Stuck seatpost orange clockwork

[aledpc]

Hi guys,

Im in the middle of bringing my Orange Clockwork back to life after a decade in my dad's shed. I will also be restoring the Manitou Sport fork I had on it (if the new elastomers I have ordered ever arrive.

My biggest issue is that the seatpost seems to be stuck, and I really mean stuck, I've tried every type of lubricant with all kinds of grips and mallets to try and move it. the frame is steel and the post is alloy, so I'm thinking there may have been some kind of reaction between the metals that has joined them... is that even possible?

Another theory is that the post has expanded, if you look closely at the pic attached, you can maybe see that the down tube seems to have been pushed out by a expansion of the seatpost inside.

Either way, I would like any help with ideas for releasing the seatpost. I don't want to try and break it off as it is in the right position for me at the moment, so if I cant release it I'll just have to live with it being stuck at that height.

Heating the frame is one option to expand the steal, but its likely to damage the frame.

Also, while Im asking, I'm also after some replacement decals, I have sourced two of the down bar decals, and am now looking for the main ORANGE ones and the CLOCKWORK ones, as well as the front badge decal.

Any help appriciated.

Thanks

Aled

 

[cornholio's RC200]

If you put 'stuck seatpost' into the search facility you will find more advice on removing seatposts than you can imagine. There's loads of things that can be done. Try Sheldon Brown's site as well. It's likely that galvanic corrosion has caused the bulging you see.

BTW - looks like a nice frame; be sure to add 'in progress' shots of your rebuild

 

[marin man]

If you need any help or advice with regards to the manitou,pm me I will be glad to help

 

[aledpc]

If you need any help or advice with regards to the manitou,pm me I will be glad to help

great thanks, I have taken them apart, and cleaned them all up, was undecided weather to convert to springs or not, but decided to go for new elastomers. I ordered them on the 2nd October, and they are yet to arrive.

I'm hoping everything will slot back together very easily, and hoping that all the parts are ok to use again, even the little round clips in the seal, that took me ages to work out they were there and how to remove them.

If I do run into any dificulties i will pm you for advice. or if you have any obvious pointers, please let me know, I will start taking more pics and add them here as i go.

cheers

 

[marin man]

No probs.you know where I am if you need any help.

 

[Anthony]

If you're happy with the height, you could just leave it as it is, there's nothing to worry about. The bulging of the seat tube is the external butting that is part of the design, to make the tube stronger at that point where it is welded.

In my experience, the post and tube aren't actually bonded together, although you could be forgiven for thinking so. Most often they are seized with some substance that reacts between them that is extremely high friction and makes it very difficult to un-seize them. But it isn't stuck to the frame, so if you could un-seize them you wouldn't do any damage.

If you want to get it out, most likely you'll have to cut the post just above the frame and then cut two lines down the inside of the post, say 5mm apart, until you can get a screwdriver in and lever out the strip. The remains of the post will then come out irritatingly easily and you'll wonder how it could ever have seemed so stuck.

If you heat the frame, you will destroy the paint which is more valuable than the seat post and I very much doubt whether it would work anyway.

Gil_M on this site will supply you with excellent and authentic stickers, if you tell him what year the frame is. I can't quite tell from your pics, but it looks as though it might be a 1993. Tell us the serial number (under the bb shell) and we can confirm.

 

[aledpc]

Thanks guys, I went on shldon brown's site and found these two options which i will try this week:


"heating is worse than useless when you are dealing with an aluminum seatpost stuck in a steel or titanium frame, because aluminum expands twice as much as steel for the same increase in temperature. In fact, the exact opposite technique will often do the trick for aluminum seatposts--cool the seatpost down as rapidly as possible. the seatpost can shrink it down just enough to do the trick."

"Aluminum seatposts frequently become stuck by corrosion also, and penetrating oil is almost useless against aluminum oxide. Fortunately, aluminum oxide can be dissolved like magic by using ammonia"

Failing that I will just leave it where it is, and if I do need to move it in future, I'll just have to cut it off and get a new one. (I do have a suspension post I could use, but I have never felt the suspension to be much use on it even at the softest setting, and it adds a lot of weight to the bike)

I have contacted Gil regardign new decals, he is away at the moment, but he has said he should be able to help me out when he is back.

 

[Anthony]

"Fortunately, aluminum oxide can be dissolved like magic by using ammonia"

Unfortunately, as he also wrote, aluminium oxide isn't the only thing that can be dissolved like magic by using ammonia!

e.g., paint

 

[02gf74]

there is a reamer type thing that involves clamping the frame and then reaming out the seat post - you need to ask around local shops or frame builders about this option.

on another forum (yes there is life outside this one!!), someone manged to remove a stuck post - aluminium - as in your case, by disolving it.... just looking for the post (not seat post) right now.

could be this one but ain't got time to check all 13 billion posts (not seat posts) right now.

 

[cornholio's RC200]

You're not the only one anyway.... The seatpost has been stuck in my C-16 for 5 or 6 years now. It's at the right height so I've never seen the point of trying to change it.

Remember kids: Grease that post!!