For Sale: Cilo carbon frame, stuck seatpost

Hi all,

This is partly to gage interest, but as those of you who like current projects will know, i've been having trouble with a lovely carbon fibre frame. Bought it off a man in Poland, who is a swindler (of sorts). He didn't mention in the ad that the seatpost is siezed into the frame. Also there is a small crack (hairline, one inch long) in the toptube/seattube lug (webbing, cause there aint no lugs)

I have taken the frame to Edwardes of Camberwell, who tell me that the crack is superficial, and that the frame is structurally sound. But they tell me that the seatpost is stuck fast, and that no amount of greasing and pulling can free it. They dont want to do any other methods for fear of damaging the frame.

2 possibilities:

the seatpost is set to just your size!

or you do this to remove the post: http://www.lfgss.com/thread22148.html

this looked like too much hassle for me, but you might try it.

its at the shop, but looks like this:

As you can see, it's a beaut, and terrifically light, I would say it's 58-60 cm c-t-t seatpost, and around 56 c-t-c, but thats just how it felt. I will measure and post sizes later on.

The nut for the seatpost clamp bolt is missing.

The measure I do have is centre of BB to centre of saddle rails (i.e. if this matches your bike, you can get this and it will fit), which is 73cm. Saddles have different rises (from the rails to the top of the saddle), and this one was a low vuelta.

Now obviously there are problems with the frame, but i want this beauty to be used. I am presenting it completely frankly, hence the listing length.

Test the waters at £100 frame and forks only

I will take it off your hands for £5.

dibs seatpost

the seat post can be bored out by a chap in the Hillingdon CC -Scott Holmes who has an Engineering workshop- its his day job, yes it costs money to do but is done professionally.

I think my LBS has the details if required- The Bike Shop in North Harrow- Paul on 0208 427 5454, and Paul has removed other similar problems too......

I too have a frame very very similar in design- a Look copy from some time back, ok I remember I have two sister frames, prob 10 years old by now. The carbon weave is stronger than those now.

Yes to to the repair of the frame-easy peasey: car body filler is the order of the day, so get your Isopon kit out !

It's a beautiful frame but you need to get that seatpost out ASAP!
Ok, panic over, aluminum expands twice as much as steel and I'm sure the rusty (ok, oxidised) seatpost is cracking the seat tube. It's not ideal but the seat tube takes mainly compressive forces so it should be fine as long as you can get the bugger out; caustic soda works well with steel frames and seeing as carbon is inert and epoxy is not far behind it you might as well give it a go. If you leave it in there it will fail, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but at some point in the indertermiate future and definitely not for the rest of your life. Not quite so romantic is it?

my offer stands

Are you sure this is a carbon fibre frame?

Looks to me like a steel frame with fibre glass fairings moulded onto it.

put the saddle/seatpost in a vice, grab the frame and twist, gives you more leverage when trying to twist.

however take caution, ive only tried this on steel frames with seized seat posts, not carbon frames.

^That doesn't work

the first 2 buyers are out, it's up for grabs again, and here are the measurements:

ST 59 c-t-t
ST 55 c-t-c
TT 57 c-t-c

my offer still stands.

£30

no, too low i'm afraid

Can you post up the measurement from the crank centre up through the post to the middle (near enough) of the seat crank please?

And is it all carbon, or metal tubes with bonded joints?

not entirely sure what you mean by "seat crank"? But from the middle of the crank, at the bottom bracket, to the top of the seatpost, where the saddle rails are, is 73cm. then from the middle of the crank to the top of the saddle is 78cm.

Its full carbon, inside the slit at the back of the seatpost you can see layers of carbon constituting the tubing. I dont know whether this is the accurate way to check, but also the tubes dont feel like metal at all.

hope this answers your question

Sorry yes, meant seat rail, not crank - long day!

So what exactly are you selling - just frame, frame and forks, headset and stem? Bars? BB and cranks?

I am also selling headset and BB, seat, stem, bars and front derailleur. the rest are going on a tourer. I would like to sell as much as possible in one go, so make me an offer for what you want via pm.

the frame IS carbon, the key areas of bottom bracket, head tube top and bottom and seat tube top, as well as the ends are alu- so in effect its got "lugs" inside the frame and the carbon wrapped over it all.

The tubes are carbon wrap, the fairings are a car body filler material, hence the chunks chipped out and not causing any structural defect- and a frame sprayer would use car body filler to fill those areas.

For simplicity that's how carbon frames were made in the early days of small scale manufacture.

Most Giant's now are merely bonded pre made sections- you can see the join line.

BMC frames and other more recent innovations from other Co's have done away with the alu content to a large extent- even the ends are carbon now.

The frame advertised is a super strong one and well worth buying.

If the vice wouldn't ease the seat post, another method is to crush the seat post, cut the seat tube very short and use a hack saw blade down the seat post inside the frame and make eg 3-4 cuts very carefully, then use the holes left by the crushing to get a drift onto the seat post sections and knock them out, an/or use a slim chisel type of tool to ease the seat post sections away from the alu of the frame.

Always use grease before inserting stems and seat posts.......

Thanks El Diablo, I wish someone had told that to my "friend" in poland!

I forgot to mention, I can post anywhere. £15 for UK, anywhere else I would have to find out

PM'd you this am.

sold