Hi all, long time lurker first time poster. I was excited to buy a Nishiki Sport along with an old Motobecane GT from a thrift store last week ($40), and am working with my brother on turning the Sport into a solid commuter bike for him. I can't find much information about it online, but it's a "500 series" black lugless cro-moly frame with neon green accents that make it have to be from the early 90's (right?).

Anyways, the steel seat post was and is stuck in the frame. Upon closer inspection today, I noticed the seat tube has a bulge in it, as though the seat post was jammed into the frame. It's very difficult to see, but easy enough to feel. I've been applying liquid wrench for a couple days now, but the seat post won't budge. I've read up on what Sheldon Brown has to say, and am pretty sure that with enough time and effort and if need be hacksaw blades I can get the post out. My question for you all is, if the seat tube is already stretched out right now, does it even make sense to try? Is the frame toast?

The bulge in the ST might be from the rust/galvanic corrosion. It/they have a larger volume then the base materials have. So when confined this will press on the parent materials. depending on which is weaker there can be a distortion in the parent. This larger volume is why penetrating liquids won't free up every stuck post. At some point during increasingly more excessive removing efforts there is a moment where one says "this sucks and maybe I should toss it out" that's when you pull out the big *** and fire away. If the ST gets damaged from sawing the post out who cares at that point. Andy.

It seems that there's an auto censoring device at work on this forum. The "***" was a word that isn't one of the "seven" that George Carlin spoke of. I'll bet this censor even can't handle a phrase like "son of a ***". Andy.

I just dealt with a too-big post in a frame recently. I didn't know what to do. I could turn it but I couldn't move it vertically to save my life. It was one of the old SR aluminum posts with the hole through the middle at the top for the seatpost clamp. My dad put a bar through that hole, wailed on it with a hammer and it came right out. With something like this, a hammering force was used to insert the post to a hammering force must be used to remove it. You will not simply be able to pull it out.

Good luck.

Is the bulge in the seat tube symmetrical and even? It could be an externally butted tube and the seatpost may be the right size and it is just stuck.

I run into this a lot on the old donors we get in the co-op. I suggest spraying some penetrating oil around the seat post and letting it sit overnight, or even longer. Assuming you don't want to save the seat post... hold the frame securely in a stand (or otherwise block it in in a way that will not bend or dent anything), and use a big pipe wrench with a cheater pipe... try to turn the seat post (but don't put so much force into it you are going to destroy anything you want to keep). Should this not work (sometimes does, sometimes doesn't), applying heat to the top of the seat post without getting the frame excessively hot, and then letting everything cool (you can even do this a couple of times), and then then repeating pipe wrench procedure will often work without destroying anything other than the seat post. The seat post metal and the frame material expanding and contracting at different rates seems to break things free. Good luck.

Thanks, folks. My plan today is to bring out the hammer. The bulge is symmetrical and even, and occurs about 4" from the top of the seat tube. I guess it could be externally butted. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Ha. For a second you had me wondering what a large butt would be able to do for me. But I guess that someone in charge of the forum decided mentioning weapons might be used to intimidate or threaten someone. Oh well, you know what they say. Ours is not to question why, ours is but to get that darn seat post unstuck.

Use a heat blower (didn't say *** ) on the seat tube then spray some CO2 (paintball tank) onto/into the post and immediately twist/pull the post with that pipe wrench.

...for the insanely stuck ones, it helps if you have access to a substantial bench vise, with a pipe jaw, that is mounted in such a way to a solid bench or pedestal that you have room to maneuver around in maybe a 180-260* circle. After spraying the offending junction of post and tube with penetrant (CRC Freeze Off is my anointing oil of choice) from both top and bottom (up from the BB shell), you clamp the sacrificial post in the vise pipe jaw and use the frame itself as your lever arm for torque.

You will either remove the post or destroy the frame eventually. Either way, problem solved. Now celebrate with a beer. Deo gratias

Update:

I've determined, by measuring the seat post from the inside and the bulge on the outside that the seat tube must be externally butted, and therefore rust is the only thing keeping it from moving. I've tried extreme temperature swings (liguid CO2, then boiling water, repeat), and drilling a hole through the post to use as leverage to twist it, and also to wail on with a hammer. No luck so far. I've read really good things about Kroil, which is in the mail, and plan on getting hold of a vise next week. If that fails, I will saw.

I consider this to be the most reliable method of getting leverage and not damaging the frame.

Okay all, the seat post is finally free! Here's how I did it:

1. Apply Kroil
2. Wait
3. Apply more Kroil
4. Insert a socket snugly into the top of the seat post, to reinforce it from deforming.
5. Using a pipe wrench set around the top of the seat post, which is now reinforced on the inside with the socket or other similarly shaped object, and a 4 foot section square iron as a cheater bar, twist it. I had the frame on the ground, which made things easy.

I had tried this without step 4, and had just torn off the top of the seat post (after having blown up the seat clamp trying to tighten it enough so that it wouldn't spin on the post), so I made a clean cut below where the post narrowed, and tried again. I found that a 9/16" socket fit very nicely. After it had begun to turn and I had finished my primal yell, I still couldn't pull it out, so I drilled a hole and put a bolt through the sides of it. I stood on the bolt and twisted/pulled the frame off of the post.

I know this thread is pretty dead, but I like resolution, and also wanted to share my experience for posterity.

Thanks all for your advice and support.

.
...see, it was easy.

You're still not doing it right - There is no mention of beer in your technique! At minimum between step 1 & 2, preferably also between 3 & 4, and certainly after 5.

Haha, you're right. I certainly did celebrate with a beer, but hadn't thought of it as an integral part of the process. Now I know better, and will not make the same mistake again.