Seized Seat post - I’m an idiot ! Help!

So the donut I am I have just bought a second hand steel bike without checking if the seat post was seized into the frame and I’ve just got home to tinker with the bike only to find it is seized. I should’ve checked I know ! But I didn’t and now I’m having to pay for it.

The frame is steel and I believe the post is aluminium. I have tried some big grips around the post and wd40 with no luck.

Anyone here any good at removing seized posts ? If not anyone know of any bike shops good at removing them ? The local one hasn’t got the tools they say to remove it.

I’ll pay anyone who can do it for me of course ! Beers and moneys!

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers !

Try here first, lots of useful tips.

Can you get an old seat on it?
GT85 overnight then use the seat for leverage.

Yeah I had a seat on it and I can get it back on. I’m at wits end now though and would rather pay someone else to help me out to save my insanity. If no one can though then GT85 overnight it is. Cheers bud.

I had the same issue and left it with the guys at paradise cycles on in bethnal green - can definitely recommend them

If you have a stem and handlebars that fit the seatpost you may get extra leverage.

Worked on my tandem

Common problem that can be sorted i wouldnt worry about it if you thing its beyond your skill level .
So in order.
Gt85 bike upside down get it in the frame.
Vinegar instead of gt85
Hacksaw it off leaving enough to put in a vice . Hold post in the vice wobble and swear at it wile twisting the frame as it squeals and cracks under your immense will power.
Blow torch it out . Touch up the scorch marks.
Done.😇

isn’t GT85 just a different brand of WD40? I’m not sure that is your best option.

I’ve had most movement of seized parts with lighter fluid or (if I have a tin of it knocking around) 3-in-1 penetrant spray (you can get it in Halfords).
That, plus a lot of leverage. Good luck!

edit uh, giving it a tap with a hammer can help too : )

I also got one out by using a reciprocating saw and putting it down the seatpost, making 4 cuts and then pulling those pieces out.

That is a last ditch effort but that was after 3 weeks upside down filled with penetrating oil and countless hours twisting it in a vice.

I would leave the seat on before sawing the tube as you get more leverage at the top. Drilling a hole through the tube, screwing a bolt in and attaching it to a pipe for more leverage works well too.

Good luck!

isn’t GT85 just a different brand of WD40?

GT85 smells great, they add a pleasing scent. Can looks better on the shelf too.

WD4O, GTF with that blue and yellow brand stinking oil.

Forgot the penetrating oil . You want something that will get in the gaps and breakdown the dissimilar material corrosion . I had to cut out a fluted campag post from a frame once. Expensive

Before you do anything drastic with saws... Work methodically through Sheldon's 16 steps. Each slightly more severe than the last:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/stuck-seatposts.html

I got a post out recently using step 15 or 16... caustic soda (from homebase). It's easy but takes a day or two, and you gotta wear your marigolds. The fizzing is great though.

I had luck with another seatpost using the freezing method (it's on the Sheldon list). I dipped the seatpost and seat cluster in a tub of icy water for a few minutes, then yanked it out, quickly reattached a saddle and then rotated the bastard with all my might.

Good luck.

Plus Gas is much more effective than WD40/GT85.

What does it smell like?

Not as nice as GT85, but less offensive than WD40.

I'm glad that people on this forum actually respond positively and helpfully to a question that must have been asked a million times on the internet and I'm not being sarcastic.

plusgas has a proper lingering smell on your hands. it's a two-washer (but works very well)

What with this and the new "How do I skid my fixie?" thread, I now have renewed faith in both the forum and humanity

Hope it lasts more than a few hours

Plusgas will deal with the oxidised steel bits (i.e. rust) but won't help with the oxidised aluminium.

If you don't want to essentially melt the alloy bits out, you can try something that will make it very cold (heating is hit and miss as alu is more thermally conductive than steel so it'll probably expand more/ more quickly), which may pull it apart from what it's stuck to.

I've had reasonable success with that 'Chill Zone' stuff from Finish Line but your mileage may, as they say, vary.

Removing seized seatposts by busting sick whipskidz running a gearing of 54x18?

@pacef8 : 'Blow torch it out'
@vilms5000 : 'lighter fluid '

What could possibly go wrong?

Set your house on fire but the frame will survive so one bonus . Just pull the seatpost out wearing gloves presuming its not a melted mess now filling the bb.
This thread is like the tubeless one and where is egan in letour now?

Thanks for all the help guys, just burnt my house down however hopefully will have the seatpost out soon.

I've got a slide hammer/stillsons in SE1 if it's still giving you grief. Just about managed to get mine moving.