Had a stuck seatpost that beat me for two days...

I tried everything on this old steel frame - penetrating oil, heat, even a pipe wrench. Nothing budged. Finally I remembered an old trick from a forum and poured Coca-Cola around the post and let it sit overnight. That did it... came right out the next morning with just a gentle twist. Has anyone else tried weird household stuff like that for stuck parts?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer_west5227d ago

Hang on, I'm going to play devil's advocate here because that Coke trick sounds like a total Urban Legend to me. Cola is mostly sugar and water with a little acid, but it's nowhere near strong enough to dissolve rust or break a bond that a torch and a pipe wrench couldn't. More likely you just got lucky with the overnight cooling and a bit of vibration, or the penetrating oil finally worked its way in. I've seen too many people ruin frames by letting sugary soda sit on the paint and leaving a nasty, crusty mess that just adds to the problem.

blake43226d ago

You know, I actually had the same skepticism the first time I heard about the Coke trick. A buddy of mine swore by it for years, and I always figured it was just confirmation bias. But a few years back I was working on a rusty old hitch on my truck, and after a long day of PB Blaster and a breaker bar with zero luck, I figured why not try it as a last resort. I soaked a rag in Coke and wrapped it around the bolt overnight. Next morning I put a socket on it and it came loose with barely any effort. I'm still not totally convinced the soda did the heavy lifting, but I will say that the combination of time and maybe some light chemical action seems to help in specific situations. But I completely agree with you about the sugar mess - I've seen pictures of crusty, sticky frames that look way worse than the original rust. It's definitely not a cure-all, and I think most people would be better off sticking with proper penetrating oils.