Seatpost man , the reverb rises

I’d just like to say thank you very much to John – the alter ego of Chorley superhero the seatpost man, saving us from oxidising seatposts and a lack of basic maintenance.

The reverb in my cotic had broken but it no longer wished to emerge from the frame. I’d had  it in the vice, used mole grips and got as far as the cold chisel. Various penetrating oils and coke ahd been poured down the seat tube.

All this failed, I tried boiling water and drilling the post to put a bolt through to help turn it. Liquid nitrogen was liberated from work. Other than a thoroughly mashed seatpost I had a lack of success.

I spoke to John on the phone after remembering him being mentioned on here.

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/seatpost-stuck-you-need-the-seatpost-man/

John has done a great job – He’s managed to get the post out leaving the frame entirely unharmed and I’ve also had a recommendation for a great pie shop nearby. If you like me have failed to grease / keep an eye on your seatpost and all else has failed I would recommend seatpost man! Thank you.

https://theseatpostman.com/

Not had to use his services (so far….) but always hear great things about him.

Great you are sorted op, sounds like you tried everything you could but John seems to be a wizard of some sort!👍

I had a similar fight with my Gravity Dropper in my old Cotic Soul. I got it to move by pouring boiling water over the frame, spraying cold spray down the post and then hitting the post further into the frame with a big wooden mallet. That broke the bond and then I twisted/pulled it out with the post clamped into a workmate.

I did wonder if I’d end up having to use the seatpost man!

I’m not sure what magic he used but I don’t think I could have done any more to it. I really didn’t fancy using caustic soda on it.

I think he has some very cunning custom tools! Did you try hitting it into the frame before you let the expert take over?

Yes, with lots of hammers, it wasn’t having any of it.

I really want to know how he does it

Great post 👍

John saved my Intense Spider from the bin earlier in the year, although being a carbon frame I had not really tried much beyond cold spray and hot water.

Like Brant I am desperate to know how he does it, my guess is some sort of ultrasonic vibrating tool he has built – similar to the kit they use to pull out stuck diesel injectors.

Regardless, cant recommend John highly enough.

Some form of Antman shrink ray seems the most obvious option.

Another positive here. I drove 200+ miles a few years ago for a reverb stuck in a steel frame.

Top man and has clearly worked something out that eludes mere mortals…

Awesome – a friend of mine travelled all the way from Glasgow and back in a day to use his services!

I’ve also had a recommendation for a great pie shop nearby.

I hope this isn’t a closely guarded secret too?

Glad you got it sorted. I wonder what what witchery he uses.. Youtube has some brilliant clips of people removing stuck seatposts, which I hope isn’t the method he uses.

But..

As a guide a MTB dropper seatpost removal is £99.99 plus any handling/courier charges

Wow! Reason if ever to do routine maintenance.. £99 plus the loss of the posts. Ouch.

Hmm I wonder why a dropper is more expensive than a normal post. Must take a while more faff.

I bet he has some kind of clamping frame that spreads the clamp over a long bit of seat tube so as not to make a mark on the paint and for maximum grip and as long a bit of seatpost as possible, then just has threaded bars or a hydraulic jack to push the two apart and pull it out.

For cut off posts an expanding collet that goes down the post past the end and expands to the seat tube dia, then just pull it out.

In the scheme of things seatposts I think won’t actually be all that stuck, its just you can’t get a hold on them or the frame without damaging either with general tools.

I collect from/deliver to him occasionally, nice chap!

I understand *the problem* that attempting to pull a stuck seatpost out of a frame the frame seatpost tube elongates and tightens like those chinese finger puzzles. I recon if you clamp the visible seatpost with a jig that presses on the frame collar (wound out by a threaded bolt or similar) it’ll bulge the frame seatpost tube and *bang* out it will pop. Well, maybe.

I understand *the problem* that attempting to pull a stuck seatpost out of a frame the frame seatpost tube elongates and tightens like those chinese finger puzzles. I recon if you clamp the visible seatpost with a jig that presses on the frame collar (wound out by a threaded bolt or similar) it’ll bulge the frame seatpost tube and *bang* out it will pop. Well, maybe.

identicalbutlighter on instagram has made one like that

View this post on Instagram

Proper stuck seatpost, this one took some force to remove, corrosion was mainly on un-anodised sleeve in carbon #planetX frame. #bicyclerepair #bicyclemechanic #usesomeanti-seize

A post shared by @ identicalbutlighter on Oct 2, 2017 at 1:07am PDT

A couple of people have now made BB mounted pullers as well.

I want to hear about the pie shop.

identicalbutlighter on instagram has made one like that

Exactly what I had in mind!

A couple of people have now made BB mounted pullers as well.

Would still have the elongation problem though, so they’d need to apply more force.

I want to hear about the pie shop.

Indeed probably worthy of it’s own thread!

So which pie shop is it?

I’ll take a guess at Bowens.

I got the pie from halls and it was good, however Bowen’s seems to get all the internet Fame and is very nearby. Perhaps I need to get the seatpost stuck again to go and do some more testing!

This is how Stirling Bike Doctor does it (3 photos show the setup). Some rig but it appears to work.

View this post on Instagram

Another seized dropper removal #seatpostremoval #seizeddropperpost #seizedseatpost #seatpostpuller

A post shared by Stirling Bike Doctor (@stirlingbikedoctor) on Jun 8, 2020 at 4:30am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Removing a Reverb that was stuck fully inserted in a carbon frame #seizedseatpost #seizeddropperpost #seatpostremoval #seatpostpuller

A post shared by Stirling Bike Doctor (@stirlingbikedoctor) on Feb 3, 2020 at 10:27am PST