Went for a quick spin tonight and noticed play in my seatpost when I stopped at a gate after a few miles. Grasped the saddle to get a better idea and the seatpost separated leaving nothing protruding from the frame – luckily, I was stationary at the time.
I guess it’s taken a while to get into this state as I haven’t tightened the seat post collar recently. Anyway, I have a snapped Thompson seat post stuck in my Trek 69er Ali frame and I’m not sure how to get it out.

There are 3 slots in the frame at this point and I was thinking of drilling straight into the seat post, fixing a small bolt and nut to give me something to hit with a hammer in an upwards direction. Is this a mad idea – is there a better way?

What you need is summit like a small diameter bearing puller you can slip inside the post and pull the broken bit out

bent coat hanger

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

A THOMSON PRODUCT HAS BROKEN

Trek 69er Ali frame

Geared or single speed?….. anyway i’ll go check mine, can you get any movement at all out of it? does it turn or move in any way?

I don’t know but is it worth driving it downwards into the frame a little to free it before trying to insert a screw and pull it upwards? (loads of disclaimers on that idea of course)

Trek 69er single speed as it hapens.

I can’t get any movement at all – it’s well seized. I’m not sure that a coat hanger would have the strength but it’s worth a try – or something more industrial with a hook. Thanks.

I’m still thinking that if I drilled through 2 of the slots & through the seatpost in 2 places that I could get a strong bar through, which would give me the ability to pull the remaining post out or gently tease it up with a hammer (or pig skin mallet).
Any other ideas before I drill and do something which isn’t reversible?

We have split collets at work that you could slip inside then attach a slide hammer too, I would n’t suggest drilling anything , you may cause a burr that’ll make it even harder to remove. Where are you based? Oh and in the interim turn upside down remove BB and fire a can of WD40 into the seat tube! (block the snapped end up with something first)

If it’s really seized then it’s unlikely to be able to be gently teased up. You could always take a look at Sheldon’s recommendations for removing seatposts – number 13 looks good for you

Whats the internal diameter of the seatpost?

Might be a long shot but could you hammer a star nut into it? Then screw a bolt into it, bung that in a vice and give it some welly.

Hi Amos, I’m in Brighton. I’ll consider bringing it to South Oxford if you think you can get it out. Should I take pictures first to give you a better idea?

Leffe – thanks, just been looking at Sheldon’s. May have to consider that too.

I like the star nut idea too – will measure up tomorrow. Thanks

Good work on the single speed fella!

I’m with Amos and leffeboy on this one, WD40 is your friend!

Yeah that would be good, and dimensions if possible (Post OD/ID and depth into frame)

Cheers Mat

Despite al being usual sarky self, I’m interested to know how a Thomson seapost snapped inside the frame. Never heard of one of those snapping before!

I got lucky, WD40 overnight followed by some gentle plier coaxing worked a treat and the seat post is out. Put the orignal Bonty post back in and we’re hot to trot.
Many thanks for all of your help and advice. I’ll write to Thomson and tell them what happened.