shires optimus saddle help

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baby_dudley

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I have recently got the above saddle and cannot get the gullet in for he life of me!!! Anyone else have issues with this? Any tips on getting the gullet screwed in? how do i get the main part the gullet attaches to, to bend round the new gullet.
Never had an adjustable saddle before so this is all new to me!

Thanks in advance 😊
 
I had a wintec for a while, and there was definitely a bit of a knack to it. It involved patience and brute force! It also eased up after a few changes, although I don't know if that was because my technique had improved, or the saddle had loosened up a bit (hopefully it was my technique).

The best thing I found was to line up one side and screw the screw about 1/2 way in. Then line up the other side, making sure the tongue was not trapped underneath the gullet (sounds simple but I know someone who spent about 30 minutes trying to get the second screw in with the tongue under the new plate - no wonder it wouldn't line up!). Lining up can sometimes requires a brute force! Then put the the screw in and tighten them both. I found that only putting the screws in 1/2 way gave me enough wiggle room to get the gullet all the way in!

I hope this helps. Whilst I know the shires and wintec saddles are not identical, I imagine they are fairly similar!
 
Having had both, I can say that the Optimus is more difficult than the Wintec. Shaznchaz is right about getting one screw partway in and then lining up the second. It takes a LOT of fiddling and a fair bit of strength! Tip - put a saddle cover on to protect the cantle. It's easy to scratch them :)
 
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