WolfRyder

Worked out what I thought was a decent deal on this bike...


..I am getting the whole bike minus the PowerCranks. However the bike shop where it is to be packed just informed me it has a stuck post. I thought the worst right like the previous owner jammed the wrong size post in the seat tube. The bike shop guy said no, right size post just stuck and has put penetrating oil on it. I said well first off I am not in a hurry, why don't we wait and see what penetrating oil does over weekend and I will check back on Monday.

So I guess I could do one of three things. 1. Have the shop ship the bike as is (shipping will be more btw) 2. Have them try to pull it?? hopefully with no damage. 3. return the bike.

Really like the frame is my size and have perfect complete group from another bike I want to build it with. (Ist generation Black Dura Ace )

Input appreciated.

AnkleWork

4. Hacksaw.

bikemig 

Hacksaw plus a price cut.

TimothyH

Online dating is tough. Don't fall in love with a picture. Wait until you meet them first.


-Tim-

WolfRyder

Hah hah ok fine i can take a joke and I know what a good bike is and can ride ok, but am not a mechanic. ( meanwhile trying not to lose too much cash.)

What is the usually the least invasive fix here? How do i know if it is really bad? Some stuck posts are worse than others right?. I know I am out if it ever came to heat treating.

Are you guys being serious about hacksawing? If I do that will it pull out easier

bikemig 

14 Ways to Unstick a Seatpost

No. 12 is a hacksaw.

WolfRyder

Ok thanks I guess it is case by case and different techniques can be employed. Have you had this happen and been able to get the post out with no damage?

Andrew R Stewart 

Yes and no. This is a major issue to not be mentioned. Alone this lack of honesty would make me rethink the whole transaction. Like what are you willing to pay for a bike that will never fit you? Andy.

WolfRyder

Yeah the seller is a ebay newbie and says bikes were her late husbands. She doesn't know anything about bikes so am thinking she wasn't aware of stuck post.

3alarmer 

...in my time at the local bike co-op here, I probably pulled maybe 40-50 stuck seat posts over a five year period. For the number of bikes I saw over those years, that's probably not a very high percentage, and of those, the majority of them were successes.

There were a few that were unsuccessful, and I am aware of all the suggested methods in that list.

Of the unsuccessful ones, one of them broke loose to the point where the frame would spin on the post, but for some strange reason it seemed to have established some ridging inside the seat tube, so it would not move either up or down. Couldn't get it out with two guys (one twisting and the other pulling on the frame) and the post firmly fixed in a large bench vise. Never did figure that one out. One other broke loose and tore off part of the seat tube at the seat lug, so that one was instant junk.

All the rest of them worked very well. I have never actually had to cut one out using a hacksaw blade, and it would have to be a pretty special frame, because it's labor intensive and a bit tedious.

Personally, I would not just tell some guys in a shop far away who I don't know to go at a frame/post like this that I cared about, especially if the seller knows nothing about bicycles. it would be swell if all bike shoop employees were both conscientious and knowledgeable, but that's not the world we live in any more.

There really is a small percentage chance that the removal process will damage the frame, even if done by someone who more or less knows what he is about. And I think if you make that call, you kinda give up on any recourse from the seller. If you decide to go ahead with the purchase, I'd say get it shipped with the post in place and hope you can find someone locally to help you remove it.

3alarmer 

...actually, you make a couple of cuts and fold the thing inside the seat tube. If the post is pretty far down into the frame, it's actually kinda difficult to do. Sometimes there is a lot of post down into the seat tube.

merziac

First off, do not let the shop do anything else, you may have no recourse.

2nd, are you saying the shipping is going to be more than the unreasonable $149 in the auction?

Why would you change from the mostly original Campy that it really should have?

I would contact the seller and tell them that they can make the price and shipping right or cancel the sale, make not as advertised claim, etc.

This is a very desirable bike and I would also want to see it through, but this could easily go more wrong.

CliffordK

The auction price looks quite good for the bike. The Power Cranks will be worth half the cost of the bike + shipping. And the Campy Groupset the other half.

E-Bay rules are that the seller has to ship at the estimated price, and merziac mentioned, $144.10 is quite a generous shipping allowance. Although, obviously that is including shipping + shop time for disassembly and packing. Even so, the shop should have built some allowance into their quote.

I'd definitely consider hacking off a Campy seatpost as a very last resort. I've never encountered a stuck post, so I'd like to get one to play with and see what all the fuss is about. But there should be lots of opportunity to save both the post and frame before getting to that.

You can use it as a bare frame for a project, but consider using it as built first (with different cranks if you desire). Sewups ==> Clinchers?

Trakhak

Whenever we had a badly stuck seatpost at the shop where I worked, we would take the bike to the car mechanic at the service station next door. He'd grab his pneumatic hammer and get the seatpost out in about 5 seconds.

In this case, if saving the seatpost is a priority, I imagine that the shop could come up with a way to protect the seatpost from the pneumatic hammer. For example, they could wrap the post with a few layers of aluminum from a soda can, immediately below the head of the seatpost, and then clamp a large vicegrip onto the aluminum shim material such that the air hammer would impact the vicegrip and not the seatpost itself.

WolfRyder

All good info thx 3Alarmer.

WolfRyder

Yeah I think I will ask the Seller for a price cut, tell the shop from afar to leave it be and ship it As is and try to deal with it locally

WolfRyder

Yeah funny the Seller originally had the shipping way to low and I told her so, then she raised it too high. Once she found out about trying to figure it all out, she just ended up refunded me the shipping and is letting me deal with it.

NR Campy is correct but pretty common on a bike like that. I just think that first Gen Black Dura Ace would be pretty sweet on it.

WolfRyder

The PowerCranks weren't included in the deal and not even sure what type of Post it is. Brakes are not bad but also down grade from Campy. They are Modolo Speedy

WolfRyder

Ok interesting the whole pressurized air thing on the pneumatic hammer must do the trick then. Yeah I don't even care about the post. I am concerned mostly with the frame.

fietsbob

this thread is just the latest addition to abundant prior posts on the subject 'Stuck seat post'

Bike Forums - Search Results

texaspandj

Yes do that.
I had a seatpost stuck from Hell. I tried most things recommended but didn't have the courage to put on a vice and turn frame. So I left it and put a low profile saddle on it. It was higher than all my other bikes but surprisingly more comfortable and efficient. So now all my bikes are set at that height. Crazy but it worked for me. One day when I get up enough nerve I'm gonna get it un-stuck.

merziac

Please be very careful if you go this route, an air hammer will easily take the frame with it if things go wrong, it is for stubborn tough, stout, machine, car and truck parts which a bike frame is not. As a FoMoCo and ASE Sr Master Tech I can tell you how easy it is to screw things up with an air hammer.

Good to know about the shipping.

I get it about the black DA and agree it will be cool, just keep the Campy around and build the rest of it for another time.

Very jealous of this frame, I'll get one someday, Have a rough fastback Pro, a pretty straight well patined Super Tourer, and a couple of Grand Prix's.

Very interested in this project, please keep us up to speed.

WolfRyder

Good News!, looks like the penetrating oil set in over the weekend and post came out without too much trouble after all. Whew, All these Stuck post stories you hear about I was thinking it might be a bear. I will report back when I get the bike.

merziac

Excellent news indeed! Very good, now you can get on with it.