old seatpost stuck down seat tube!

I now remember why my '98 Marin Hawk Hill frame sits in the shed... there's part of an old seatpost in the seat tube! it rattles and moves when I upend the frame but I can't reach it... any tips? it looks like a previous owner has cut across the post in an effort to remove it (it's a 27.0 fitting so maybe someone used a 27.2?).

annoyingly, the bit nearest the top of the tube doesn't move and blocks the rattly bit beneath it grrrrrr is there such a tool as VERY long needle nose pliers?

For the record, I got this frame with this problem and it drove me so mad I stripped it and put it in the shed, but it's just too nice to waste away in there with the spiders... hopefully, it's going to be de-cable guided / de-rack mounted to become my next s/speed project... so props to the winning suggestion in advance and watch this space

Take out the current post then turn the bike upside down
Start hitting the bottom bracket with a rubber mallet,this might jar it loose.Dont use a steel or wood hammer,it may damage the shell.
or
Feed a coathanger down through the middle with a small bent hook in one end then try to 'hook' the post and pull it free.


Failing all,try to jam it so it doesnt rattle,maybe expanding foam fed in from the BB shelll[take the BB out first ]dont let the foam settle on either the BB threads or travel too far up the seat tube that it hinders your normal post

dyna-ti":wx1c4lrd said:

Take out the current post then turn the bike upside down
Start hitting the bottom bracket with a rubber mallet,this might jar it loose.Dont use a steel or wood hammer,it may damage the shell.
or
Feed a coathanger down through the middle with a small bent hook in one end then try to 'hook' the post and pull it free.


Failing all,try to jam it so it doesnt rattle,maybe expanding foam fed in from the BB shelll[take the BB out first ]dont let the foam settle on either the BB threads or travel too far up the seat tube that it hinders your normal post

Click to expand...

cheers dyna-ti... there's no post or BB in it, it's completely stripped, tried the mallet already and as one bit's stuck the other rattly part won't come out. still trying coathanger technique and good idea with foam!

hmm. try sticking things like long screwdrivers down to pry the post so it drops out . is it getting caught on the inside of the bottle mounts ?

long shot but is the bottom of the seat tube open to the bottom bracket shell ? if it is you might be able to get a cable down the tube through the seat post and where it emerges in the bottom bracket shell loop it back on itself but return it outside the seatpost ( quite possibly the most difficult part ) so you are left with both ends in your hand and you can yank it out as its now looped . might be best to put the cable in a vice or some mole grips


ooh just thought of another . using the really long bolt that everyone has lying around screw on a star fangled nut from a headset ( the long bolt will need to be the same thread ) hammer that into the remaining post , or if the bottom bracket has a big enough hole into the seattube hold it there and screw on the bolt . pull on the bolt and the post should come out . this would only really work if you have a suitable bolt

As a follow on to perry's idea you should be able to get a length of stud iron(long piece of threaded rod from any engineering suppliers

Make up a slide hammer - the same principle as removing bushings from forks.

A length of 16mm dia. bar, weld a "hook" on one end that will just fit down inside the stuck seatpost, drill a 16mm clearance hole in a 100mm length of 50mm round bar and slide it onto the 16mm dia bar.
Weld a stop (for the "hammer" to hit) on the end, slide the bar down inside the seatpost, locate the hook underneath it and drive it back up with the slide hammer.

thanks again peeps... spent half an hour fishing about with an old spoke before leaving it with some WD40 overnight (as one part is stuck - it's quite tricky to describe / photo) so will get back to you all on my progress... no it's not accessible thru bottle holes


now discovered a snapped brake boss bolt in my other soon-to-be-powder-coated frame

ok, a possible contender for POTM?



6" down the seat tube is the stuck bit, under that is the rattly bit

I had a word with the engineer that runs the bike project im on

His advice is to use a long pole to hammer the post as far down as it will go ,then agrees with me that a bit of expanding foam pumped in from the BB end would stop it rattling about.
If its already been hammered down that far its very unlikely it will come out that way and its probably best to leave it where it is

thanks you to you and your friend, one more daft question - I should do this before or after sand-blasting and powder coating?