Fixing a Victorian

[Mickeyspinn]

thanks for the pedal offer. It worked perfectly until the d ring failed. It still might be fixable, but I don’t want unreliability. I’m going to look for something to lock it in place. I’ll use the nos ones until then. I like your idea of enlarging the post. If that doesn’t work I could put on epoxy steel filler and sand it down. I’ll try some 2 part paint first.

You might be able to mount it in your drill press gives you a chance at getting it somewhere near round again...worth a shot before the gauranteed fix of epoxy! Keeps options open till there's none

 

[Nabeaquam]

Back on the collet.

Take a break. Open a can of beer. Drink beer. Cut up can of beer with scissors and make a shim. 0.1 mm thickness if I remember right.

A soft AL or copper shim would be perfect here I think. It's got to be a beer can, not a soda soft drink can.

EDIT: Definitely a diameter issue. I suspect the collet has raised so far up it's hitting the lip of the luck nut. No amount of tightening would solve this problem.

I’ve fixed ovalized head tubes with beer can shims epoxied in place. Good idea, copper and aluminum are soft for it to bite into. I’m on a new kick, cut back on beer, and started drinking the National drink of the Canadian Yukon, the Sour Toe Cocktail. Invented by Dawson City bootleggers, they would toss their frost bit frozen off toes into Canadian whiskey so they would have a momen toe when they had a drink. I have to skip the toe for now.

 

[Nabeaquam]

You might be able to mount it in your drill press gives you a chance at getting it somewhere near round again...worth a shot before the gauranteed fix of epoxy! Keeps options open till there's none

I’m thinking of taking JB Weld steel reinforced epoxy and spreading it on the post with a gloved hand. This stuff is very slow drying. When it’s 90% cured I’ll force it into the loose collet, tighten it up and let it fully cure. I’m thinking of leaving the grease on the collet guts so it won’t rust freeze again. I’ll try this first. It will be easier to remove than a complete epoxy job. I love these discussions we have because it gets me thinking differently.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

I’m thinking of taking JB Weld steel reinforced epoxy and spreading it on the post with a gloved hand. This stuff is very slow drying. When it’s 90% cured I’ll force it into the loose collet, tighten it up and let it fully cure. I’m thinking of leaving the grease on the collet guts so it won’t rust freeze again. I’ll try this first. It will be easier to remove than a complete epoxy job. I love these discussions we have because it gets me thinking differently.

I'd be wary chap of putting it in like that....if that gets into the slits of the collet you'll be right back where you started...it won't close up!
Maybe put the epoxy on the seatpost and wrap a flexy bit of plastic sheet around it then pop it off when nearly cured ....bit of soft candle wax rubbed on the plastic to stop it sticking.
Your not really trying to add that much just take up the dents and a small cost allover.
Maybe epoxy paint could be a better start point?

 

[Nabeaquam]

View attachment 646372

This guy looks like a goon, his hobby must be bar fights on the weekends.

 

[Woz]

I don't get it. What is wrong with both of you?

We got a rank badly pickled and preserved toe which is way too far gone to be sewn back on LOL and you guys are going on about plastic, epoxy stuff, rubber gloves, drying times, curing times - for a 130 year old bike Perhaps because I'm doing a house renovation and I can't stand the 101 of construction - make stuff with a such a crap tolerance and gum up the slack gap with sloppy uncontrollable gooey plop - mortar, solder, mastic, glue, the list goes on.....honestly think you are stabbing in the dark and risk doing more irreversible damage.

My solution involved opening beer. Again just to stress this, involved opening beer ! By now I would have been on my second beer and knew with reasonable confidence how much the system was out of whack / tolerance. If the shim was too thick, I would start be sanding the paint off the bottom 1" of the post and trying again. These beer can shims do work - the only risk is it disintegrating when it deforms and dropping down the seat-tube.

Apologies if this sounding strong - it's approaching bell time soon so my blood sugar levels are dropping fast.

 

[Woz]

This guy looks like a goon, his hobby must be bar fights on the weekends.

If he's a track sprinter, he's probably a hard nut and does some upper body fighting on the track too - elbows, head butts...

 

[Mickeyspinn]

I don't get it. What is wrong with both of you?

We got a rank badly pickled and preserved toe which is way too far gone to be sewn back on LOL and you guys are going on about plastic, epoxy stuff, rubber gloves, drying times, curing times - for a 130 year old bike Perhaps because I'm doing a house renovation and I can't stand the 101 of construction - make stuff with a such a crap tolerance and gum up the slack gap with sloppy uncontrollable gooey plop - mortar, solder, mastic, glue, the list goes on.....honestly think you are stabbing in the dark and risk doing more irreversible damage.

My solution involved opening beer. Again just to stress this, involved opening beer ! By now I would have been on my second beer and knew with reasonable confidence how much the system was out of whack / tolerance. If the shim was too thick, I would start be sanding the paint off the bottom 1" of the post and trying again. These beer can shims do work - the only risk is it disintegrating when it deforms and dropping down the seat-tube.

Apologies if this sounding strong - it's approaching bell time soon so my blood sugar levels are dropping fast.

Ahh it's just a toe...got 9 more get over it !
Beer can shims do work but I reckon it's gonna be too much for the collet to swallow....bit like a petrified pickled toe
And it's Saturday...there's no bell your already late! Typical plumber...slack timing...

 

[Nabeaquam]

Beer can to the rescue, I think and hope. I made the shim as deep as the collet and all the way around the stem. I kept trimming it’s diameter until I could just start it into the collet with palm tapping, until it stopped. Then I tapped, well pounded it, in with a rubber mallet, then tightened until it won’t go any more. I put an 18 inch adjustable spanner on the gallows and used a little force, would’t budge. Never, never, never pound in a seat post tube but I don’t like rules. It goes more than half way around the seat post so it took up a lot of space.

 

[Woz]

Now didn't that feel far more satisfying and more in tune with how it was originally built rather than caking this stuff all over the place?




;-)


So, more than half way around the post means overall the seat post & collet combo were missing roughly 0.06mm in diameter.

It would be worth trying if this holds out - hopefully the post can still be removed if necessary with a bit of grunting. Just how many turns can you get on that lock-nut? It really must have been very precise and finicky.

Hoping this will work out!