Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

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Robbied196
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Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by Robbied196 »

I thought I'd post this in case it becomes of some future use to someone, if one of the mods wants to give it approval and move it into the right place :).

There's a few items on the internet about siezed seat posts, Sheldon Brown covers most of the options for removal. However, there is a difference between a tight seat post and a seized seat post. I've had my share of tight posts over the years :shock:, but basically if you can grab the saddle and twist even 2mm movement out of them, they will 'eventually' come out with patience and loads of WD40.

What I'm posting here is the removal of a totally seized post. The common suggestion is to clamp the post in a vice and use the frame to twist it out. Not only can this put extreme pressure on the joints of the frame it can also cause stress cracks to the paintwork. The answer is to make sure its removed as easily as it went in!

Step one: You will need a 'NEW' 300mm long, 24tpi HSS hacksaw blade. Buy a 'good' one, there's no point in making a job even more difficult by using a cheap blade. The pic below is the state of the blade after cutting the post. Wrap a cloth and some tape around to make a padded handle. Do it on the end so that the saw teeth face backwards, so your cutting as you pull the blade out of the post.

DSC01946.JPG
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Step two: Saw off the top of your post. This is the moment of no return, there's no trial and error, once you cut off that top you have a completely useless frame :twisted: Cut about 1" from the top of your seat tube. Its also worth noting that the particular post I'm removing was solid aluminium for the top 4". So if your post is set very low you may need to centre punch the cut off post and drill through. Fortunately, in this case I didn't have to do that.

DSC01942.JPG


Step 3: The most important part to get right is the start of the cut. Best to get the frame flat. I used the kitchen worktop whilst the wife was out :) It also stops all the filings falling down into your axle. Get a stool to sit on, this will take some time! Make sure you start cutting slowly, keep the blade level and square to the post so you cut at 90 degrees. You want to be taking the shortest route to the edge, no need for a detour! I had a 5" length of post to cut through, it took about 20mins to get to the photo below.

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Step 4: Slow and steady, slow and steady, keep the blade straight and use smooth strokes. It will look like nothings happening, the only evidence will be the silver fairy dust around your feet. After about 90 mins you should begin to break on through to the other side! As Jim Morrison said :) Be careful with the last few cuts. This is all about 'sound' and 'feel'. Listen to the note change as the blade gets close to the end, wrap your fingertips around the seat tube where you think the bottom of the post is. (if you flick the steel tube with your nail, you should hear the note change from a ring, where the tube is hollow, to a thud, where the post is inside the tube) The last thing you want to do is start cutting through the steel of the frame. But if you feel and listen that won't happen. As you near the end the blade may start to stick, its best at this point to keep lifting the blade from the slot. If you've got a vacuum handy, suck out the debris and carry on.

DSC01947.JPG
DSC01947.JPG (116.92 KiB) Viewed 5215 times


Step 5: Now your frame can go into a vice, tighten so the cut closes together and pull off the frame.

DSC01950.JPG
DSC01950.JPG (123.39 KiB) Viewed 5215 times
Last edited by Robbied196 on 2 May 2012, 4:26pm, edited 4 times in total.
Robbied196
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by Robbied196 »

Just to prove it did come out!

DSC01952.JPG
DSC01952.JPG (121.42 KiB) Viewed 5214 times
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hubgearfreak
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by hubgearfreak »

well done that man. and a reminder to all to remove and coppergrease their seat posts. NOW.
Robbied196
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Location: Shrewsbury

Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by Robbied196 »

hubgearfreak wrote:well done that man. and a reminder to all to remove and coppergrease their seat posts. NOW.


Thanks :)

Grease is the word!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_vcwgVTUhs&feature=fvsr
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Si
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by Si »

hubgearfreak wrote:well done that man. and a reminder to all to remove and coppergrease their seat posts. NOW.


And while you are at it - do your quill stem too! I could have taken some equally horrific pictures of me getting mine out recently :cry:
Brucey
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by Brucey »

good work fella!

You were lucky, it was only 5".....

