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Technical & Reference Section => Tech and Restoration => Topic started by: Peanut on December 13, 2005, 01:50 PM
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This bike really doin my head in now, can't get the pedals off or the seatpost I'm guessing they were fussed together in the fires of mount doom.
any ideas? I've tried wd40, big hammer, I even snapped a 12" wrench trying to get the pedals off (yes I did try them the right way.)
Arrrggg! :santa_angry:
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What bike is is?
What is the seatpost made of?
What crank is it?
Ta.
ORB
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does it matter?
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a) very rusty perfomer
b) a black one possible alloy of some sort
c) one piece GT
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you can always gring the crank off. diesel, soakage scaff pole spanner combo usually works tho.
have you tried heating the post/frame?
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don't have anything to heat it with. I might try the scaff pole idea tho.
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cheap blow torch will only set u back a tenner at b and q.
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Cut the crank off, its probably one of them thick ugly shite things anyway.
Check, find out, is the post alloy or not?
Its important (the fact that it has locked in so tight probably means it is)
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if its alloy you could probably just dissolve it in caustic soda could you not?
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Well, it helps, but you have to use the hack saw blade method too...
and belive me, thats a ball ache, but do'able.
Took me about 2 nights solid to get that Renthal out of the DP.
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i spent 2 nights solid after taking viagra instead of sleeping pills :laugh:
as for the pedal, dont forget the left side (the one you want to undo to get the crank out) is opposite thread
just try harder.
as for the post, you're on your own
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For the pedals try putting the spanner on them, then use a pair of handle bars over the spanner to get more leverage.
just watch out for the spanner slipping off.....it hurts! :o
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last night i had a pedal that wouldnt budge so slid the headtube off a set of mongoose forks over the wrench
that moved it good.
pedals shouldnt stick too bad.
seat posts however will stick but there are ways and means of getting it out
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I stuck a broom handle in the end, then put the post in a vice.......then turned the frame, the broom handle (or solid metal pole if you can get one thick enough is better) stops the post from colapsing.
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OK, I'm going to do this tonight, no matter how that bugger's coming off.
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you could always drill out seat post if all else fails, i did one for darren on a rickman took about three hours :santa_cry: post was made of a crumbly steel when i put it in the vice and twisted it it just tore so i had no option but to drill it!
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ok, I tried everything, heated it up, cooled it down, kicked it, wacked it with a big bit of wood, stuck the seat between two brick walls and tried to rotate the frame, wacked it some more, soaked it in everything from the shed, hit it again, soaked it in everything from the kitchen, heated it up again and nearly set fire to myself and the garden.
While going to sleep I thought of one thing I haven't tried, placing a piece of wood on the top tube and bracing a car jack between the tube and the saddle. :santa_angry:
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good luck with that method
weld an enormous nut on the end of it.
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oh, here is how i did it on that DP Firebird I paid a tenner for.
-Stripped the bike down to just the frame, with the post jammed in.
-Cut the post off about an inch above the sop of the frame.
- Got some various grade hack saw blades (long)
- Sat infront of the telly with a beer and the frame between my legs and started to cut slots out of the inside of the post (takes about 2 hours to cut one slot)
- When i had four slots cut (all oposing each other) I took the frame out side and filled the tube with a VERY strong mix of caustic soda.
- Leave it alone for a few hours till the soda stops fizzing and then tip it out and add some fresh soda and leave it over night.
- Drain out again and rince with boiling water from the kettle.
- Get a drift and see if you can smack one of the quarters away from the other 3, if not, start cutting more slots, go nuts, cut diagnols, and verticles and try to get as many cuts rite through the post as you can.
- Bray with drift and mallet, nothing happening?
- Repeat caustic soda game
- Repeat all above till you can take it out in bits
- ( i had to get needle nose pliars and twist the post in on its self inside the tube and snap bits off), eventually it will all come out.
- When removed, get a stick with some glass paper wrapped round it and sand inside the frame to remove all traces of rustyness
- After refinish, or prior to re-assembly squirt tonnes of spray grease (not WD40, this stuff is the root of a lot of problems) into the tube.
Done.
Easy
:)
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easy, my arse ,you mentalist.
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I tell you, its a mission and a half, wrecks your hands, and frustrates the crap out of you, but are you gonna let a kids bike beat you??????
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yeah, made the fatal flaw of thinking that if I bashed the seat downwards it would losen it then I'd be able to wiggle it out, now the damn things stuck even further down the tube.
My other option is to find a large tree, tie the frame to it and tie the saddle to the towbar.
Catch the pigeon, catch the pigeon, catch the pigeon
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you are more likely to snap the frame, the weld that the seat tube creates is fookin strong!
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take it to an engineers and get them to run a big drill down it. job done.
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thats taking the fun out of bike building.
if it cant be done at home, its not worth doing ;)