Removing a seized seat post amongst other things...

Hey guys now that ive retreived my bike( it got stolen from out side my boarding house with two flat tyres... ...and appeared about 1/2 mile away on the school drive) and my back wheel is fu**ed not to mention the bonti race tyres, so phase 2 of my disaster stricken non existent budget fixed conversion has started and ive discovered that my seat post is seized, ive not tried to move it before now but i can tell you its stuck, ive tried shocking it and heating it and getting angry and screaming, talking to it nicely and taking it by surprise. none have even moved it a thou, what can i do? i seriously need some help, should i take it to a bike shop? im taking it in to get the bb replaced so i can put in new cranks, should i do it then? also what do you recomend as a sturdy set of 700c wheels in black? im a retained firefighter and will take what ever short cuts i can to get to the station quickly but that put my old wheels of true or should i just stick to the longer route? and seeing as im so broke if your interested in some of the bits i stripped of e.g. a campag down tube shifter or a geared weinmann wheel set give me a buzz/ check out

http://www.londonfgss.com/thread10355.html#post291176

thanks for any help mike

And breath.

have you tried putting any lube in the tube?

WD40 + punctuation.

have you tried putting any lube in the tub?

fixed

i had a similar problem with a stem i wanted that was stuck in a an old raleigh carlton.
i just sprayed shit loads of wd40 down the tube and smashed it with a hide mallet. if uve taken the sadle off, presuming you dont want it, put it back on and wack the saddle side on with some kind of mallet...

Plus Gas is a better penetrating oil than WD40.

ive tried wd40 but i my try plusgas if i can get my hands on it im of to try beating it again...

put the seatpost in a bucket of ice-water and heat the seat-tube with a hot-air-gun..
then moonwalk round it three times backwards chanting "Sheldon Brown is my co-pilot."
should come out.

+1 to Prav (including the moonwalking and chanting - helps if you're naked too).

You can buy an aerosol in plumbers merchants that will freeze the seatpost which is better than ice-water). It's called Pipe Freeze or somesuch (literal chaps these plumbers).

In the time I have written this it will no doubt be covered, but…

I would say it is potentially quite a big job, depending on how seized it is.
First off is it an alu post in a steel frame? (If it is Alu in Alu it is probably there forever. Steel in steel is another matter; removable, but uncommon these days.)

So Alu in steel I’m guessing. First off you can hurt the bike, but if it is a beater, go for it. Movement straight up and down is best for the frame but good luck getting anything unstuck like that, so for the purposes of this, twisting is your friend. So is plus gas but only so far – I haven’t unsiezed anything with plus gas alone. If the seatpost is a one piece put an old saddle on the post put as long a bar as possible through the saddle and jam the bike in something and turn that bar. Back and forth, be strong but smooth, don’t jab at it. The longer the bar the easier the job. If the bar is flat steel that is good, as like a ruler it will flex one way but not the other so it will be easy to get under the saddle and yet strong in the twist. If the seatpost has a bonded head there is a very good chance you will break the bond at the head before you break the bond with the frame. (Think how much post is stuck in the bike compared to how much head in the post.) Give it a go but I’ve done other things to get those out.

Failing that the other options are a bit more convoluted but if you have no joy give a shout back and I and others can expand on the joys of pipe frieze spray and blow torches.

It will come out. Don’t worry.

Man alive how could you explain such a thing without it being riddled with double entendres.

put the seatpost in a bucket of ice-water and heat the seat-tube with a hot-air-gun..
then moonwalk round it three times backwards chanting "Sheldon Brown is my co-pilot."
should come out.

Fucking worked!!! good work Prav man

+1 Prav
+1 AndyP

I'm not sure but I think the "Sheldon Brown" chant is mandatory.

its an alloy post and a reynolds steel frame.

WD-40 and a vice!!!

caustic soda

WD-40 and a vice!!!

and some heat in form of a torch

and time and sweat..... and good arms

Remove bottom bracket bearing, turn frame upside down, fill seat tube with vinegar, leave for at least 48 hours. then use other methods mentioned above. The vinegar will attack the crystalline corrosion which is jamming the pin in the frame.

The vinegar thing was recommended by Mercian when my mate's post seized in his custom frame.
If you are going to heat the seat tube go steady or wrap in something coz you'll damage the paint. Also you'll need to cool or keep cool the post as the aluminium will swell with the heat more than the steel. And you're still gonna have to twist as it will still be stuck. Some component freeze spray from Maplin will do the job on the cooling front. Try to spray inside the post whilst heating the seat tube but be careful of the joints. Then TWIST. When it frees it will go bang and you'll think you've snapped something but with a bit of luck the only snapped thing will be the join between the post and frame. Then back and forth and up until it is out.

Mangaged to get mine out, by applying Plus Gas everyday for a few weeks. Then getting someone with a gorilla like vice grip to twist it out. patience is the key.

Coca-Cola FTW!

Frame upside down, tip in via BB. Remember the seatpost fills up too, so tip in plenty.

Leave overnight.

Give the seatpost a thorough battering with a hammer then try and lever out as described above.

If the seatpost doesn't shift and there's no Coke leakage, repeat the process.

Cut the seatpost at it's lowest point and whack it down the frame with an appropiately sized drift (a chisel will do). Out of sight, out of mind.

It worked on my old MTB!

+1 to Prav (including the moonwalking and chanting - helps if you're naked too).

You can buy an aerosol in plumbers merchants that will freeze the seatpost which is better than ice-water). It's called Pipe Freeze or somesuch (literal chaps these plumbers).

failing this we use reamers
( they cost 300+ quid )
be carefull on very thin tubing

Caustic Soda worked for me!
Id almost given up hope after trying WD40, mallets, swearing and worn out both arms... but searching random forums and finding I was not alone helped me keep my sense of humour...
and it felt so good when the damn thing finally started twisting loose!

1st post hope it works.

See a mention of Sheldon Brown but no link to his seatpost page.
But I suppose its old news