Howdy -

I'm feeling kind of stupid here, but I can't seem to loosen the bolt that holds my saddle on.

I need to put a brand spankin' new Brooks saddle onto my mountain bike to start breaking it in, but cannot for the life of me loosen the bolt. The mountain bike is about 15 years old, has seen a lot of use and mud, and given that I'm not the most persnickety of people, hasn't seen a lot of maintenance.

I was thinking WD-40 and an allen wrench that is less likely to snap.

Any ideas?

A penetrating oil (look for something a little more specific that WD-40) might work. On the other hand, the bolt on a seat post is rather large and hard to twist off - usually a 6mm, which is stout. If it does twist off, seat post are cheap and the binding mechanism is such that it should just fall apart if the bolt breaks. That is if you have a 'normal' micro adjust post.

Or you could just get a new post. As my daddy always says, "Don't wassle with the pig, son. You just get dirty and the pig has all the fun."

A trick I've learned for rusted bolts is to heat the bolt with a torch and apply candle wax to the threads. The wax will penetrate the threads and make removal easier. Be careful!

PB Blaster is the oil that you need. It's like WD-40, but it works. It's available at most auto parts stores.

Yes, that or liquid wrench, available pretty much any hardware store. Just spray it on and leave it in the sun for a few hours. Sheldon Brown has a helpful page on his sight, give a search for it. Good luck, TY

pepsi cola, not coke.