RETAILERS
Before and after the Seatpost Man has done his thing
Humble beginnings Many years later, another friend came along with a carbon road bike and a stuck aluminium seatpost posing the same question: “John, do you think you can sort this out?” “I looked at it and it was a different animal altogether,” said Lee.
“I thought about it for a
long time, came up with some ideas and then took that seatpost out.
“Then I was thinking ‘that was a lot of work for one particular job, I wonder if there’s mileage in that?’” After speaking to some local bike stores, including Paul
Hewitt Cycles, Lee realised there was a market for his services and before he knew it he was working with commercial and private customers. “I didn’t wake up and say ‘hey, this is a good business idea’ because it is so niche,” said Lee.
“How many seatposts are stuck? Who is going to pay to
have them removed? What are the logistics? Is it worth it? Well, it turns out it is, because there are a lot of nice bikes and a lot of stuck seatposts. “In reality, the alternative to removing a stuck seatpost is
to get a new frame. When you look at a frame swap on a bike that is three or four years old, you then consider getting a new bike. Suddenly you have gone from wanting to adjust your seat to looking at a new bike.”
As the value, quality and quantity of bikes has risen, the demand for services such as The Seatpost Man have also increased: “We can’t just be throwing these things away,” said Lee, “In the 70s and 80s with a steel frame you would stick it in a vice, give it a twist or maybe use a blow lamp and if it didn’t work just throw it away and get another one. “But if you’ve got a nice Pinnarello then you go ‘oh dear.’”
The process To have successfully removed more than 2,000 seatposts from a variety of frames, including a wooden Twmpa Cycles gravel bike earlier this year, relies on more than just luck.
Lee has personally engineered a full complement of tools “Everything in my toolbox, I’ve made,” said Lee. “When I open the toolbox, every single thing in it is bespoke and manufactured in-house.
“But even now something will come in that is really 14 | May 2023
unusual and i’ve got to get back on the machines, but it’s rare that something that comes in I’ve not seen before.”
Although the name of the business is The Seatpost Man, Lee’s main task when tackling a job is to protect the frame.
“When you think about what I actually do, I save frames,” he explained.
“Imagine a £2,500 frame, with a £50 aluminium seatpost, what do you want to save? “I wouldn’t want to risk a frame for a seatpost.” Although there has not been a seatpost Lee hasn’t been unable to remove, there have been a couple of times where the repair is no longer financially viable. “If someone sends me a bike with a very damaged frame I
will have a look at it, contact the customer and say ‘were you aware of this?’,” he said.
Don’t DIY it If you Google ‘How to remove a stuck seatpost?’ a plethora of DIY theories are presented depending on the material. These include traditional methods like lubricant, creative ideas like lemon juice and a more brutal option of reaching for the hacksaw. Lee believes a DIY attempt is fine, as long as it doesn’t go too far. “I normally say to people that if you really want to try, do anything non-destructive. Why not?,” he said. “If you want to put Coca Cola in it, lemon juice,
whatever. I get frames with ammonia, lemon juice and I just have to take it out.
“Obviously for some people it has worked but the reason it’s worked is they were lucky and they’ve managed to catch it just at the right point of seizure. “But it didn’t do any harm. Just don’t pick up a saw or
drill.”
The trade secret Understandably, the real tricks of the trade will remain closely guarded - although Lee has been accused of witchcraft which he assures us is not the case. However one thing that continues to stand Lee in good stead
is to handle each bike the same, irrespective of age and value. “I treat everything as though it’s my own,” explained Lee. “It’s important to me - it’s my business and it’s my reputation.”
www.bikebiz.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
