Bicycle Mechanics - Seatpost stuck INSIDE seattube

Please excuse my ignorance; I am new to bicycle mechanics but extremely enthusiastic. I recently bought an eighties Norco Monterey hybrid to take apart and rebuild as a project, but in my haste I removed the saddle and its bracket before checking if the seatpost was secure. I should have known it was not, as when I was riding it home the seat was shifting. Anyhow, as you have probably guessed, the seatpost shot right down inside the seattube. I have not been able to extract it... any advice? I have tried a mallet, and put some WD 40 in the seattube to help it slide out, but so far no luck.

Thanks in advance.

Damn. That is very frustrating.

But take heart, if it slide easily down into the seattube, there will be SOME way to get it to slide back out. But since its way down in there and is not easy to grab a hold of, it may take some creative ideas.

I might try this:

-dose the beejeebers out of with some kind of thin lubricant. Wd-40 would be fine.
-Now, how to get a grip on it? It won't take too much since it slid easily down in there. How about a large screw (maybe attached to the end of a dowel, if the screw itself is not long enough) that you can down there and bite into the seatpost? Even a cobbled together tool should be fine since it is not really attached there with corrosion.

j

if you do a search there are other ideas and success stories regarding your situation. the worst case scenario is you just leave it in there. not a huge deal.

if you do a search there are other ideas and success stories regarding your situation. the worst case scenario is you just leave it in there. not a huge deal.

True. Maybe that takes the pressure off. I will admit to leaving one in a bike long ago. But it slid down in, it will slide back out.

j

Aren't there some seatpost hones that can be expanded??

If so (not positive), then ... covering one with sandpaper, inserting it into the errant post, expanding the hone, and ... pulling ... might work.

Otherwise, you could rig up something comparable by using an appropriately sized rubber cork (think: piece of hockey puck), and driving a FAT bolt into it ... just a thread or two.

Stuck down the seat tube and into the MIA post, screwing the bolt into the plug farther (ratchet w/extension and socket) might create plenty o' friction.

Just some overly-caffeinated notions ;)

Take a spoke, insert in, hook bottom of post, pull.

If one spoke is not long enough, twist two together.

coat hanger may also work. Bend a hook into it.

^ was thinking about that.

Hangers have LOTS of give.

Do spokes?? I genuinely don't know....

If it's /stuck/, then something like PB Blaster may make a big diff.

Dropped posts stick because most frames have single butted seat tubes and the post jams in the taper at the bottom. If they fell in with any momentum it can take a decent amount of force to free them.

First try the easy way. If you have an old seatpost of the same diameter, install it into the frame, clamp it tight, and drop the frame (seatpost first) onto an anvil, (or the pavement). A good jolt will jar the inner post loose, and then keeping the frame upside down, you can remove the protective post, and shake out the first one. Note- This requires a decent jolt, which is why you need to protect the frame with a seatpost.

Next try the reliable way. Buy a toggle bolt (http://www.johsoncn.com/toggle_bolt.htm) and a length of threaded rod. Push the toggle through the dropped post so it expands behind it, then either draw both out with the rod, or use washers and nuts to jack it up off the bottom.

Last, give up. Buy and install a new post, and ride your "reinforced" frame as if nothing happened. Back when most bikes had plain seat "pins" and saddle clamps, many a post was dropped in and abandoned down there. Posts were a buck, and it simply wasn't worth the time to try to get them back if they were stuck pretty well.

Great ideas. All three, and in that order. j


Dropped posts stick because most frames have single butted seat tubes ant the post jams in the taper at the bottom. If they fell in with any momentum it can take a decent amount of force to free them.

First try the easy way. If you have an old seatpost of the same diameter, install it into the frame, clamp it tight, and drop the frame (seatpost first) onto an anvil, (or the pavement). A good jolt will jar the inner post loose, and then keeping the frame upside down, you can remove the protective post, and shake out the first one. Note- This requires a decent jolt, which is why you need to protect the frame with a seatpost.

Next try the reliable way. Buy a toggle bolt (http://www.johsoncn.com/toggle_bolt.htm) and a length of threaded rod. Push the toggle through the dropped post so it expands behind it, then either draw both out with the rod, or use washers and nuts to jack it up off the bottom.

Last, give up. Buy and install a new post, and ride your "reinforced" frame as if nothing happened. Back when most bikes had plain seat "pins" and saddle clamps, many a post was dropped in and abandoned down there. Posts were a buck, and it simply wasn't worth the time to try to get them back if they were stuck pretty well.

Thanks a lot, everyone. I feel a bit more optimistic now. Those all seem like good ideas; I'll let you know if any work out. This is a really supportive forum!

SUCCESS! I tried the coat hanger idea before I took a trip to the hardware store to buy things for the other solutions, and the WD 40 allowed it to slide right out! Thanks again.

Yay!!!

Late to the party, but I've had the same issue with a stuck post, too.

I clamped the post in a vise and used the entire frame for leverage to twist it and get it out.

Please - people - remember to grease the stuffing out of seatpost, except carbon, before installing them. Maybe then threads like this will be a novelty again!

Please - people - remember to grease the stuffing out of seatpost, except carbon, before installing them. Maybe then threads like this will be a novelty again!

It wasn't a no-greasing issue. It fell inside the seat tube. Way different.

I know - my message is the same. We have at least 3 threads a week on seatposts in seat-tubes. The only proactive cure for most of these is for people to drill this into their heads - GREASE THEM. As stands, the OP will be putting the seatpost back in place in the seat-tube. I hope he will do so and grease the thing silly. This one was an easy fix. I'm only surprised that an easy-bend coat-hanger was successful.

Good job!