# F***** Seat Post



## J4CKO (8 Mar 2009)

I have an old Diamondback Topanga Rigid MTB on road tyres, dug it out cleaned it up so I can leave it at the leisure centre rather than a grands worth of Cannondale and accesories for some scumbag to nick or ruin.

Anyway, decides to adjust the seat......


Anyway, there then follows a long and drawn out series of attempts to twist, smack, twat, freeze heat, WD40, cut, twist, swear, skin knuckles etc in an attempt to move the seat, now there is very little stem left above the tube, its been mole gripped down to nothing, two channels vut down it with a hacksaw, it still wont move.

So, I need to drill it out, has anyone got ay experience of this, I think its a 27.2 mm stem, where would youget a drill that big ?

Dont want to bin it as otherwise its quite nice and quite sentimental really.


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## Ivan Ardon (8 Mar 2009)

Alloy? It's time to dissolve it with caustic soda solution.


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## eldudino (8 Mar 2009)

How about drilling a hole right through the post and putting through a lever of some sorts so you can get some real torque on it without worrying about molegrips slipping.

Put lots of penetrating fluid on the joint for a week before you do it.


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## gbb (8 Mar 2009)

J4CKO said:


> I have an old Diamondback Topanga Rigid MTB on road tyres, dug it out cleaned it up so I can leave it at the leisure centre rather than a grands worth of Cannondale and accesories for some scumbag to nick or ruin.
> 
> Anyway, decides to adjust the seat......
> 
> ...



Forget that one for several reasons..
I doubt anyone does a 27.2 mm drill.
If they do, it will cost a fortune (£20, £30 maybe for a decent drill bit)
You'd struggle to control it if you did get it in a chuck.
It probaby wouldnt fit in a normal 1/2 chuck anyway


One of the girls at work has the same problem with a Scott MTB. I've been soaking it with WD ..upturned the frame and sprayed it into the downtube via the bottle bosses, had a mother of an adjustable spanner on the squarish top section of the seat mount...it aint budging yet 
Its not my bike so ive got to tread carefull, but right now i'm running out of ideas that dont involve brute force and potential damage.


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## HJ (8 Mar 2009)

Try Sheldon Brown's advice...


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## Black Sheep (8 Mar 2009)

gbb said:


> Forget that one for several reasons..
> I doubt anyone does a 27.2 mm drill.
> If they do, it will cost a fortune (£20, £30 maybe for a decent drill bit)
> You'd struggle to control it if you did get it in a chuck.
> It probaby wouldnt fit in a normal 1/2 chuck anyway





30 mm drill does indeed cost about £30, it has a narrower section to allow it to fit in a normal chuck, however, unless you've got a drill that has a chuck that uses a key - forget it, the torque it produces when it sticks just spins it in the chuck.


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## Black Sheep (8 Mar 2009)

WD40 and GT85 are the lightweights of unsticking things

you need plusgas or gunk's 'liquid wrench' 

paraffin also works well, but stinks badly (use it to un-stick seized engines)


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## mickle (9 Mar 2009)

Diamondback Topanga is 26.8mm being chromoly.


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## fossyant (9 Mar 2009)

Think it's going to be a plus gas and tip upside down and soak it for a few days sort of job.....


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## 02GF74 (9 Mar 2009)

some posts will even defeat Sheldon Brown. hacksaw sound fine in theory but the post can be quite long inside the frame so you will not get to all of it.

I had this happen - the post snapped off - bit I drilled hole in it and use a punch to lever it out of the frame. lemme get a photo of it.....


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## 02GF74 (9 Mar 2009)

here is photo.

you have to try to cut a slot in the post so as to weaken its grip on the frame.


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## dellzeqq (9 Mar 2009)

The Sheldon screwdriver in the gap and twist tip is good, but bear in mind that an alloy frame will be dented by a steel screwdriver, so see if you can find a screwdriver with a blade that is almost as thick as the gap between the two portions of the seat tube.

