Seized Seatpost Removal Tricks

[pereiracycles]

I have had luck using ammonia. Not sure how it would play with the goop you've already added. I'm no chemistry wiz, but I believe it acts on the aluminum oxidation rather than the iron oxide. Good luck, this can be a huge time suck.
In my last shop we used to tell people that it was going to be at least $100 and maybe $300 if it took all day. I have hack sawed seat posts lengthwise, but would not do it that way again!

[crumpton]

many years ago i modified a heavy ass slide hammer. basically welded a chuck of 4"x.1875 wall square tube to a threaded(female) chunk that threaded onto the stud at the end of the slide hammer, drilled a 1.125" hole opposite.

cut the top of your suck post or quill stem, drill a hole perpendicular, insert into the hole drilled into the 4" tube and pin it. flip and hammer home. i'll try and dig it out later and snap a pic but mean time, this is a slide hammer. mine is easily 10lb?

[e-RICHIE]

send it back.

send it back.

send it back.

send it back.

.....

[bellman]

.....

Eh, IDK, you have to give it the college try I think. Theres stuck and then there is STUCK!. You won't really know untill you mess with it a little bit. I might be tempted to smack it with a hammer just to see if it moved at all.

[e-RICHIE]

Eh, IDK, you have to give it the college try I think. Theres stuck and then there is STUCK!. You won't really know untill you mess with it a little bit. I might be tempted to smack it with a hammer just to see if it moved at all.

he should have just taken my advice and done the deed.
letting it percolate with chemicals - meh.
here's where i stand: he asked. replies came.
some of the best was garro's.
unless tony can truly profit from this, he should listen to steve.
his time is better spent filling orders atmo.
there's no sense borrowing trouble.

[bellman]

he should have just taken my advice and done the deed.
letting it percolate with chemicals - meh.
here's where i stand: he asked. replies came.
some of the best was garro's.
unless tony can truly profit from this, he should listen to steve.
his time is better spent filling orders atmo.
there's no sense borrowing trouble.

I agree with you, I think the oil went in before the question was asked though and the subsequent cat skinning was all a work around to avoid using a torch.
I'm guessing yours would've been the last post and the deed done if the oiling hadn't happend.

[e-RICHIE]

I agree with you, I think the oil went in before the question was asked though and the subsequent cat skinning was all a work around to avoid using a torch.
I'm guessing yours would've been the last post and the deed done if the oiling hadn't happend.

see my reply to the parallel universe thread on the general board. fun is fun 'n shit, but we are also here to keep the bar somewhat high and trade good advice. don't accept work if you are not clear what the procedure entails. the cabbage you can make off a quick S+S retrofit doesn't give you the green light to experiment on the seat post. heck. i hope he gets it out and then charges the guy 90 dollars an hour shop time for it. meanwhile the project will probably monopolize a half day at least. tough love atmo.

[dbohemian]

Buy a set of adjustable reamers and hand ream that puppy out should take about two hours at most.

"Hurrah, boys, we've got them! We'll finish them up and then go home to our station." General Custer at the little big horn....

Even if it takes two hours it is still hard work, you need adjustable reamers etc. All of which need to be factored in. I like Richies and drews suggestions. I have done this at least 6 times, it sucks no doubt about it. The repair if we factor in time and effort should be between 100-300 dollars. I charge a lot. It makes the customer think about lubing it once in a while.

[pruckelshaus]

.....

I hear Garro and Richie, but the bike mechanic in me says "I will NOT let this bike defeat me!"

I've only been defeated by one bike, and it was one that should have been thrown in a dumpster rather than rolled into a bike shop to be fixed.

Pete

[liberacefanboy]

Fuck it. Build him a NEW FRAME.
done.

[e-RICHIE]

I hear Garro and Richie, but the bike mechanic in me says "I will NOT let this bike defeat me!"

I've only been defeated by one bike, and it was one that should have been thrown in a dumpster rather than rolled into a bike shop to be fixed.

