Calling for help from the spatially inclined!
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.