Plusgas, repeated once a day for several days. 

Drilling out is iffy - you heat the post, it expands. I've never had the need to do this, but it's always struck me that immersing the free end of the seatpost in dry ice might work.


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## nickb (9 Mar 2009)

Not much use here I know but to help prevent this happening I slide a 3" length of inner tube over the seat post/seat tube to stop all the crap getting into the tube. Works well over the headset too.


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## J4CKO (9 Mar 2009)

Ok, will get some PlusGas, my dad works in one of the last engineering type places in the UK (or thats what it feels like) so they might be able to do something, its fairly well worthless but even though I could go and get another I cant bear waste, as a kid I always felt a bike a was a precious and valuable thing, your transport, your freedom and I seem to have carried that into adulthood so it pees me off when I cant do something or when the kids treat their bikes like crap, plus I like them to see how things get fixed.

Think It might get sent into my dads work but will try the Pulsgas first, tried Plumbers freezer spray to no avail.


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## Ivan Ardon (9 Mar 2009)

You're wasting your time with oily things, you'll need something that removes aluminium oxide. Ammonia solution, for instance.


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## Amanda P (9 Mar 2009)

Ivan agrees with Sheldon:

"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."

The question is, where can one get ammonia? Will peeing on the seat post help at all?

(I ask because I have a bike whose alloy seat post has been stuck for years).


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## skwerl (9 Mar 2009)

Pushing tin said:


> 30 mm drill does indeed cost about £30, it has a narrower section to allow it to fit in a normal chuck, however, unless you've got a drill that has a chuck that uses a key - forget it, the torque it produces when it sticks just spins it in the chuck.



also a major issue being that those drill bits are for masonry. the reason they slip is because you end up breaking your wrists when they jam, hence the reason a decent SDS drill has a clutch.

anyway - have you tried whacking it with a hammer? It will go further in if successful but the fact that it's moved means it will have loosened off and will then come out


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## Ivan Ardon (9 Mar 2009)

Ammonia - I've got it on trips to France before. It's not something you see in supermarkets in the UK. Would a chemist sell you a little?

Peeing on the seat post? Give it a go. Post pictures.


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## simon_adams_uk (9 Mar 2009)

The other option (which I don't think has been mentioned) is clamp the seat post in a vice and use the frame as a lever. This is only if you have enough seat post still visible and used in conjunction with all the other plusgas / ammonia suggestions...

S


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## Amanda P (9 Mar 2009)

Ivan Ardon said:


> Peeing on the seat post? Give it a go.



If nothing else it might be an appropriate expression of contempt for the thing.


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## Piemaster (9 Mar 2009)

Don't some household cleaners contain small quantities of ammonia? Oven cleaner maybe?
Worth a readof the labels in the supermarket if you are desperate.


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## dubhghall (9 Mar 2009)

Ammona based cleaners are often used for cookers and gravestones.

Looks to be available on fleabay . . . . . . .

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/__ammo...word=ammonia+cleaner&MT_ID=11&agid=1382011179

Good Luck


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## Black Sheep (9 Mar 2009)

skwerl said:


> also a major issue being that those drill bits are for masonry. the reason they slip is because you end up breaking your wrists when they jam, hence the reason a decent SDS drill has a clutch.



they slip due to no grip in the chuck and the ones i have are for steel.


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## Brahan (10 Mar 2009)

I drilled a hole in the seatpost and put a big heavy duty screwdriver through it. Then I hooked my car jack to it with the top tube taking all the strain. After 3 full revolutions (enough to lift my golf estate off the ground) it still didnt move so I took it to a mate with a vice and it took 45 minutes to work the dam thing out. I know someone else who took almost a whole day to cut the tube out with an open ended hacksaw....


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## threebikesmcginty (10 Mar 2009)

How about kicking the shite out of it and shouting 'you bastard' now because that's probably what you'll end up doing!


