Raleigh 3-speed seat post?
 

Just a quick question. Sheldon Brown's database lists all Raleigh 3-speeds as having a 25.4 mm seat post diameter. I have a 1958 Sports and a 1975 DL-1 tourist for which I recently bought new 25.4 mm posts of extra length. They seem to be a tad small, though. Like, I can't visibly see any sort of gap when I insert the post, but I notice that I have to tighten the bolt by a few extra turns. When I had a quick release on the Sports, the old seat post was no trouble but with the new one, I really had to crank it down.

Is it safe to assume a 26.0 mm post will be a better fit? Also, if I find that the seat tube has been squeezed together to the point that it will no longer return to its original diameter, what is a good way to push the clamp area back out?

Edit: or is it possible that the new posts were wrong size or badly manufactured. I don't have a caliper to confirm any of this so if anybody happens to know the diameter of their 3-speed's seat post, that would be a great help.

As far as I'm aware, all the old Raleighs have 25.4 seat posts. It's conceivable someone reamed one out to 26mm, but I seriously doubt it.

Get a $10 digital caliper from Harbor Freight. It can supply you with an amazing amount of info on a bike. Measure the original seat posts, if you still have them, to compare the new ones to.

My DL-1 required a soda can shim with the std post.

Oh, wow, did not know I got a response. Thanks :) and I have not had a chance to get a digital caliper even though I have been meaning to - it seems that the seat posts I bought were just a little bit off. I have purchased posts from another maker and the problem seems to have gone away mostly.

Oh, okay. Thanks for the confirmation haha. I found out that the seat posts I bought were a little off so I bought new ones and the problem seems to have gone away for the most part, but the seat tube on the Raleigh is just a teeny bit big still. A soda can would probably help me some more if needed.