gravelinmygears 

I bought a bike from eBay and I’m assembling it. The saddle rails are too narrow for the seatpost. But the seller has photos of this saddle on this seatpost. Very close and specific photos.

Have you ever had to spread rails on a seatpost?​​​​​​

Pompiere

I have had saddles that did not quite align with the grooves in the clamp, but that one looks extreme. Usually, I just slowly tighten the clamp and the rails will deflect enough to go into the grooves. I never tried to cold set the rails to stay aligned.

nlerner

Yup, I've had to do that more than once with a leather sprung saddle and a two-bolt seatpost. It didn't lead to saddle fail (at least immediately!).

bikemike73 

I have also had to spread the rails and looked very similar to yours. I thought it would never fit.

But through some twisting and stretching I finally got the seat in there.

I tried a few different ways.

1. Bolt one side and pull the rail towards yourself ( MAKE SURE THE STEEL IS VERY WARM BEFORE DOING THIS)

2. I centered the saddle and pushed down in an attempt to make it fit.

3. Sometimes I have taken out the post and tried. But the leverage you get with the post in the bike has worked best for me.

There is trial and error in doing this.

Of course I have thought of getting a spreader and placing in the saddle to see if that would work. I haven't purchased one yet as I have been successful in getting the saddle to fit.

But you must have time AND patience

Good Luck. Hope all these suggestions help

EVlove

Welcome to the club... I have the same problem with my Idéale 80: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...le-clamps.html

It's designed for the old style clamp and "candle" post so instead of forcing it into a modern post, that's what I'm using.

dedhed

https://www.amazon.com/DASBET-Instal...38570070&psc=1

Chombi1 

Unfortunately, I have the same problem with a beautiful Brooks Pro saddle in my stash. I tried to spread the rails apart (Only about a rail's width apart.), but I found it very difficult to do so. I think need to eventually find a real tool that can grip the rails and spread them. I tried doing it with the tools I have, like C clamps by mcguyvering the tool to work backwards. I got to spread the rails a bit, workind the clamp to its limits, bit the rails just sprang back to their too narrow positions after I release them. I"m really surprised how resistant the Brooks saddle rails are to spreading. Maybe a set of ratcheting straps pulling in opposite directions might work? Just hope I don't end up destroying the saddle.​​​​​​​

Claude.fr

You can align or realign in a very precise way a lot of things with come-along straps.
You must be careful to distribute the load, the traction, over the maximum possible length of the rails, in particular if the strap is rather narrow.
A half sleeve cut in a length of steel pipe, or a 2 loops of strap of equal length forming a Y for each rail.

——— rail
Y Loop
0 Shackle
|
|
|
Ratchet.
Ditto for the other rail.

Everything must be symmetrical, loop
over rail facing each other.
Anchor points at the same height, saddle centered between anchor point so that you pull at the same angle on both rails.
I’d have my anchor points lower (10/15 inches) than the saddle in a upside down position.

Jantaras

I recently did it to a Brooks saddle. I used a block of wood and a crowbar, it took 2 mins, rails were quite soft.