Freeing a stuck seat post with easing oil

[Rusty Nails]

Couldn't really be bothered reading any other suggestion that wasn't plus gas. Worked a treat for me earlier in the year.

You were lucky. The seatpost couldn't have been that badly stuck. I volunteer at a community bike workshop where we get loads of old bikes, very often unused and stored in crappy conditions for years, and have had hundreds of stuck seatposts over the years. Plusgas, or other releasing fluids, is our first stop, but only works on a small number of posts.

 

[Slick]

You were lucky. The seatpost couldn't have been that badly stuck. I volunteer at a community bike workshop where we get loads of old bikes, very often unused and stored in crappy conditions for years, and have had hundreds of stuck seatposts over the years. Plusgas, or other releasing fluids, is our first stop, but only works on a small number of posts.

As soon as anything calls for any kind of force, I usually end up destroying something and it may not have been stuck bad but after trying with all my might, I couldn't release it. 24 hours soaked in plusgas was all it needed. Love it.

 

[Rusty Nails]

As soon as anything calls for any kind of force, I usually end up destroying something and it may not have been stuck bad but after trying with all my might, I couldn't release it. 24 hours soaked in plusgas was all it needed. Love it.

Then it was the right approach for you. That's why we always try it first before getting physical.

My favourite way for alloy posts stuck in a steel bike is dissolving the post in caustic soda/water solution. Very dangerous but strangely satisfying. Do not let kids anywhere near it.

 

[Slick]

Then it was the right approach for you. That's why we always try it first before getting physical.

My favourite way for alloy posts stuck in a steel bike is dissolving the post in caustic soda/water solution. Very dangerous but strangely satisfying. Do not let kids anywhere near it.

Used it as a young teenager to decoke my motorbike exhaust and then clean my old man's slabs that were scrubbed that hard they were already white.

 

[biggs682]

Steel on Steel doesn't normally seize in my experience that's not to say it doesn't

 

[Globalti]

I volunteer at a community bike workshop where we get loads of old bikes...

Not in Wigan by any chance?

 

[rogerzilla]

Alu posts in steel frames are worst. I like the slide hammer idea but, if all else fails, cut the post an inch from the frame, cut a long slot down it with a padsaw and then crush it inwards.

They can also be dissolved out with caustic soda in about two days. This is not without risks!

 

[Rusty Nails]

Not in Wigan by any chance?

Cardiff. Been volunteering there 8 years. A mix of retired oldies like me and younger, unemployed.

 

[Illaveago]

If you can get something to fit between the clamp part of the frame to slightly spread the gap, you should be able to get some oil to find its way lower down into the frame. If you can get the seat post to rotate even slightly it may also help in working the oil down. If it starts to move upwards it may help in flooding it with oil and working it back down a bit . Once the oil starts to penetrate further down it should become easier to rotate and pull out .

 

[Globalti]

The oil won't free a stuck part but it will help it to move once it comes unstuck.

 

[DCLane]

This evening I've removed the suddenly-stuck seatpost and the very stuck stem from my Carlton project.

The seatpost was removed by spraying it with penetrating oil regularly for a few days, bashing it down hard and then attaching a saddle incredibly tight. Turning the saddle got movement and I slowly wiggled it up.

The stem had the bolt removed - no movement. Then sprayed for a few days. Finally bashed down then up and out with a mallet.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Put the bike in a vice, gripped by the saddle. Use the bike as a lever.

After success, replace saddle.

 

[Milkfloat]

After success, replace saddle.

In my case, replace saddle, post and frame.

 

[Drago]

Or treat yourself to a carbon post. Can still get stuck in a steel frame though if the frame rusts inside.

Ines reading a bike maintenance article in Cycling Weakly (sic). They said don't use regular grease in a carbon seat post because the hydrocarbons react and damage the post and even cause it to swell. Without blinking any eye then then describe how the wonder liquid hydrocarbon ungent that is GT85 can be used to clean carbon frames...

Going back the the original problem, have you tried Rost Off Ice? Not cheap, but very clever.

 

[Globalti]

I'd have thought that leaving carbon soaked long-term in any hydrocarbon could cause the resin to soften. Just wiping a frame won't hurt though as most frames are painted or lacquered and these light penetrating oils are pretty volatile so they evaporate in a few minutes.