Kurt are first rate when it comes to customer service. I had the same problem (also stripped the thread on the plastic knob), they shipped one out the next day. Just grease it frequently!

I had the same thing happen. I got my Kurt Kinetic from 1UP USA. I emailed them and they sent me a replacement.

Stripped mine too. They sent me a replacement screw & knob free of charge the next day. The new one uses a larger diameter screw.

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

Thanks - I'll ring them first thing in the morning.

that's funny, i just stripped mine today, too. i tried a trip to ace hardware to find some way to rig up the trainer for my today's scheduled ride, but had no luck. i emailed the company an hour ago, so hopefully everyone here is right regarding the quick service.

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My egocentric blog

Must be contagious! -I Read this post a couple of days ago and now it happened to me too.
I had to do a quick-fix just to get to my training session tonight: Vice-Grips on the stripped screw.

Kurt has awesome customer service and they'll certainly send you out a new one.

I know 'cause they sent me a new bolt - twice!

I think I finally have the hang of it though - I've gone all winter with lots of use and I haven't stripped the bolt yet.

I've been ignoring the recommended 2-3 turns after contact rule and have been doing the following:

Kneeling beside my bike, I pull the drum(heat sink) towards my tire with my left hand. At this point the knob is very easy to turn. I continue to apply pressure with my left hand, pulling the drum unit very hard until the knob becomes more difficult to turn.

I then take my tire in my hand and turn it in one direction, and then I abruptly switch directions to see if it slips. If it slips or squeaks, I repeat the above process to tighten the bolt more. The key is to use some force on the drum itself, pushing it into tighter contact with the tire - this takes some of the pressure off of that bolt - resulting in less chance of stripping it.

It's worked like a charm so far.

Good luck!

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Dan DeMaio
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Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.
- Albert Einstein