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View Full Version : Calling for help from the spatially inclined!



nuthatch
02-06-2006, 07:41 AM
I'm trying to replace the seat on my 1987 Peugeot (beater bike) and I've discovered the seatpost is an unusual size (24mm). So I'm stuck with keeping the seatpost and the old style saddle clamp (yes, I've already checked Sheldon Brown's seatpost database). It will work on my Brooks Pro, I think, but I can't figure out how to get it clamped around the rails without prying them apart a bit and I really don't want to do that. Is anyone familiar with these clamps - is there a trick to getting them on? I can get it on and off the old saddle with just brute strength but I don't want to damage my Brooks!

Second saddle related question - this Brooks is my second Brooks saddle. I had it on my road bike brieflywhen it first arrived and rode two hours without any discomfort (to my utter shock and delight)! I was attributing this to the saddle itself (wider than my older B17) but when I temporarily moved the saddle to my Giant Cypress hybrid commuter, I was suddenly in agony. It was hitting my sit-bones at a different angle because I was more upright, I guess. So my question is, if I start tilting the nose of the saddle up incrementally, will I be able to duplicate the angle I was at on the road bike? Or should the nose start going down? Or is it just impossible to duplicate the more horizontal angle of the road bike because the ball and socket joint of the hip changes as it pivots? Is there an Archimedes in the house?

I know I could just start experimenting but I'm impatient and I want a hint! :D My B17 took sooo looonggg to get just right on this hybrid. My commutes regularly had "saddle adjustment" pauses of five to ten minutes for weeks on end. The B17 is great now because, in the fight between leather and bone, bone always wins! But I want to break this new saddle in before the season and I'm currently without a road bike (it went back to REI because that top tube was just too long for me), so I've got it on the hybrid to soften it up.

nuthatch
02-06-2006, 02:54 PM
Okay, never mind about the clamp! I kept fiddling with it and it magically went on. That doesn't mean I can work a suduko puzzle or anything...:p

SadieKate
02-06-2006, 04:12 PM
You're making me laugh. For someone who can pack twice as much stuff into a car as her husband, it is amazing how I can be outsmarted by many seatpost clamps.

CorsairMac
02-07-2006, 12:03 PM
Nuttie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! an 87 Peugeot?? and it's your "beater bike"??...you Bite your tongue Ms: you're-not-My-captain-anymore! :p

Actually it'll be tough replacing those things on the Peugeot (which is NOT my beater bike btw). Especially if it was one of the models actually produced in France. I haven't have any problems with the rails or the seat clamp on mine so far - I'm using the Specialized BG saddle. (seriously thinking about a Brooks tho...ya'll keep giving it such high marks) I have had problems with other things - like a rack. I had to jury-rig something to make it work since my old sweet baby doesn't like the new-fangled stuff!

As for the PIA issue: don't know what to tell you hun. I can't ride with the nose tipped down on any of my bikes - I always feel like I'm going to slide off! :rolleyes: I did try and ride the Navigator for the winter (the "comfort" bike) after riding road bikes all summer, but it was murder on my shoulders and back - guess it just doesn't fit me anymore - or maybe never did. I went back to the Peugeot with a rack on and haven't had any problems since.

nuthatch
02-07-2006, 01:43 PM
Believe me, this IS a beater. It's a P-6 made for the US market, second from the bottom of the line and everything on it is a weird size. Some folks turn them into single speeds but Sheldon says don't waste your time fixing them up. Now I know the French are "artistes" but, honestly, why do they have to make things so unique from model to model? Is it just to thwart the British, harkening back to Napoleonic times?

Thanks for giving it some thought, Corsair. I'm just going to have to do the ride/adjust, ride/adjust routine again or grow a cast-iron hinie. :D I do love my B17, though, and can't recommend it highly enough.

SadieKate
02-07-2006, 01:46 PM
. . . or grow a cast-iron hinie. :D Be sure to let us know when your video Buns of Cast Iron is available. We're anxiously awaiting your training techniques.

I'm still working on my video Buns of Aluminum Foil.

nuthatch
02-07-2006, 03:32 PM
Be sure to let us know when your video Buns of Cast Iron is available. We're anxiously awaiting your training techniques.

I'm still working on my video Buns of Aluminum Foil.

Hmm...sounds like it will be some sort of S&M video with lycra thrown in. :D Aluminum foil doesn't sound bad - I'll be happy to get rid of my buns of Jello.