The Chainlink

There's now a bounty on my frozen seat post

I'm declaring open season on my seat post.  I am looking for a skilled and brave individual who can pull it from the frame.  It's a thick-walled aluminum post holding fast to a steel frame with a mangled 3/4" nub remaining above the collar.  

Already attempted:
1.  bolting 14" wrench to seat post and hammering to twist
2.  twisting w/ 36" pipe wrench
3.  hammering in
4.  lopping off the post 3/4" above the collar and slicing vertical cuts into the post and folding over.  (only managed to successfully cut through about 2" down.) and drowning it in penetrating oil.  

Let me know if you want to give it a whack.  If successful, I will of course heap beer and cash on you.  


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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 22, 2010 at 3:16pm
Give to me, I will fix.

Do you care about the paint?

If you do not care about the paint (as in there will be none on the top of the seat tube) it takes a couple of days.

If you care about the paint it takes a week or two.
Permalink Reply by Michael A on March 22, 2010 at 4:13pm
are you trying to save the seatpost? if not drill a 1/4 hole in it and use the drillbit to turn/twist the seatpost til it comes out, I assume you have tried to saturate the post/frame connection with wd40
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on March 22, 2010 at 4:52pm
One of you will soon be King!

Permalink Reply by dav on March 22, 2010 at 5:09pm
You were ahead of me. I also thought of this joke. You are brilliant.

Kevin Conway said:
One of you will soon be King!

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 22, 2010 at 5:14pm
WD40 is worthless as a penetrating oil. Use a product made to be a penetrating and you will see better results.
Permalink Reply by Grocky on March 23, 2010 at 12:21am
A can of Coke!
I have not tried this however it does sound like it would work. I read in bicycling magazine a few issues back that you could turn the bike upside down, remove the bottom bracket, and pour a can of coke into the frame where it meets the seatpost and let it sit a couple of days.
Again, this is not something I have tried, but it would believe it would work. Have you ever put a dirty penny in a glass of coke and let it sit a couple of days as a kid? I did, and when we took the penny out that thing was bright any shiney.
CrAZy!
Permalink Reply by Aaron Mooney on March 23, 2010 at 1:06am
i have also heard about that trick and also drilling a hole in your post will work as well.

Grocky said:
A can of Coke!
I have not tried this however it does sound like it would work. I read in bicycling magazine a few issues back that you could turn the bike upside down, remove the bottom bracket, and pour a can of coke into the frame where it meets the seatpost and let it sit a couple of days.
Again, this is not something I have tried, but it would believe it would work. Have you ever put a dirty penny in a glass of coke and let it sit a couple of days as a kid? I did, and when we took the penny out that thing was bright any shiney.
CrAZy!
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 23, 2010 at 7:07am
You could also use a quality penetrating oil and have it work even better...

Why use a can of coke and make your bike all sticky when there are products out there made to do what you want?

Grocky said:
A can of Coke!
I have not tried this however it does sound like it would work. I read in bicycling magazine a few issues back that you could turn the bike upside down, remove the bottom bracket, and pour a can of coke into the frame where it meets the seatpost and let it sit a couple of days.
Again, this is not something I have tried, but it would believe it would work. Have you ever put a dirty penny in a glass of coke and let it sit a couple of days as a kid? I did, and when we took the penny out that thing was bright any shiney.
CrAZy!
Permalink Reply by Len Krietz on March 23, 2010 at 7:33am
It's the phos acid in the coke that I suppose will be the agent ot dissolve the corrosion. Personally I'd go with the oil since the acid may pit the inside of the frame tube
Permalink Reply by mattbikes1 on March 23, 2010 at 8:42am
Have you considered a bike shop? I am sure they could put the bike upside down with the seat post locked in a vise and get that sucker free.
Permalink Reply by Alan Lloyd on March 23, 2010 at 8:44am
According to the venerable Sheldon Brown ...

"Aluminum seatposts frequently become stuck by corrosion also, and penetrating oil is almost useless against aluminum oxide. Fortunately, aluminum oxide can be dissolved like magic by using ammonia." whilst "For steel seatposts stuck into steel frames, where the problem is often caused by rust, penetrating oil can do wonders. If you don't have real penetrating oil, any light lubricating oil is better than nothing, but penetrating oil is made specifically for this purpose, and you should buy a can if you don't already have one."

See http://www.sheldonbrown.com/stuck-seatposts.html

I think I read somewhere (else) that aluminium oxide occupies twice the space that the original aluminium did, and that is waht jams the seat post in place. You need the ammonia, or something else, to DISSOLVE the oxidation.
Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on March 23, 2010 at 9:20am
mattbikes1 said:
Have you considered a bike shop? I am sure they could put the bike upside down with the seat post locked in a vise and get that sucker free.

Unless that bike shop is Get a Grip. I brought a bike with a seized seat post in several years ago and they told me there was nothing they could do about it.

It is too late for DanaW & the FBC of course, but the lesson here for the rest of us is to grease our seat-posts regularly. Even if you never want to adjust the thing for yourself, someday you might want to loan your bike to someone taller or shorter than yourself. It could even happen that someday in the unimaginable future you'll want to sell the bike. Selling a bike with a seized seat post is tough (or at least it should be).

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