A customer in my shop taught me a simple trick for stubborn seatposts

This older guy named Frank came into my shop in Boulder last Tuesday with a steel frame bike that had an aluminum seatpost completely seized. He watched me struggle with the penetrating oil and the bench vise for a bit, then just said, 'Try a bag of ice on the post and a heat gun on the tube, but not too hot.' I was skeptical, but the temperature difference broke it free in about ten minutes. Has anyone else had luck with that thermal shock method on different frame materials?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewgonzalez15d ago

Be careful with that heat on a steel frame. You can ruin the paint or temper the metal if you get it too hot. A hair dryer is often enough to get the job done.

david_fisher3715d ago

Honestly, I always thought that was just a shop myth. But seeing it work on a stuck stem last year totally changed my mind.