As mentioned in a previous post, Zelda grew a little too wide for her current saddle, necessitating the insertion of a wider gullet in the Wintec saddle I keep on hand.
No problem, I thought. She has a Wintec Pro Jump as her back up saddle. A saddle complete with the all-too-inaccurately named “Easy Change” gullet system. All I needed is a wider gullet, I thought optimistically. I forgot that in addition to that gullet the process goes a lot more smoothly with about three extra hands, a vice grip and someone really, really strong to open up the channel to accept the wider gullet.
Taking the existing gullet out of the saddle is a piece of cake. You remove the screws from under the pommel and pull back the velcro to reveal the gullet. Then you pull the
tree points out of the pocket, revealing the screws that attach the gullet. These are easily removed using a Phillips head screwdriver. The gullet comes out easily. No problem!
At this point I recommend putting everything down and taking a break for a drink. Preferably alcoholic. It won’t help you put the gullet in, but it may allow you to see the funny side. You see, the problem is that if the saddle thinks it should be a “wide” then the holes for the new, White gullet, won’t line up with the holes by the tree points. You can stretch that sucker as hard as you can, which gives you a glimpse at success. However, the moment you move your hands to put the screw in, you lose the advantage.
In the end, I did manage to get the screws most of the way in. I tried the saddle on Zelda (Yay! it fits her!) and declared victory. I have to travel out of town to help my family for a few days, so I’m hoping that by the time I return, the saddle will have stretched enough to make it possible to insert the screws again.
For those of you who believe the Wintec marketing propaganda (and I watched this video a few times on my phone) here’s how it’s supposed to work.
Of course, looking at my old posts, I remembered that I had the exact same problem making a saddle narrower. I guess you only remember what you choose to. All I can say is, if you think it’s easy to change these gullets, please don’t taunt me in the comments!
Note: Later this year I purchased a WintecLite D’Luxe. The gullet change system on that saddle is MUCH easier. Read my review here.