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## J4CKO (10 Mar 2009)

I think its going to the engineering shop to be drilled out, will try the ammonia thing, did try Soda Crystals which come with promising sounding dire warnings about putting it on ally but it didnt seem to do anything at all.


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## Amanda P (30 Mar 2009)

A random thought: I've got some stuff for cleaning alloy car wheels. Does that have ammonia in, and would it help shift the seat post?

I'll try it and let you know.


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## 02GF74 (30 Mar 2009)

J4CKO said:


> I think its going to the engineering shop to be drilled out, will try the ammonia thing, did try Soda Crystals which come with promising sounding dire warnings about putting it on ally but it didnt seem to do anything at all.




washing soda, contains ammonia of some sort - aluminium does not like it.

it would take a faair bit of time to dissolve a seat post, weeks if not longer is my guess; you would need to replace the solution.


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## Bodhbh (30 Mar 2009)

http://www2.uni-siegen.de/~pci/versuche/english/v44-10.html

I'm not sure how it would really work in practice, I suppose it would be fun to see! Drain cleaner is pretty much pure sodium hydroxide afaik. I once split some sodium hydroxide solution on a aluminium computer stand and it left a white scorch on it, despite been wiped off almost immediately. Hrmm some drain cleaner downstairs, wonder what happens if I throw an old chainring in some.

/edit - not been entirely serious, probably make a godawful mess, and it's not stuff you really want to be getting in your eyes, on your skin or splashing about .


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## nickb (30 Mar 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> A random thought: I've got some stuff for cleaning alloy car wheels. Does that have ammonia in, and would it help shift the seat post?


Hydrochloric acid usually.


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## Amanda P (30 Mar 2009)

Ah. But will HCl be any good at dissolving the aluminium oxidey-gungey-corrosioney stuff that is stopping the seat post coming out? Without dissolving too much of the alloy seat post or the steel frame?

It's a fluted seatpost. That's good, I think, because it means I can squirt something corrosive down the flutes to the scene of the action. (But bad because it means salty water was able to run down the flutes to cause the corrosion in the first place...)


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## just4fun (31 Mar 2009)

taken from a fish keeping forum (which also suggested: You could boil some of your urine to sterilise it and use that! If you are really desperate!)

The bottle i got is made by power MAX, i phoned them up to make sure that it was pure ammonia and explained why i was asking.(to cycle my fish tank)

website: www.challs.com 

click on the down arrow under power max and select ammonia.
the other thing you could do is phone them and ask them of a company in your area that they supply.


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## Amanda P (31 Mar 2009)

Urine is pretty sterile when it.. erm, .. comes out.

In fact int' olden days, they used to wash down the walls of operating theatres with it, because it was sterile. It doesn't, though, contain much ammonia. You'd have to distill it.

Useful link, that, though. Ta. Going to try some Wonder Wheels tonight.

If that fails, I may just pee on it!


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## J4CKO (31 Mar 2009)

The old DiamondBack has gone back in the shed, for now.....

Needed the space in my garage and I was becoming obsessed, so decided to leave it for a while and then sneak up on it with some new methods.

The missus has just bought a 1967 Fiat 500 so I expect I will be dealing with even more rusty old metal soon.


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## Amanda P (31 Mar 2009)

Meanwhile, back in my workshop....

Application of Wonder Wheels via small syringe into the flutes has done nothing at all. Worse, I fitted an old saddle (didn't mind if I knackered it).With this firmly attached to said f****** seat post, I fastened in the vice, with the bike upside down on top. The idea was to be able to use the whole bike to increase twisting leverage.

The top part of the micro-adjust thingy cracked apart, so I can no longer attach a saddle.

I don't need to use this bike every day, but it'd be nice if I could! (When it's back on the road, the Flying Banana can go in for powder coating).

Anyway, a bottle of ammonia solution is on order. I'll report further developments.


