divineAndbright

I am incapable of getting a bike that doesn't have a stuck seat post! A $5 beater is one thing, but its no fun when its a rather nice one, especially when its slim pickings for quality bikes, even more so when its your size.

So far the celeste bianchi I picked up yesterday is fated a parts bike. I thought the post was moving slightly, turns out its just the seat rails bending when I hammer the seat sideways, the post is fused in, I don't understand how a bike from the early '90s can get a stuck seatpost.

awc380

Look through the threads for stuck seatposts...or just head to Sheldon Brown.
You got some work on your hands....

mastershake916

I have a fuji espree that had a stuck seatpost, eventually someone brought in a pipe wrench and got it.
I've heard that ammonia can help with aluminum, even though I never got that far.

divineAndbright

Ok, well I got it to move, but I can only get it to move with brute force. I gripped it with a pipe wrench and slugged on the pipe wrench with a huge sledge hammer, I can get it to twist that way but thats it so far, I guess this is good news that it hasnt completely bonded. It is installed really low in the frame and I imagine this is why its so hard to move. I think If I can find a bench vice I may have luck getting it out with a whole lotta twisting.. Ive got the frame sitting upside down and I filled the seat tube with super penetrating oil through the water bottle hole on the seat tube so im gonna let it soak for now which may or may not help.

infinityeye

D+B you have to have a bench vise!

Bolt it to the sink if you have to.

Essential cycle-surgery tools ranked from top to bottom:

bench vise
angle grinder
big ass hammer
bench grinder
long drift punch
big old crow bar
blow torch (or plasma cutter if you dream big)
big ass bolt cutters
f'n heuge cable cutters

sykerocker 

You forgot the jeweler's screwdriver to chip off the last bit of rust.

jacksbike

We used to remove the crankset and bb , put the bike upside down and pour an anti-rust penetrating oil down the seat tube and let everything sit for a day or two. Keep the seat on to use as leverage. Remove the seat clamp bolt and spread the frame clamp as far as safely. In 25 years I did have a few frames where the seat post (usually aluminum) basically fused to the inside of the seat tube of the frame. Another desperation move is to drill a hole through the seat post , about 1/2 of the remaining height sticking out, and put a long thin chisel or metal bar through the hole in order to try to twist the seat post out of the frame. Lots of luck.

jet sanchEz

I've had a similar experience with my Ciocc and I got it out with a pipe wrench as well but I had a long PVC tube that I put over the handle of the pipe wrench, giving me a lot of leverage. Who was it that said with a long enough lever, I can move the world?

edit: It was Archimedes: "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."

edit2: I drew a picture. You need two people because one person has to keep a careful eye on the frame so that you are not ripping the metal. And as someone said, splash some ammonia around too. Good luck!

divineAndbright

I poured a ton of penetrating oil in like so (well through the water bottle hole on the seat tube, when I removed the BB I can't pour anything in that way, I guess the way they put it together.

Anyways though, more progress, Now I dont have a vice so I got the think tank going.. "what can I stick that post in..?" How about a storm drain? yup, I can get it twisting pretty good now, and I can barely move it with my own power with the seat on the post right now.. by tomorrow this thing should be out seeing that I will be able to be a lot more noisy and not get complaints (its 12 am right now!)

unworthy1

storm drain, that's one I've never tried...good on ya for being the "midwife of invention", (I didn't want to risk calling you a "mother") Keep after it, we know you will triumph!

Sammyboy

There's no good putting penetrating oil in - when aluminium bonds to steel, it's immune to that. And if someone puts a seatpost in without grease, ali in a steel frame, it doesn't take very long for that to happen! Empty out the penetrating oil, and put in some ammonia. It doesn't always work, but it can dissolve that corrosion. If it's moving, however, you're on the home stretch.

Gary Fountain

I would try Sammyboy and Mastershake's advice and give the ammonia a go. Forget the penetrating oil.

norskagent

I sacrificed a seat but got a stuck post to turn by wedging the seat in the crook of a tree, and twisting the frame.
Fortunately it wasn't super-stuck, and I didn't have to twist too hard to break the corrosion.

McDave

Penetrating oil stinks bad enough. You ammonia advocates are gluttons for punishment!

I agree ammonia is the best solution for one that has completely bonded, but since he was able to get it to move in the first place, a good penetrating *catalyst* like PB Blaster will do the job just fine. Heck, he can move it by hand now, it's just a matter of time. Keep spraying top and bottom as you work it out, d&b.

divineAndbright

This sucker is now FINALLY out, and all it took was the punishment from a sledge hammer. (hey nothing else was working and the sheer frustration finally took its toll on me). I turned the seat around sideways and layed the bike on the ground right at a ledge so the seat wasnt touching anything and I started slugging the under part of the post with the sledge and my foot over the frame to try to keep it from moving. The frame amazingly came out without a single dent, although it got quite a few marks on it. Now all I need to do is buy a replacement 27.2 seat post (the bolt holding the crappy seat I put on it for the job got completely smooshed and theres no way its going to be removable!) and I can finally ride this thing. (thats gonna be a good months waiting for the post to come in the mail, arrghh!).

jacksbike

Congratulations on your persistence ! I don't believe in all of my years in the bike business that I ever resorted to a sledge, but , whatever it takes. And, this did it, obviously.

mswantak

Yeah, forget that penetrating oil crap; you've gotta employ some next-level chemistry. Ammonia works okay on aluminum oxide, but oxalic acid (wood bleach) busts the oxygen out of any metallic oxide. Last stuck post I had I let soak in oxalic overnight, clamped the post in a bench vise, and two good heaves later it saw that resistance was futile.

cudak888 

Curious, does anyone know if clear anodized seatposts are less likely to bond then those without anodizing? Just a thought.

Take care,

-Kurt