Pete

it's not a contest; this is a business and the frame belongs to someone else.
if tony knew how to solve the problem he wouldn't have asked us. this should
be a learning experience for all of us here; we are professionals and there
is no middle ground. we don't practice on paying clients atmo.

[Too Tall]

Tony, please pipe in. It is not as much fun to bust your b@!!z unless I know you are reading.

xxooo

[anthonymaietta]

Hey Hey Hey,

Sorry guys, I was down in Narragansett, Rhode Island riding my bike today; then dinner with friends in Worcester. Who'da thunk I could start a hullabaloo on VS :-)

The frame sits upside down like a possum in my shop til tomorrow morning when I get there. I'll let y'all know how it comes out (pun intended).

I do appreciate the ideas. Something will work.

Tony

[Rody]

Tony,

Lots of opinions floating around, I'll just say that beyond fabrication, I believe a builder should have the knowledge and ability to confidently work through these types of issues. I also agree that such knowledge and skill should be appropriately compensated. Want to be viewed as a professional, then turn down such a service if you are not able to perform it and charge accordingly if you possess the skill set.

That being said, I have done dozens of stuck seat post removals as a service to local shops.

With the AL post you are facing...fixture the frame in the lathe and bore it out with an under sized bit. It will likely break free before you are fully through.

A close friend and builder, John Upcraft of Hubcap Cycles had made some informative blog posts on the subject, showing a few of the methods that are successful.

Al seat post example, typically about 20 minutes...

HUBCAP Cycles: Metal Lathe, not just for round parts.

and a visual of cutting the post into sections...took less than an hour to remove

Groovy Cycleworks 330-988-0537: Friday was repair day...

Steel or Ti example, about an hour to accomplish...

HUBCAP Cycles: Dumpster Fat

cheers,

rody

[anthonymaietta]

it's not a contest; this is a business and the frame belongs to someone else.
if tony knew how to solve the problem he wouldn't have asked us. this should
be a learning experience for all of us here; we are professionals and there
is no middle ground. we don't practice on paying clients atmo.

Bingo. I had ideas A through D planned, but I was just asking if there were some other ideas out there.

[e-RICHIE]

Hey Hey Hey,

Sorry guys, I was down in Narragansett, Rhode Island riding my bike today; then dinner with friends in Worcester. Who'da thunk I could start a hullabaloo on VS :-)

The frame sits upside down like a possum in my shop til tomorrow morning when I get there. I'll let y'all know how it comes out (pun intended).

I do appreciate the ideas. Something will work.

Tony

something will work and you will be paid well for it atmo.

[bellman]

Bingo. I had ideas A through D planned, but I was just asking if there were some other ideas out there.

Kudos for asking for advice Tony, sometimes questions are just one try away from an answer but it never hurts to get a second opinion on stuff. I don't feel like its an addmission to ignorance if you ask for help and I personally didn't get the impression from your OP that you were incapable of completing the task.

I think we all learned about more than just seatposts today.

[e-RICHIE]

mebbe i missed a memo atmo. he said he had some ideas, but asked anyway without touching on what they were. then tonight, he cites ideas A-D as part of the plan. what were they? eh - i dunno. asking for help is honorable, and it's great that there are resources like message boards. had they not existed, tony might have been standing in the ashes of his shop on saturday. that's purely speculation on my part. i am sure tony will be much more methodical with this service tag now than he would have been two days ago. and i also think if i were the client, reading online, i might has some small trepidation re what's in store for my beloved IF frame. that would be a natural reaction.

[steve garro]

Tony,

such knowledge and skill should be appropriately compensated. Want to be viewed as a professional, then turn down such a service if you are not able to perform it and charge accordingly if you possess the skill set.

rody

Rody nails it down. - Garro.

[steve garro]

i also think if i were the client, reading online, i might has some small trepidation re what's in store for my beloved IF frame. that would be a natural reaction.

And this should be related to the client - this may be fatal.
I have seen light frames severely twisted removing posts.
Dudes will worry how much they can align a frame - well, you can make it do some really crazy shit if you clamp it by the post & get two big dudes on it. Maybe even fold it........I've seen it done. - Garro.