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## colly (31 Mar 2009)

Caustic soda will dissolve aluminium oxide. It can be bought as a drain cleaner at most places like B&Q or Homebase.

I have never tried to remove a seat post using it though. 

BE WARNED. 

It is NASTY stuff. definitely wear gloves and definitely wear goggles, and when you mix it with cold water beware of the fumes it gives off and the fact that the water will get very hot due to chemical reaction.

Other than that it's as safe as houses.


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## tyred (1 Apr 2009)

Definitely be careful with caustic soda. My hand still bears the scar where I got some splashed on it in the chemistry lab at school.


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## Amanda P (3 Apr 2009)

Ammonia had arrived last night.

I squirted a few CCs from a syringe down the flutes in the seat post and went and had dinner.

An hour later, I fixed the head of the seat post in the vice, with the rest of the bike standing upside down on top. Using the whole frame as a lever, I heaved the bike round, and...












... it moved! The seat post, rather reluctantly, it's true, rotated in the frame. 

There was no way it was going to actually come out, so I squirted in another few CCs and left it soaking. Hopefully, by tonight it will be loose enough to come out.

Watch this space.


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## just4fun (4 Apr 2009)

its quite pathetic, but i admit, im excited to hear the result


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## 02GF74 (6 Apr 2009)

.... and so came back in the morning to see a pool of rank smelling liquid ....


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## cheadle hulme (6 Apr 2009)

C'mon Uncle Phil, spill the beans. I've got an alu one stuck in a steel frame at the moment. I'm reluctant to pour caustic soda on it if it doesn't work...


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## Amanda P (7 Apr 2009)

Sorry, chaps, you'll have to bear with me.

I've been away for a long weekend. I can report that the rest of the bike has not dissolved (it was definitely there when I went by) but I won't have a chance to see what further progress with extracting the seatpost can be made until this evening.

I do feel confident enough to be thinking of ordering a new seatpost though.

I still have the other 498 ml of ammonia solution. Perhaps we could have an ammonia relay, like the jersey relay, only we'll just pass it between members with jammed seatposts?


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## 02GF74 (7 Apr 2009)

did you say where you purchased the ammonia from?


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## Amanda P (7 Apr 2009)

dubhghall kindly put in a link to a Fleabay supplier, which is where I got it from.


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## Amanda P (7 Apr 2009)

But should you need any, I'm happy to send the bottle your way once I've finished with it, which looks likely to be soon. As I say, there are 498 ml left. More or less.


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## Plax (7 Apr 2009)

So the question I'm going to ask is this - What preventative measures can be taken to avoid the dreaded "F***** Seat Post" dilema?
Regular greasing of the stem?


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## Amanda P (7 Apr 2009)

Mine _was_ greased. Although admittedly, not regularly.

Not having a fluted stem, to let salty water run down between the stem and seat tube, would probably help.


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## tyred (7 Apr 2009)

Is there any advantage to a fluted stem? I think I only seen one once.


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## Plax (7 Apr 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> Mine _was_ greased. Although admittedly, not regularly.
> 
> Not having a fluted stem, to let salty water run down between the stem and seat tube, would probably help.



What were you doing, cycling in the sea?


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## Amanda P (7 Apr 2009)

Erm, no. But my ride to work includes a stretch of trunk road. On a damp day in winter, I arrive at work splattered in salty water - I can taste it on my lips, and when I wash my hair, the water comes out grey.

(Mini-rant: I shouldn't have to put up with being sprayed with corrosive liquid just to get to work. The fact that I do is a consequence of a car-based culture. Would most car drivers put up with the same treatment? Don't I have a right to move freely around my own country without the indignity of being sprayed with road muck every day? And that's without considering the threat to my own safety... etc. etc..... and breathe...)

Nowadays, I ride the flying banana in winter (less to go wrong, and less to care about if it does). But this stuck seatpost is the last consequence to be fixed of using my Galaxy for the job.


