By Jim Langley
A guy with a Sparrow frame came to me at my shop in Vermont around 1978. His exquisite steel hand-made American frameset was so nice I couldn’t believe it needed any work. But when he told me the seatpost had become part of the frame and no one could get it to budge, I knew I was in for a battle.
After trying all the “easy” remedies, I finally had to cut the top off the Campagnolo seatpost and, using a hacksaw blade holder and working inside the post — while carefully avoiding cutting the frame — saw lengthwise through the post. Then I knocked the pieces out with a punch. That was a delicate, scary and expensive repair, but all was well in the end.
Tip: This is obvious, but just in case, before you take any drastic measures to remove a “frozen” seatpost, double check that the seatpost binder bolt in the frame is completely loose.
Avoidance
The thing to understand is that it’s dissimilar metals that tend to have corrosion issues. So if you have a steel frame and seatpost, a little lube will usually keep corrosion at bay.
As soon as you put an aluminum post in that steel frame, though, you’ve got the potential of corrosion forming due to a reaction between the two metals. So, it’s even more important to lubricate the seatpost so that there’s a protective layer between the two metals.
As I mentioned last week, with carbon frames, there are issues, too. An aluminum seatpost can react to the carbon in some cases and corrode. The same thing can happen with a carbon seatpost in an aluminum frame. For aluminum posts in steel frames, greasing the frame/seatpost will do the trick.
Tip: It’s easier to put the gooey stuff inside the frame than to smear it on the post because inserting the post will scrape it off and spread it all over the place. When the grease is inside the frame that doesn’t happen.
You never want to use grease on a carbon seatpost or on an aluminum seatpost used in a carbon frame. Why? Because it can make the carbon too slick and prevent you from being able to tighten the seatpost securely. It won’t freeze but it will likely slip when you’re riding — and that’s an even worse problem.
The same is true of a carbon seatpost in a carbon frame. So, if it’s carbon on carbon, use what’s called “carbon assembly paste or compound” instead of grease. It looks like grease, but it has grainy particles in it that provide the grip to hold and stop the slippage.
Tip: The most common cause of frozen seatposts is forgetting that they need a little TLC every now and then. Partly, this is because nobody wants to change their seat height all the time. But, to protect your bike and prevent a frozen seatpost, you should pull the seat out of the frame at least yearly and make sure that the post/frame are lubricated. If you marked your post or have your seat height memorized, it makes the job easier.
Removal
So you went to raise your seat or to remove an old post and install a new model, and it won’t budge. Now, what do you do?
First, don’t panic and do anything rash. You might get lucky and be able to pull it out by resting one foot on a pedal, gripping the seat with both hands and forcefully rocking, pulling and slightly twisting to extract the post.
Tip: If your seatpost isn’t round (maybe you have an aero model), you can’t twist it much. Instead, you have to rock it. And, with a carbon post, it’s best not to twist it very much because any corrosion inside could score and damage the carbon.
When a post doesn’t move, don’t try to force it out with brute strength because you could break the top of the seatpost off, bend or break the rails on your expensive seat, or even possibly damage the frame.
Instead, what’s usually needed is patience and perseverance. Sometimes it takes a little time to get it to break free, but since the days of that Sparrow I talked about fixing, I’ve learned a few tricks you can try.
Heat
One of the best ways to free many frozen bicycle parts, including seatposts, is by heating them. This will make the part swell as it heats and shrink as it cools, which usually breaks the corrosion bond between the parts.
How you heat the post depends on what you’re working on and what you have on hand for tools. A propane torch can work for an aluminum seatpost. But you wouldn’t want to use it on a carbon one. If your carbon seatpost is frozen in a carbon frame, you’ll want to use a heat gun or a hairdryer. That’ll heat it up and should break it free.
Work carefully with heat, though. You don’t want the flame or hot air to burn any paint, decals, body parts, etc. And don’t touch anything you’ve heated. To protect things in the heat-affected zones, wrap a damp towel around them.
After heating and cooling, you can usually extract the post using the foot-on-the-pedal and pull/rock technique.
Penetrant
If you don’t like the idea of using heat or don’t have a propane torch or heat gun, use penetrating lubricants to break the corrosive bond between the post and frame. They take longer to work their magic than heat and they require careful handling, too. But they will usually work.
