So after seven years of faithful service, the Selle Italia on my trusty Lemond Reno '98 is ready for replacement (it's pretty beat up). Here's the problem: it's hasn't been unbolted from the seatpost since I wheeled the bike out of the LBS seven years ago. The thing is as stuck as anything. Any tips for getting it loose?

The first thing I usually try is to spray a bit of WD-40 in there -- on both ends of the connector -- and let it soak in for a couple minutes. Then wipe it off and give it another shot. A long-handled allen wrench probably wouldn't hurt either.

Thanks for the tip! I tried it but was unable to unscrew the bolt with my puny multi-tool allen key, so I did the next thing that came to mind: walk around the corner and down the street to my trusty one-man LBS. I'd like to think to feel better about my pathetic attempts that the WD-40 had longer to penetrate but let's be honest, he has better tools and is a bit stronger so he had it undone in a jiffy.

That's not surprising. Multi-tools are for emergency use only, and most aren't very good at that. Good quality individual allan keys are very reasonably priced. Get a set for doing real work.

A good quality set of allen head sockets is a pretty good investment as well.

and if all else fails, put a pipe around the allen wrench and then bang on the pipe with a rubber mallet, lotsa leverage!