tens of thousands of miles on Team Pros with modern clamps with never a broken rail, and I've certainly never seen any recommendation from Brooks that their saddles not be used with modern posts.

I guess it's up to Harry's friend to judge the risk for himself, and suffer the consequences.