Stuck seatpost (I've tried everything)

Thanks guys, currently soaking in coca cola... I assumed the parts would come out, and we all know what assumptions make... organic prob should of checked and mentioned it but then again this is a market of old bikes, sold as seen, so can't really complain too much... (i think).

The seller should have disclosed the issues!

Don't be silly. It's not reasonable to expect a seller to fully dismantle a bike just to sell it. And if you feel it is, then where does that end? Are the bearings worn? What's the condition of every thread on the hub?

There are reasonable expectations you have when you make a sale, and a reasonable amount of risk that we all bear. We know that some sales will be duds, we know that sometimes we won't have foreseen all of the compatibility issues. We know that sometimes you buy things where the condition is less than you thought at the time of purchase.

Is there precedent in the world for buying things without fully knowing the condition? Yeah, everywhere. You buy houses based only a visual survey... recent decorations hide almost everything. You buy cars based on visual inspection (no-one gets a mechanic to check the inside of the piston heads before you hand over the cash).

It's unreasonable to expect a seller to do that stuff. And so we buy at risk. And some sales will be duds. But that's just probability and the name of the game.

It takes just a minute to see if a stem or seatpost are seized.

To be fair, the chap was in a rush when he picked up the frame so might not of even had time to check, and the price I got it was a fair one for a decent frame with campag parts in unknown condition, win some lose some, live and learn, etc...

3 days soaking in coke.. nay luck, onto Amonia... and then there is the stem, steel on steel, what we talking? just WD?

have you tried wd or gt85?? worth a shot i guess, gt85 is good if rusted, and try and keep the seat post warm as it will flex a bit more

I just had a really stuck stem in a 60s bike that i found in the street.

I suggest: Get a big ass steel rod with a diameter about half or less of the seat tube (the kind of thing they have at the side of roadworks sometimes. Drill a hole through the side of the seat tube, insert rod and use as a giant lever. Clamp the BB in a vice or between your legs and try to get the pivot point to be exactly central to the seatpost so you minimise twisting the frame.

Before doing this squirt GT85 down the crack at the top, also take out BB and squirt on inside of seat tube (while holding frame upside down and allow to penetrate) to try and soak oil on the other side of the seat post (might make more progress).

You could also drill a hole in your bb big enough to push a rod through and catch the edge of the seat post bottom to whack out with a mallet. Maybe as a last resort.

Maybe this too: http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-105538.html

heat is a good to release stuff, don't forget that. not talking oxy acetylene here, just a plain gas blow torch that plumbers use.

Still pinning my hopes on getting it out without drilling or damaging anything.
Last time I buy a frame without asking for it to be fully stripped...

I'm trying the old hacksaw trick aided with 3 files I've just bought. My thinking is that I'll lop the stem off then file the inside of it until it's thin then carefully go at it with a hacksaw blade.

Just done one today, had to lop it off and use edge of file and hacksaw blade to cut a slot then fold it in on itself.
Took ages but not as long as the week i'd been soaking it in penetrant and trying to twist it.
When i got the post out, theres about a mm or 2 or salty corrosion.

use caustic soda people! its easy just get a big plastice tub, fill with water and caustic soda, and then leave the frame to soak, the post just disolves over a few days.

Problem is that i don't really have a couple of days to wait around, nor do i have a BB tool. I reckon a few extra blisters on my fingers won't harm.

True story. There is half a seatpost stuck in a frame I bought recently, not started trying yet, but I had a dream I removed it by softening it with butter and removing it with my fingers last night.

Try it, who knows

If anyone decides or needs to go down the hacksaw route; you will need about 6 hours and a pair of mole grips plus a bit of sandpaper for extra friction. It does work, you just need patience. I am now going to liberally grease my new seatpost ;-)

I removed a siezed post once.

Drill a largish hole through near the base of the post.
Fit a long 3/8 socket extention through it (a screwdriver will be too flexible)
Lay the bike sideways on the ground and using wood and sheets/blakets to protect paint and brightwork
Hit extention end really hard with a large ball pein hammer, thereby twisting it in the seat tube.

Should take no longer than an hour all up, no damage to paint, no nasty chemicals, no waiting.

Has this been resolved/dissolved yet ?
Any new techniques ?

Because I've one well stuck on well hard - been stuck outside well on 3 years.

FUCK YOU SEAT POST!

Velocio - a week you say?

I'm facing a saw-versus-dissolve decision this weekend. One question: any ideas how to protect the bottom bracket in the event I choose "dissolve"?

Remove it.

Take the BB out, and cut the seat post close-ish to the frame.
Plug it with something that caustic soda won't dissolve, and fill the seat tube with a strong solution from the BB shell, with the frame upside down.
After a day or so drain it out, refill and keep repeating until there is no seat post left. The problem is that the alloy will react with the caustic soda and eventually it will cease to react. There isn't enough space in the seat post to get enough solution to dissolve the alloy, and the cheaper, thicker posts take more dissolving!

And be careful, do this somewhere where pets, kids and the like can't get this stuff on themselves, and keep your skin protected. It does leave nasty burns!

i saw on retrobike perhaps a photo of 2 lorry ratchet straps secured to trees i think. One went through the bottom bracket, the other around the stuck post that had been drilled with a bar inserted. I guess you ratchet away till its out

cant wait to try that out

Another good tip for removing them is use a 'heat gun' and then some of that freeze spray as used in Plumbing to freeze a water pipe.
Heat the seat tube & post with the heat gun then spray the seat post with the freeze spray, aluminium and steel expand/contract at different rates and it can help break the bond between the two.

seat post in a vice and use the frame for leverage helps to.

Once it is out use a good polymer based grease rather than lithium as that helps prevent the electrolysis that causes the problem.
I use 'Plastilube' a grease often used to stop car brake pads squeaking. never had one seize since.
Loctite version of Plastilube here

Look up my "Josephine!" thread in current projects.
There's loads of info about stuck seatposts in there... I resorted to the Sheldon hack saw trick and wrote it all up with a few photos, etc.

I'd give a link, but i'm on my mobile. Sorry