Opening to down tube is bent... seat post options?

[drissa]

Hi all

I'm fixing up an old Peugeot bike for my girlfriend. It turns out that someone jammed a cut-down, over-sized seat post into the frame, which has bent the top of the down tube slightly. We've measured and seen we need around a 25.3mm seat post and have tried with a 25.4mm (which seems like it should go in with some grease), but we can't get it in because of the bend.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I've heard you can use thinner seat-posts and clamp them in some way?

Many thanks

 

[400bhp]

Cut the frame below the bend?

 

[mickle]

The only option is to find the correct sized seat post for this frame and massage the frame until it fits.

 

[Cycleops]

Bit of gentle heat on the frame might help. Something like a hair dryer rather than a blowtorch!

 

[Ian H]

You mean the seat tube, not the down tube. It depends on how bent it is. If it's very slight you could get it reamed. Otherwise, intelligent use of brute force with a steel bar (or sacrificial steel seat post) might work.

 

[drissa]

Thanks all. In the end, we found a thinner seat post, shimmed it with strips of a soda can and it fits nicely.