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## Amanda P (8 Apr 2009)

OK, seatpost junkies, here's the update.

I put the bike back in the vice last night, and found that the seat post rotates a little more freely than it did. A bit more ammonia, and it rotated more freely still. This is all relative, mind you - "freely" here means that I'm heaving on the head tube and seat stays of the frame, with the seat post in the vice, and the bike rotates 30 degrees or so each way (there isn't room in my workshop to rotate it more than that).

Standing the frame the right way up and whacking the seatpin's head with a hammer will drive the seatpost _into_ the frame - but I can't pull it _out_.

The problem is that I need to heave hard, upwards, on the seatpost head, while twisting at the same time.

I've tried turning the bike upside down, with the frame resting on some scrap wood, and hammering on the underside of the seatpost head, but nothing happens, probably because the force isn't applied directly along the seatpost axis.

Next steps: keep applying ammonia, in the hope that as more of the aluminium oxide is removed, it'll become free-er.

I may also try caustic soda (with great care - your warnings are heeded).

Finally, I may make up a sort of giant, engineering-grade corkscrew arrangement to allow a straight pull on the seatpin relative to the frame.

It's a 27.2mm seatpin, in a 1988 Galaxy (531 seat tube). Anyone know if it should in fact be a 27mm seatpin? If so, it could help explain the hassle I'm having...


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## 02GF74 (8 Apr 2009)

is there any of the post sticking out? Then drill/bolt/attach a large block of woodmetal so you can stand on it whilst at the same time pulling on the frame.

if you are able to turn the post, then you are 90% of the way there = don#t hammer if further in.

with the above arrangment, warm up the seat tube, say a hairdryer and then put ice cubes in water into the post and pull - the aluminium allow will contract more than the steel so should come out easier.


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## tyred (15 Apr 2009)

Update Please! Don't leave us in suspenders...


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## Amanda P (15 Apr 2009)

Numerous applications of ammonia solution don't seem to have got me any further forward. 

(For those joining us late, I've reached the point where, with the seatpost head in the vice, vigorous heaving on the frame will rotate the seatpost, but not get it out of the frame).

I've drilled a hole through the head of the seatpost, threaded it, screwed in a length of M8 threaded rod, and tried the giant corkscrew arrangement, albeit with a rather weedy, thin-walled bit of tube. The tube collapsed rather than the seatpin shifting. The principle is sound, though, so I may re-visit that if I can get some thick-walled tube of the right inside diameter.

Shocking force might help, I thought, but hammering on the seatpost head isn't applying force exactly along the seatpost axis. What was needed, I thought, was a slide hammer. So I threaded the head of an old lump hammer onto my bit of threaded rod, screwed on a big washer and a bolt, and, with the bike upside down, thumped away with the lump hammer head sliding along the rod and banking against the nut and washer.

The seatpost _may _ have shifted a millimetre or so. Or I might have imagined it. It's going to be a long job getting it out that way anyway.

So at lunchtime today I'm going to an old-fashioned hardware store in Stamford Bridge to see if they have any caustic soda.

I'm beginning to suspect that, whatever the state of corrosion, the seatpost is actually the wrong size, compounding the difficulty, and that I'll probably have to use the giant corkscrew or slide hammer approach even after the application of caustic soda...

Or saw it off and saw slots down inside its length with a hacksaw blade... erk.

Rest assured, if I get it out, you'll be told.


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## garrilla (15 Apr 2009)

I'm with 02g74f: drill a hole through the post, insert something tough (depending on the hole diameter but go for something very solid) then 'tap' it out, you will get better rotational leaverage this way.


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## Amanda P (15 Apr 2009)

I have all the rotational leverage I need with the head of the seat post in the vice and using the bike frame itself as a lever - and the seat post will rotate in the frame. 

It's just that it's much harder to pull it out than to rotate it; there's nothing to pull against. Hence the corkscrew idea. It works with bottles anyway!