Liquid Wrench is one that’s been around forever and works well. You drip it on the crack where the seatpost enters the frame and tap on the seatpost with a rubber mallet or block of wood to vibrate it, which will help draw the penetrant between the parts. Sometimes you have to do this for a few days before it breaks the bond.
Something you might have around the house can work, too: ammonia. Use it just like the Liquid Wrench is used, but read the warning label and be careful.
Tip: If the penetrant doesn’t work and you decide to use heat, clean the seatpost and frame first to avoid breathing the burning chemicals.
Clamping
Even whenusing heat or penetrants, it can take plenty of oomph to remove a frozen seatpost. A good way to get the leverage needed is to use a solidly attached bench vise. It can’t swivel or move, and the bench should be bolted to the wall so it can’t move either.
If you have a vise like this you can remove the seat from the seatpost, remove the clamp parts from the top of the seatpost, invert the bicycle (remove the wheels to make it easier), and clamp the top of the seatpost in the jaws of the vise (using copper/soft jaws to protect your seatpost). See the accompanying photo.
Tip: Some seatposts have tops that can be held nicely by the vise. If yours doesn’t, you may be able to fashion wood blocks to hold it firmly. In some situations, such as with an older post that’s badly corroded, you may want to simply clamp it in the vise however possible and risk ruining it since you need a new one anyway. But, always clamp it so as not to break it.
With the bike inverted in a vise as described, you can hold onto the frame with both hands and turn it to put pressure on the seatpost and break it free. But, do this after you’ve used either the heat or penetrant approach to break the corrosion.
You may have to heat or apply the liquid to the post several times before if finally breaks free, but it usually will. Also, you have tremendous leverage on the seatpost with the bike held like this. Don’t yank or jerk the frame because you can break the top of the post off. Instead, gently rock it left and right to try to persuade the post to turn in the frame. If you can get it to turn even a tiny bit, you can get it out. Good luck!
Another suggestion:
Once the seatpost/frame is in the vise slowly dribble your choice of penetrating lubricant down (up??) the seat tube from the upper bottle cage bolt hole. This gets to the area of the seatpost/seat tube interface inside the frame. Wait overnight and continue as above.
That’s a nice trick, Philip – and most bikes now have bolt holes on the seat tube, too. Good one! Thank you,
Jim
Kroil is a very good penetrant to also try for dissolving rust:
http://www.kanolabs.com/google/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk6nvz7PL5AIVEP_jBx2L4Q-YEAAYASAAEgIEcfD_BwE
Thanks, Andrew. Yes, I have used Kroil, too. It’s actually available on Amazon now too: https://amzn.to/2NWbPIc
Thanks for the tip,
Jim
Jim,
I’ve delt with these “bears” over the years using penetrating oils, heat, and finally ammonia..Using an eye dropper put a bead of ammonia around the seat post and frame. It may take a couple of applications until it sinks in. I leave it overnight. Then flip the bike upside down (like you have in the pic.) putting blocks of wood between the jaws of the vise and the post and tighten. I always use a gentle rocking motion but the post has always loosened and came out.
Good luck
Thanks for the eyedropper tip, Dick. That’s a great idea – much better than risking getting ammonia everywhere.
Appreciate it,
Jim
To keep a seat post from sliding down, a friend uses valve grinding compound. It’s gritty and holds nicely.
Thanks for the tip, Ken. Not sure if valve grinding compound is any easier to get for people than carbon assembly paste. But, I guess if you’re a car mechanic you would have it.
Thanks!
Jim
Regarding using grease on DF posts, I have greased CF posts repeatedly and had no slipping experience. It’s all about the specifics of the match between post size and seat tube opening. If the grease causes the post to slip, then of course use the assembly paste, which is just grease with grit in it.
The seat post may be expendable. After dosing with penetrant use an Air Hammer directly down on the post. The Air Hammer with a flat pounder strikes 1800 – 2200 times per min. Leave the wheels/tires on wich will absorb the vibration. An assistant with a pipe wrench can rotate the post as you pound.. Once the post moves you can extract it. I have removed many items with an impact wrench that std. wrenches would just break.