Mechanics and Fixing Any Questions Answered

I would try some WD40 before going nuclear with caustic soda. Flip the bike upside down and spray a liberal amount in the seattube from the BB or dropper cable routing hole if there is one. leave it for a few hours and then try pulling again.

Tried that, tried drilling the side and putting bolts through and ive weleded it to a metal bar, seat post just got destroyed. Sit post moved slightly but down instead of up

Gonna try cutting the inside of the post and ill try rolling it inside itself

Bit worried that the soda will eat away the alloy threads and mounts etc

Anyway ordered some caustic soda anyways.

Penetrating fluid is better imo. But not sure of the effects on carbon fiber.

@Jakub96 have you tried dry ice? If you have a supplier near by. Or pipe freeze spray can work too. On the metal part but once again not sure what would happen to the carbon.

@Overuser155208 yeah today. Used a whole co2 extinguisher at work 😂. No luck

Currently sorting it with caustic soda. Poured it through headtube into the tt. Didn't want to risk melting any aluminium thread's etc. Hopefully it melts it enough to be pulled out. Have the frame at an angle so everything will pour out without touching the paintwork

Wish me luck!

Never had any luck with co2 extinguishers.

Better luck with pipe freeze and dry ice. Got dry ice with a food delivery. So was a lucky freebie.

Bon chance Mon Ami.

Penetrating oil might work but there are several different types, some of which are said to damage carbon fibre. Carbo Move from Effeto Mariposa is supposed to be carbon-safe. https://road.cc/content/review/59182-effetto-carbo-move.

I've been reading about the seatpost man, looking for clues to his secret methods. No luck though. He charges £90 plus shipping https://bikebiz.com/the-seatpost-man-how-john-lee-has-helped-save-thousands-of-frames/

Lots of methods mentioned in this thread at retrobike https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/stuck-seatpost.413576/page-2

Yeah tried penetrating oil

Seatpost man quoted me 109£

Seatpost is currently fizzing away

Got a potential buyer as is. Just trying to make their life a bit easier

Also add the Sheldon brown page.https://www.sheldonbrown.com/stuck-seatposts.html

Got a potential buyer

Give them a link to this thread so we can witness the final victory!

@coventry_eagle is the friendly lufguss stuck seatpost whisperer. He's out of the bike mechanic game but might still be able to offer some more advice if you don't have any luck!

I’ve not done gears in so fucking long so please excuse this noob question but, what speed cassette can I fit on an hg freehub? Hub is a Hope Pro 2 I think it is.

Up to 12, so long as it's HG pattern.

Cool ta.

Said 12s won't be from Shimano though, they only go up to 11 with HG, 12 is microspline.

Not all. Road 12s fits on 11s freehubs.
Microspline for MTB tho.

I used carbon rings for TTs. I like them because you can get fully aero (filled) rings in any bolt configuration you want, ie. single-speed, 58T to fit a DA9000 crank. Obviously they're not as durable but they're fine for racing.

I've since moved to Narrow Wide chainrings on the TT bike though and removed my FD more more aeroz and to help prevent chain drops I was getting on the custom carbon rings.

Oh yeah, forgot about that, microspline if you want a 10t.

Interesting stuff. Never did carbon frame before so yeah it's uncharted territory for me.

No secrets for my method - ice, hot water, penetrating fluid and plenty of time.

ice, hot water, penetrating fluid and plenty of time.

Sexy.

Like what you see? ;)

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I'm having troubles with one of my Hope E4 calipers. During my last ride, the front caliper seized up and after pushing the pistons back on the trail I was able to limp home with out a front brake. I cleaned the pistons and lubed them with some silicone lube. Hope recommends some hunter lube which I can't get in Germany at the moment, so I used liqui moly silicone lube. However, the pistons still don't fully return. Any idea what's going on?

Cracked piston? Buggered seal? Cracked caliper? Busted diaphragm?

At least hope do small parts and you can rebuild it.

I've used SRAM DOT grease on Hope pistons. I think any DOT grease should be fine. But I doubt that a sticky piston would cause you that much trouble. If you take the wheel out then there's enough room to walk the pistons all the way out. then you can take a good look and work out if it's really that or a different issue.

Had similar issues with mine. Phenolic pistons get a bit rough over time, chips etc. I replaced the ones in my E4s with the new stainless hybrid ones which are much smoother. Might be worth giving them a good service, new seals at the least, and a nice fresh bleed.