Perhaps I should be posting pictures...?


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## garrilla (15 Apr 2009)

Actually, I should have said rotational leaverage and vertical pull. I had to do this on a rusted seat post on a raleigh racing bike some years back. 

I drilled a hole right through the post - I think I went 4 mm, 6mm, 8mm. Then I inserted a the biggest screwdriver I could find. Then I stood over the frame, one foot on the bottom bracket and twisted and pulled like a mad man. I put much wd40 on, using the rotation to break the rust. Eventually it started to come out, just as you describe, like a corkscrew.

I didn't have a workshop or a vice or any thing else too technical - a drill, a screwdriver set, some wd40 and me mum's kitchen


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## Brahan (16 Apr 2009)

This is what I tried. Drilled a hole, inserted screw driver and attached my car jack to it. I rested it on the top tube but after a few turns it still didn't budge. I got worried about how much stress it could take so didn't push too hard. Removed eventually by lots of force and a vice. Good luck.


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## dodgy (16 Apr 2009)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97, 
Grease your seatpost. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, greasing your seatpost would be it. The long term 
benefits of greasing your seatpost have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or 
reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice....now. 
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you won't understand the power and 
beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of 
yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous 
you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine. 
Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra 
equation by chewing bubblegum. 
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides 
you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you.
.......
But trust me on the seatpost grease.


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## Amanda P (16 Apr 2009)

Now where have I heard that speech before...?

This seatpost _was_ greased. How much worse would it be if I hadn't greased it?

Anyway - update. I got the caustic soda. I mixed a small brew of it, and after the addition of a drop of detergent, squirted some down the seatpost flutes with a syringe.

There seemed to be some reaction going on - dirty grey-brown foam appeared at the top of the flutes. It didn't make any immediate difference to the moveability of the seatpost, so I left it overnight, and this morning I squirted a little more solution down.

I will try shifting it again tonight and let you know the outcome.

(Oh, and I wear sunscreen as well).


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## dodgy (16 Apr 2009)

Hehe, I'm enjoying this thread. Keep us informed!


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## Arch (16 Apr 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> I have all the rotational leverage I need with the head of the seat post in the vice and using the bike frame itself as a lever - and the seat post will rotate in the frame.
> 
> It's just that it's much harder to pull it out than to rotate it; there's nothing to pull against. Hence the corkscrew idea. It works with bottles anyway!
> 
> Perhaps I should be posting pictures...?



If I've read this right.. You've got a 'handle' through the seat post, yes? Could you hang it up from (better still clamp it to) a sturdy beam, and dangle from the frame to twist while applying weight? Get Mrs Uncle Phil to dangle from you, if necessary, although I know neither of you is very chunky. Alternatively, attached some sort of ratchet strap, but that will only pull, rather than twist...

If nothing else, I'm sure we'd all like to see pictures of that!


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## Amanda P (16 Apr 2009)

Arch said:


> If nothing else, I'm sure we'd all like to see pictures of that!



That has all the makings of the script of a farce.


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## Arch (16 Apr 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> That has all the makings of the script of a farce.



Ah, like the vicar coming in just as the belt on your trousers gives way and Mrs Uncle Phil lands on the floor in a heap, holding your trousers and revealing your Union Jack underpants.

Have I thought about that too much?

Actually, I blame In the Night Garden, I was watching it at my sister's last week with little Oli, and the Tombliboos have a tendency to lose their trousers worthy of a Whitehall farce...


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## Amanda P (16 Apr 2009)

Arch said:


> Have I thought about that too much?



Definitely.


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## tyred (16 Apr 2009)

Arch said:


> If I've read this right.. You've got a 'handle' through the seat post, yes? * Could you hang it up from (better still clamp it to) a sturdy beam, and dangle from the frame to twist while applying weight? Get Mrs Uncle Phil to dangle from you*, if necessary, although I know neither of you is very chunky. Alternatively, attached some sort of ratchet strap, but that will only pull, rather than twist...
> 
> If nothing else, I'm sure we'd all like to see pictures of that!



