Stuck seatpost (I've tried everything)

okay... i've tried all of sheldon's 15 tips to remove myseatpost and nothing is working. its a second hand frame and the previous owner jammed a miss-sized seat post in. its the catching at the very front (sides are fine). i took the bike to condor and they reckon its going to cost between £50-£80 to have the post cut out. Before I stump the cash up (okay its a crappy raliegh but im not giving up) has ANYONE got ANY ideas on what i can do as a last alternative.

Take it to Mend A Bike in Fulham - provided the frame is steel, they will heat up the seat tube, allowing the post to be freed - obviously this buggers the paint, but they have done 2 for me and it works. Should only cost 15 quid or so too

Mend a Bike will do it cheaper.

Contact Vinyl Villain for specifics.

Tip XVI it is then.
Hacksaw, cannot fail, take your time and keep the blade level to prevent cutting into the frame.

More than one cut may ne necessary.

Although I didn't know it, I used no. 16 for removing a stuck stem.

I used a jig-saw, just cutting carefully at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock. as the alu is softer than the steel it works quite easily if ur careful.

Then I used a sharp screw driver to cut away the last thin wall of alu...

... but if you're not bothered about the paint £15 sounds allot easier.

perfect! will try mendabike. getting the frame repainted anyhow. why the hell couldnt condor suggest that?

i decided "no 16" wasnt for me. i dont have the right equipment and pretty sure id mess it up. gave it a stab this morning all the same and nearly took my index finger off (dont ask).

thanks guys. fingers crossed.

ps. assume theyll be able to help even though its not stuck with corrosion (its "mechanical" to quote sheldon) and i thought heat was effective on corrosion only.

no matter good place to start

After the usual fixes were tried...

I pulled out the power tools...

Fifty pounds later I still had a partially stuck post and a slightly damaged frame.

Save yourself the hassle and visit Mend a Bike

After the usual fixes were tried...

I pulled out the power tools...

Fifty pounds later I still had a partially stuck post and a slightly damaged frame.

Save yourself the hassle and visit Mend a Bike

And it's a lovely D.R. frame what a shame.

have you tried putting the seatpost in a vice and using your bodyweight to turn the frame?

sorry if i missed something.

ouch! i have no idea what a drill is going to do. idont wanna know. dont tempt me

man, this is going to put my conversion project back another week. i just want to ride my f-ing bike

i had great success with a quill stem. cut the top of the seatpost off, insert the stem like into a fork
with some handlebars in place for better grip. tighten stem...twist and pull...twist and pull....

yeah yeah yeah. did all the usual things. vice failed. tried the seat method as well and managed to tear off the seat and snap the metal as well (im ever so strong). bathed the ruddy thing in oil. everything.

it's not ideal but sometimes you can hammer the post (what's left of it after chopping the top off) down into the seatpost with a slightly thinner post and put a new one on top - not nice but possible - remove any bottle cage bolts from seatpost first

The KHS they did for me had a 27.2 stuck in a 26.8 heres what it looked like after - they alos got the rest of the post out from teh Dave Russell

Nice power drill.

Coca cola.

There's a thread on this already... and having suffered the misfortune of a bonded seat post, I can tell you that coke works.

There's a thread on this already... and having suffered the misfortune of a bonded seat post, I can tell you that coke works.

Agreed, have a couple of lines and then go at it with a hammer.

If you heat up the seatpost with a blow lamp then apply penetrating oil/wd40, it will be drawn into the gaps around the seatpost. Afterwards you can try again.

There are two good ways to clamp the seatpost:

1. wrap the main part of seat guts around the post then put the protruding ends into a vice.

2. Drill a hole through the post and put a long strong screwdriver through it and twist with all your might.

Agreed, have a couple of lines and then go at it with a hammer.

Arf!

Haha.

yeah problem is that the seatpost isnt stuck all the way round so any lubricant just falls down the sides. same problem with coca-cola.

its funny, what with all the tips on forums i was actually giving the bike shop guys suggestions on how we could get it out (they gave up after brute force didnt work. pathetic). im set on mendabike if that fails im gonna try the knocking the seat post down method. im a big lad so a few extra grams at the bottom wont matter too much.

pretty shocking that somewhere like condor cant even make a sensible recommendation. just as well i got y'all.

vinylvillian how you manage to get so many seat posts stuck???

VV inherited both frames with seatpost issues from me.

And I bought them that way.

So learn from the mistakes of my youth and check for seized posts before buying an old frame.

Then decide if it's worth the effort.