Seized Seat Post

Hi folks.

I just bought a used old bike. Seat post is "stuck" inside seat
tube. I put some lubricant into it twice now, and can't find my vice
grips...yet.

Anybody know how to get this thing out? Alternate ways?

Cheers

On Nov 11, 3:57*pm, BeeRich wrote:
Hi folks.

I just bought a used old bike. *Seat post is "stuck" inside seat
tube. *I put some lubricant into it twice now, and can't find my vice
grips...yet.

Anybody know how to get this thing out? *Alternate ways?


Have you tried breaking the rust weld with a good old bash with a lump
of 4x2 hardwood?


Owen

On 2008-11-11, BeeRich wrote:
Hi folks.

I just bought a used old bike. Seat post is "stuck" inside seat
tube. I put some lubricant into it twice now, and can't find my vice
grips...yet.

Anybody know how to get this thing out? Alternate ways?

I had one like that once. The seatpost was rectangular section at the
top, so I made a sort of ladder out of steel box-section about a metre
long that could be wedged over the top of it. Then I could turn it with
both hands (like a handlebar).

Good luck finding your vise grips (or "mole-wrench" as we call it over
here), but you may find they are not up to the job anyway.

On Nov 11, 4:02*am, Ben C wrote:
On 2008-11-11, BeeRich wrote:

Hi folks.

I just bought a used old bike. *Seat post is "stuck" inside seat
tube. *I put some lubricant into it twice now, and can't find my vice
grips...yet.

Anybody know how to get this thing out? *Alternate ways?

I had one like that once. The seatpost was rectangular section at the
top, so I made a sort of ladder out of steel box-section about a metre
long that could be wedged over the top of it. Then I could turn it with
both hands (like a handlebar).

Good luck finding your vise grips (or "mole-wrench" as we call it over
here), but you may find they are not up to the job anyway.

Aside from the good suggestions already given, I'd suggest a
replacement for the vice grips, by way of a pipe wrench. Of course,
this requires your seat post being strong enough to take the clamp/
tiwst force, bot so do vice grips. The pipe wrench will grab just as
good if not better, and allow for more leverage.

Personally, I've found the 4x4 thwap to do the trick in the past.
Mind, I'm talking about the type of thwap that requires someone else
to hold the bike so you can come in overhand wiht the 4x4, as though
you were swinging a maul to split wood. This method delivers enough
force to damage some frames, with less than perfect precision, so
consider your bike, frame/wheels (or BB, if that's how you'll be
supporting it) before employing this method. I was working on a
prettymuch unbreakable BMX bike at the time, I would not try this with
my carbon & al road bike.

On Nov 10, 9:57*pm, BeeRich wrote:
Hi folks.

I just bought a used old bike. *Seat post is "stuck" inside seat
tube. *I put some lubricant into it twice now, and can't find my vice
grips...yet.

Anybody know how to get this thing out? *Alternate ways?

Cheers

Seatpost in a big vice, turn the frame while pulling up on it. If that
just kills the seatpost, find a frame builder with a drill press that
can drill out the remnants of the SP.

Tosspot wrote:
BeeRich wrote:
Hi folks.

I just bought a used old bike. Seat post is "stuck" inside seat
tube. I put some lubricant into it twice now, and can't find my vice
grips...yet.

Anybody know how to get this thing out? Alternate ways?

Sheldon has some good ideas, last time I tried it I supported the
bottom bracket on a block of wood, put a bit wood over the seat tube
to protect it, and applied a FGH[1] to it. Once it's moved a bit,
loads on penetrating oil and a bit of twisting. Definitely pry the
clamp open a bit first.

[1] ****ing Great Hammer.

BFH on this side of the pond.

Mark "linguistic diversity" J.

DanKMTB wrote:

Mind, I'm talking about the type of thwap that requires someone else
to hold the bike so you can come in overhand wiht the 4x4, as though
you were swinging a maul to split wood. *This method delivers enough
force to damage some frames, with less than perfect precision, so
consider your bike, frame/wheels (or BB, if that's how you'll be
supporting it) before employing this method. *I was working on a
prettymuch unbreakable BMX bike at the time, I would not try this with
my carbon & al road bike.

I might. :^D

Chalo

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:57:38 -0800 (PST), BeeRich
may have said:

Hi folks.

I just bought a used old bike. Seat post is "stuck" inside seat
tube. I put some lubricant into it twice now, and can't find my vice
grips...yet.

Anybody know how to get this thing out? Alternate ways?

I had to get two rusted-in-place posts our of an old Schwinn tandem
recently. They resisted all usually persuasive but nondestructive
attempts, and also did not respond to only-mildly-destructive efforts.
I ended up cutting them off about an inch above the frame, and then
using a hacksaw blade inside the tubes to laboriously split them in
line with the frame's clamping slots. Once I had each completely
split, I was able to collapse it with a pair of vice grips and twist
it free...with nary a mark on the inside of the frame tube. I
wouldn't have tried this with an aluminum frame, though; I'm not sure
that I could have controlled the cut that closely. YMMV if using this
technique; it's heavily dependent on user skill and patience.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:57:38 -0800 (PST), in rec.bicycles.tech BeeRich
wrote:

Hi folks.

I just bought a used old bike. Seat post is "stuck" inside seat
tube. I put some lubricant into it twice now, and can't find my vice
grips...yet.

Anybody know how to get this thing out? Alternate ways?

Cheers

The first thing I'd try would be heat. A hair dryer might work; a
heat gun is better. Remember that it will also soften the paint. If
you have neither, try hot water. It you're going to repaint anyway,
then use a propane torch. For freeing stuck, rusted in parts, heat
works wonders. The trick is even heat over a large area... heck, I've
even left 'em out in the sun! (Of course, I live in southern Texas;
that might not work so well in New England for a while.)

Jones

Steel frame and seized alloy seatpost? Try drizzling a little bit of
ammonia down the seatpost into the frame. Worked great for me, no
damage to the frame nor the paint...

MW