Originally Posted by
cehowardGS
You know I was thinking something like that on same order. I was thinking about tap it would a wooded board. I was thinking that if anything was stuck it would be the seatpost. The nut on the stem wasn't too hard. It came all the way out, and it had plenty grease on it too. Will try this when I get home. Thanks for that tip...
you don't need to remove the stem bolt all the way - 1/2 - 3/4 inch or so should be more than enough - then rap the top of the BOLT (not stem) with a rubber/plastic mallet, and the wedge at the bottom should release. It is helpful to keep the threads of the bolt engaged in the wedge to keep it from falling into the head tube (it can be shaken out if that happens).
Take a look at the pic to see what I mean - the long bolt basically pulls the wedge upwards to the opposing slope/ramp of the stem (or the stem is slotted with a conical wedge, same idea) - the tension on the bolt pulls these together, creating an expansion that locks the stem in place.