I'd definitely like to see pictures of that. It has all the makings of a Laurel and Hardy film


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## Amanda P (17 Apr 2009)

IT'S OUT!

Details and pics later.


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## 02GF74 (17 Apr 2009)

^^^ just don't let the vicar see it!!!


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## magnatom (17 Apr 2009)

I've only been a lurker here, but it has been entertaining to follow. I'm really looking forward to details of the climax.... I think!


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## grhm (17 Apr 2009)

Woo Hoo! I await details with bated breath - as I've yet to seriously attack own own stuck seat post issue...


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## garrilla (17 Apr 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> IT'S OUT!
> 
> Details and pics later.



was there much blood, do you have scars?


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## Amanda P (17 Apr 2009)

OK, I'm back.

I would like to post photos, but I can't read my camera's memory card. It's wierd - if I plug in the camera, I can read the card via the camera no problem. But if I put the card in a reader, the computer insists it's either not there, not ready, or corrupted.

I don't have the right USB lead with me at work, so you'll all have to wait - unless someone can point me to that other thread which explains how to convince a computer to read a memory card or stick. I can't find it just now.

And if I tell the story without the pics, it won't be so enjoyable.

So, can any geeks advise on memory cards?


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## fossyant (17 Apr 2009)

About time.

Card reader - what capacity is the card - if it's one of the higher capacity cards (over 2gb) and the reader is old, it may not read them.


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## Amanda P (17 Apr 2009)

It's a 512 MB SD card.

I have a 2GB card for my posh camera which always reads no problem in this reader, or via either camera. I know the reader works, and the card works fine in the camera (reading or writing). Just can't read it directly.

I think I used to be able to read it directly, but I may be wrong on this. It may be that the camera sets up some non-standard formatting which PCs can't read, but which the camera can...


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## tyred (17 Apr 2009)

WOOO HOOOO!

A generous round of applause!


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## MacB (17 Apr 2009)

we know that he finally found the secret ingredient, some real muscle, probably supplied by the 10 year old from down the street


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## Landslide (17 Apr 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> ...unless someone can point me to that other thread which explains how to convince a computer to read a memory card or stick...



Percussive maintenance.


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## Brahan (17 Apr 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> It's a 512 MB SD card.
> 
> I have a 2GB card for my posh camera which always reads no problem in this reader, or via either camera...



Are you sure you haven't just shoved the wrong size of mamory card in and got it stuck?


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## Landslide (17 Apr 2009)

Brahan said:


> Are you sure you haven't just shoved the wrong size of *mamory card* in and got it stuck?



If you have, it may well go tits-up.


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## colly (17 Apr 2009)

Brahan said:


> Are you sure you haven't just shoved the wrong size of mamory card in and got it stuck?



Not to worry...........caustic soda will shift it.


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## Amanda P (20 Apr 2009)

Here's the full story.

Caustic soda drain cleaner was the solution (pun fully intended).

I mixed up a small amount, added a dash of detergent (to stop it beading up and dribbling away, rather than going where it was wanted), and over a couple of days, squirted small amounts down the flutes whenever I was passing.

There was grey froth coming out at the top, suggesting a reaction was going on.







Last night I tried some more slide hammering - no effect. I tried drilling through the seat post Frankenstein fashion...






...and putting a 10 mm steel rod through, and heaving on that..






So I resorted to my previous tactic of putting the seatpost head in the vice, with the rest of the bike upside down on top, then twisting and heaving up on the bike frame.

It twisted OK, but it had done that before. Then it suddenly started twisting easier. Then, it shifted out a couple of millimetres (I'd marked it with a pen so I'd know). 






Another five minutes of twisting and heaving and it came out!
















