My buddy just came to me with this problen, we’re out of ideas. Trying to save frame and post but most conventional methods not wise with carbon. Anybody have ideas/experience with a similar situation? Grateful for any help.
round or aero post?
if round spray WD40 and use rubber mallet and hit the seat tip left and right till it free’s up
if aero spray WD40 and use rubber mallet and hit under seat until free.
Have you shot some lube down there. tri-flow works itself into small cracks pretty well. I’d put a bunch all around it and give it a few minutes then try working it out by spinning it.
Worst case I would sacrifice the post and save the frame. cut top off leaving enough exposed you can grab with vice grips. take a hacksaw blade stick it down the middle of the post and start sawing from the inside of the post out. Do this in 2-3 sections around the inside but dont go all the way through, unless your confident in your abilities to not hit the frame. Take vice grips and clamp around the top of the post, hopefully this will cause the post to collapse in on itself making it smaller. It may take some time but eventually it’ll come out, probably in a few pieces.
PB blaster might be more effective than the WD40. Is it a true carbon frame, or carbon wrap over Al. lugs? You could spray some stuff in there, and if you have enough room, pound straight down on the top of the seat tube (to break it free). You will probably have to sacrafice the seatpost. I would not recomment banging it laterally, as it might damage the carbon frame, which is the more expensive of the two parts. Before you get all the way there, are there any other parts which are also stuck. If there is lots of corrosion and stuff still stuck in there, then you may want to rethink the time investing in getting it out, as the frame may be toasted.
Stephen J
Good suggestion. Try warming the area pretty good before you do this. You can use a heat gun (very carefully!!) or leave it out in the sun on a very hot day.
You might also try vibration. Like a muscle massager or something…that might break it free.
See #13 here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/stuck-seatposts.html
The trick is to push the seatpost away from the seat tube without pulling the seat tube. (I know that sounds a bit weird… read it a few times :-)). If you pull the seatpost directly, you create a “Chinese Finger Trap” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_finger_trap with the seatpost and seat tube.
(You could also search on slowtwitch for previous threads on the same subject, e.g. http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3274123 )
My buddy just came to me with this problen, we’re out of ideas. Trying to save frame and post but most conventional methods not wise with carbon. Anybody have ideas/experience with a similar situation? Grateful for any help.
When my seatpost snapped on my roadbike, there wasn’t enough material to pull the post out as it had gotten stuck as well. Their solution; they used a traditional wedge-clamp style stem to connect to the seatpost from the inside of the post. It worked like a charm; of course, this means you have to destroy your seatpost. Worth considering as a last resort before you saw it out.
There was a thread on this yesterday!
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3514689;search_string=blaster;#3514689
I had it happen to me with a steel frame and carbon seat post. I did manage to get mine out and I mentioned what I did in the other thread.
WD40 will get you nowhere. It’s not a penetrant. You really need something like PB Blaster to get into the frame. Then, a lot of hard work twisting the post out.
Have you tried turning the whole thing upside down, stand on the saddle and pull up from the frame…I know when mine has been stuck I just haven’t been able to get good leverage on it…just a thought, never tried it myself
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Had this issue a month ago. Found out afterward the inside of a Felt F2C frame in aluminum as far down as the seatpost goes…good to know what you’re working with.
I tried everything. LBS worked on it for 2 days, no luck. Tried lubricants, soaking in Coke, hacksaw and break the seat it on itself…nothing worked. After trying the hacksaw you’re at the point of no return so ended up buying a 1" hole saw bit and drilling out the carbon fiber. Frame was exactly 1" inner diameter…worked like a charm but can’t be a recommended method and was an all day project.
Good luck, I feel your pain.