I knew the seatpost was stuck and I bought the bike anyway. After two weeks of PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, wack’n with a hammer, ammonia, and promising myself to only hacksaw for two hours per day for as many days as it takes—I built this copy of a tool invented by a BF member (can’t find his thread).


Happy Holidays!

Wow, patience, engineering, building, more patience. What does the bike look like?

How doe the tool work?

I take it the saddle fits in the rectangular space and you use the bike frame as a "wrench" while holding the tool stable (against wall, tool bench, etc)?

I have a giant adjustable wrench. I take the seat

off, hold the frame between my legs and twist. I've put a pipe on the adjustable wrench before. Still, It doesn't always work.

I've always used a crook in a tree. There are trees where I live.

Put the saddle in the slot, stand on the tool, and twist the bike. There are two more cross pieces near the ends. The 2X4s are 8 feet long because.


On Topic & Eroica Compliant Ironman

Worked so hard that the seat cover got torn off.
I just recovered a saddle today.
how harmonic.

That was a sacrificial saddle that didn't take too much of a beating. The Hinault Turbo that came with the bike is OK.

Flutes and cut out sections are just BEGGING to stick a seat post when they aren't north of the seat lug clamp. The old "French Fit" You won Classtime, bravo!

Just a warning to others looking at trying this method, you can damage the frame twisting it. I bent a frame doing a similar method to this, replace lumber with a sturdy workbench and a big vise. Glad it worked here!

Quite a worthy save. Way to go!

Yeah, I use a big yellow birch out in the woods near my house. There's always a chance of wrecking the frame in the process. But I've been careful enough--or, let's be honest, lucky enough--enough to avoid that outcome so far.

So jiangshi & jonwvara do you cut down the tree and mill it into lumber to make the tool Classtime showed?

Funnily enough, we have a logging job going on at our place now. A lot of ash and soft maple has gone out, and some yellow birch. But the particular tree I always use doesn't have a merchantable log in it, so it's off the hook--all it has to do is stay there, make shade, and wait for me to show up with a bike every few years. Nice work if you can get it.

Anyone ever try Coke Classic down the seat tube? Inverted of course.

That would be my invention...! I used 2x6

glad it worked for you. Key is in trying all sorts of penetrating oil, but AlO2 is largely undissolvable I guess. I also place the sacrificial saddle under two boards once cracked to hold the seat as I lift and twist up.

Second key is making sure the plane of the twist is perfectly perpendicular to the seat tube, or you can torque the seattube.

I am 3 for 3 so far with the tool.

Actually I was going to purchase a used 85 Torpedo from someone but found a stuck seat post. I declined after pointing that out. The older gentleman bike collector and his son in law worked on it and months later the post was out. A bit of damage from a big wrench. They said they used the Coke in the seat tube. I did wind up purchasing the bike.

Bliliant IMO jdawginsc
My workbench is a heavy mofo and the last time I clamped a seized SP in the vise, twisting the frame moved my bench. (Had to hacksaw that post.)

RJ the bike guy has a number of videos on how to remove a stick seat post, but this brings out my inner Tim Taylor:
Total loss of the seat post, but less dangerous than brute force twisting.

Glad it all worked out for you.

One of my favorite RJs. He went to elaborate lengths!