Help! Stuck Seatpost...

[PeterF]

Recently while performing some long overdue maintenance on my winter bike, I was alarmed to find that the seatpost has become essentially welded to the frame. The post is a Ritchey Pro (2014 alumium) and the frame is a Pinarello Surprise (7005 T6 Aluminum). Can anyone recomend a good solvent to break this free? Fortunately, it is stuck at the right height, however, I would like to take it out and clean it once in a while (I wish I had done this more often..). Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[serenaslu]

Recently while performing some long overdue maintenance on my winter bike, I was alarmed to find that the seatpost has become essentially welded to the frame. The post is a Ritchey Pro (2014 alumium) and the frame is a Pinarello Surprise (7005 T6 Aluminum). Can anyone recomend a good solvent to break this free? Fortunately, it is stuck at the right height, however, I would like to take it out and clean it once in a while (I wish I had done this more often..). Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Take a gander at:
http://sheldonbrown.com/stuck-seatposts.html

and some previous posts:
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t200611-.html
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t116839-.html

 

[PeterF]

Take a gander at:
http://sheldonbrown.com/stuck-seatposts.html

and some previous posts:
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t200611-.html
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t116839-.html

I read Sheldon's article (thanks), and I guess I would like to know if anyone has had success with the ammonia method. Also, can I apply it without removing the bb?

 

[jhuskey]

I read Sheldon's article (thanks), and I guess I would like to know if anyone has had success with the ammonia method. Also, can I apply it without removing the bb?

Penetrating oil followed by heat from a small propane torch.
I have used this method several times and it works,you may need a little twisting leverage from a pipe wrench.

 

[el Ingles]

Penetrating oil followed by heat from a small propane torch.
I have used this method several times and it works,you may need a little twisting leverage from a pipe wrench.

may not work in this case ( better for ali / steel problems ) but you could try cooling the seat pin with ice or one of the freezing sprays , though in this case NOT the seat tube .
ali contracts a lot when cooled so if you can cool the pin and heat the tube it might loosen enough to move it .

worst case : take it to a good enginering company and get the pin bored out of the frame - not hard to do with the correct tools but not to be done at home , ever

ps don´t use lithium grease when re-instaling as there is some evidence that when used with ali there can be a galvanic reaction in some cases .

 

[Sprint2Win]

Recently while performing some long overdue maintenance on my winter bike, I was alarmed to find that the seatpost has become essentially welded to the frame. The post is a Ritchey Pro (2014 alumium) and the frame is a Pinarello Surprise (7005 T6 Aluminum). Can anyone recomend a good solvent to break this free? Fortunately, it is stuck at the right height, however, I would like to take it out and clean it once in a while (I wish I had done this more often..). Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

WD-40 over a period of a few days, with some twisting and tugging in between.

 

[dhk]

WD-40 over a period of a few days, with some twisting and tugging in between.

Good point about giving the solvent a few days to work. If that doesn't do it, I'd try the heat/cool technique that el ingles mentioned.

Dry ice (frozen CO2), if available would work better to than plain ice due to its extreme coolness (-109*F) and the fact that it melts directly into gas form, not into a liquid while you're working with it.

 

[el Ingles]

Good point about giving the solvent a few days to work. If that doesn't do it, I'd try the heat/cool technique that el ingles mentioned.

Dry ice (frozen CO2), if available would work better to than plain ice due to its extreme coolness (-109*F) and the fact that it melts directly into gas form, not into a liquid while you're working with it.

ps , use a BAG full of ice , you can get a much lower temp by adding lots of salt ( the change of state from solid to liquid requires energy so the temp falls , latent heat of ... whatever ) but do keep salt away from ali - though if you can get access to dryice it would be a lot better .
pps : only apply cold to the pin in your case . do note that the twisting and pulling does tend to get everything rather hot so this might be the perfect time to cool the pin .