I was 'volunteered' to remove a seized MTB post from a road frame. I used a radial pillar drill with the frame clamped to the side of the table. A 1-1/16" drill did the job but it was sphincter-twitching stuff....!

+1 for copper ease!

cheers
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Mick F
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by Mick F »

CJ took the P out of me on a thread a while back when I extolled the virtues of stripping a bike down from time to time.
I still stand by what I said. Take your bike apart every year - pull every single bit off, and reassemble with grease.

CJ suggested that we should take out houses apart and reassemble all the bricks .................
Mick F. Cornwall
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hubgearfreak
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by hubgearfreak »

Mick F wrote:I still stand by what I said. Take your bike apart every year - pull every single bit off, and reassemble with grease.


sounds like good advice to me (especially if it's a valued one like yours).
excludes those bikes that have grease nipples in the BB/headset. just squirt out the dirt :wink:
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Mick F
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by Mick F »

Grease nipples on the BB threads, pedal threads, seatpost, quill stem ??
Mick F. Cornwall
shampooefficient
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by shampooefficient »

That is brutal. I repeatedly soaked my missus' one (its previous owner had left it outside for about a year) in oil and penetrating fluid, with the occasional bit of friendly persuasion with the knocking stick. Took about a week and it eventually came out in one piece...
oldcycleguy
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by oldcycleguy »

hubgearfreak wrote:a reminder to all to remove and coppergrease their seat posts. NOW.


You are ill-advised to use copper grease on a bike as it is meant to be used in high temperature applications like vehicle brakes and exhaust nuts and bolts, and the copper in the grease could actually cause corrosion on a bicycle when compared to other greases.

You should use a water resistant grease which you should be able to obtain from a boat chandler. I use Duckhams Keenol grease, which contains zinc oxide, it is probably that which gives the grease the corrosion resistant properties. Unfortunately, Castrol appear to have discontinued all Duckhams products, the b*****ds. I Googled "water resistant grease" and found this "K99 Water Resistant Grease" that is meant for marine environments, I have no knowledge of it's effectiveness though, see:-

http://www.morrislubricants.co.uk/scrip ... roduct=163
Rides Raleigh Routier with improved spec.
Brucey
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by Brucey »

oldcycleguy wrote:
hubgearfreak wrote:a reminder to all to remove and coppergrease their seat posts. NOW.


You are ill-advised to use copper grease on a bike as it is meant to be used in high temperature applications like vehicle brakes and exhaust nuts and bolts, and the copper in the grease could actually cause corrosion on a bicycle when compared to other greases.


In theory this might be true to some extent. In practice copper ease is much the best thing you can easily find to put on a wide variety of bicycle, motorcycle and car components that might otherwise seize up.

If (say) brass shims are known to foster 'deadly corrosion' if installed in similar positions, then worries about copper ease causing corrosion might have some basis.

However I'd suggest that this is an unlikely happenstance. Any evidence that copper-ease fosters corrosion would be interesting to see.

cheers
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hubgearfreak
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Re: Siezed Seat Post Removal - For Masochists Viewing Only

Post by hubgearfreak »

oldcycleguy wrote:You are ill-advised to use copper grease on a bike as it is meant to be used in high temperature applications like vehicle brakes and exhaust nuts and bolts, and the copper in the grease could actually cause corrosion on a bicycle when compared to other greases.


if the copper in copper grease caused corrosion, wouldn't it just cause corrosion quicker at exhaust pipe temperatures?
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Mick F
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Post by Mick F »

Copper grease - brilliant! :D

Any grease, is better than no grease, so what you coat stuff in is besides the point really.
Just pull things apart, grease them, and put them back again.

Do this every year - do not leave it until you're too late.
Mick F. Cornwall
mattsccm
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Post by mattsccm »

Re Keenol.
A long standing idea. And it has a tenuous link to modern racing at the highest level.
In the mid '80's the head of Outdoor Ed at Bangor Normal College was John Brailsford. Recognise the surname? Daves dad. Well he was/is a bikie of the old school and many a OE lecture was spent on bike maintainence. Keenol featured regularly. We got it from boating shops.
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