The sticking seems to have been caused by that brown gunge, because when I'd cleaned up the inside of the seat tube and the outside fo the seat post, it fits nicely - clearly, the right size. I've bought a new 27.2mm seat post and that, too, fits nicely.

Could the grey gunge have been something to do with using lithium grease when it was installed?


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## Amanda P (20 Apr 2009)

Oh, and the camera... couldn't get the camera to read the card either, in the end, but when we put the card in Mrs Uncle Phil's Vista computer, it did some clever stuff and fixed it. It's just that second image which seems to have got corrupted and fouled everything up.


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## Chris James (20 Apr 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> Could the grey gunge have been something to do with using lithium grease when it was installed?



I hope not, I have only ever used lithium grease. I have never had a seat post stuck (touch wood) although on my recent bike I have made a habit of regreasing the seatpost every year.


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## just4fun (20 Apr 2009)

Grats on getting the bugger out, but i have to be honest and say im a little disapointed that you figured out the memory card problem so fast as it sadly spells an end to this very entertaining saga. (... i knows thats a horrible thing to say.)


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## tyred (20 Apr 2009)

And so ends an entertaining Seat-Post-Saga.

When is the big screen version coming out?


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## Brahan (20 Apr 2009)

Yay well done! Like just4fun though, I am a bit sad that the whole thing's over.


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## magnatom (20 Apr 2009)

Is it just me, or was the ending a bit of an anti-climax. I'm looking forward to the directors cut and the DVD with the alternative ending...


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## MacB (20 Apr 2009)

magnatom said:


> Is it just me, or was the ending a bit of an anti-climax. I'm looking forward to the directors cut and the DVD with the alternative ending...



nope, not just you, all that anticipation and the end result will be released straight to DVD


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## Arch (20 Apr 2009)

Passing by the Pumping Station in Leicester at the weekend, they had the beam engine steamed up. Apparently they will soon be able to run all 4 beams*, due to finally unsticking one piston that had been stuck since 1960. I wonder if someone has been dribbling caustic soda on it every day since...

*But only for about a minute, due to low modern water pressure.

Anyway, well done on getting that seat post out!


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## MajorMantra (17 May 2009)

Sorry to go reviving old(ish) threads, but I'm dealing with a similar problem. The aluminium seatpost on my beloved fixed is very stuck in the 520 steel frame. I've tried injecting ammonia into one of the bottle cage holes with the frame upside down, but this doesn't seem to have had any effect. It's possible I didn't leave it anywhere near long enough though - I don't really have a secure place I can leave my bike outdoors for prolonged periods.

I'm now wondering if I should try the caustic soda idea. Uncle Phil, did it do any damage to your paintwork? I'm a bit leary of using such aggressive chemicals on my bike as it has a rather nice white paintjob.

Matthew


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## Amanda P (17 May 2009)

It didn't do any visible damage to the paint, Major. I was concerned about that, too. I think the solution runs away and evapourates too quickly to do any serious harm. It says on the bottle that you can use it as paint stripper, which had me worried, but it didn't do the enamel on my Galaxy frame any harm

I have 99% of a bottle of caustic soda left. Would you like some? (It comes as granules that you mix up with water).


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## MajorMantra (17 May 2009)

Uncle Phil said:


> It didn't do any visible damage to the paint, Major. I was concerned about that, too. I think the solution runs away and evapourates too quickly to do any serious harm. It says on the bottle that you can use it as paint stripper, which had me worried, but it didn't do the enamel on my Galaxy frame any harm
> 
> I have 99% of a bottle of caustic soda left. Would you like some? (It comes as granules that you mix up with water).



Thanks very much, that's a very kind offer. I think though that I can get it in Homebase - I certainly saw something marked caustic soda there. That would be probably be just as cheap as posting it. If it turns out to be the wrong stuff I might take you up on your offer. In any case I'm going to be away for 3 weeks so it'll be some time before my next attack.

Cheers,
Matthew


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