RETAILERS
John Lee, also known as ‘the Seatpost Man’ THE SEATPOST MAN
The bike industry is full of skilled individuals ferretting away in workshops, but John Lee has turned his expertise into a highly specialised business. Daniel Blackham spoke with Lee about his niche
W
e all know the feeling. A customer has brought in their prized possession, and you’re about to adjust the seatpost to load it onto the stand
and…it doesn’t budge. You’ve tried all the lubricants at your disposal, soaked it in lemon juice and are on the verge of reaching for something slightly more industrial. What now? Well fortunately, there is a business venture out there that might just save time (and maybe even the frame). John Lee, aka The Seatpost Man, thrives in scenarios like this at his workshop in Chorley. After hearing that Lee has successfully removed 2,000 stuck seatposts, BikeBiz sat down to learn more about his trade.
A homemade tandem and a Haro Freestyler Bicycles and engineering have been a cornerstone of John Lee’s life. In the late 1970s, at the age of 13, he turned up at his father’s fabrication yard with two bicycles and asked him: “Can you stick these together and make a tandem?” “He said ‘nope, but i’ll teach you how to braid, so you can do it’,” explained Lee.
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“So somehow that day, my friend and I rode home on a tandem, it was just appalling. “Over the years it got developed and the final 1981 version
had French moped wheels, drum brakes and telescopic forks.”
As BMX took hold across the country in the early 1980s, Lee focused his attention on racing and had a successful stint competing for the Factory Raleigh BMX team. After leaving school, he joined the family business in a concrete manufacturing firm, but always tinkered with motorcycles and bicycles on the side. Fast forward to 1995 and the first stuck seatpost was presented to him by a friend, in the frame of a Haro Freestyler
“He’d done what everyone would have done,” said Lee. “Stuck it in a vice, twisted the top off, chewed it up and got some grips on it. There was basically nothing left of it and then he said ‘John, do you think you can sort this out?’ “So I did.”
May 2023 | 13
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