Following on from a creaking BB, I decided to do the usual checks on the training bike (pedals, skewers, checking the fittings etc). In the process of this, I found the bolts securing the bottle cage to the frame wouldn’t budge (and one of the heads is now stripped, and the other just spins round).
How on earth am I going to get the damn thing off? Or more precisely, how am I going to remove the bolts and fittings.
On the brightside, I found out the BB wasn’t creaking, it was the bottle cage, and in the absence of removing, regreasing and tightening the cage, a little bit of rubber has sorted it. For now.
Before I ring up the LBS for a quote, any suggestions?
Drip in some liquid wrench and give it several hours to penetrate. Grip the head of the bolt with needle nose vice grips and unscrew it.
If it’s a pan head screw (domed top) and you can’t grip it then you’re looking at using an extractor bit. Any local machine shop can do this for a nominal fee, or you can get an extractor bit at Home Depot.
For cage bolts, wrap them in plumber’s teflon tape before installation. It helps keep them from vibrating loose, and provides a physical corrosion barrier.
What is the frame material? Isn’t the fitting for the bolt inside the frame? The bolt that just spins around makes it sound like the bolt part has loosened inside the frame and will require a frame repair unless you can just pull the bolt out because the threads are stripped, and even then the fitting inside the frame will need to be replaced if you want to have that bottle mount be functional. If it’s an aluminum frame, it possibly will cost more for a repair/proper heat treatment than replacing the frame with a newer frame.
If it is an aluminum frame you can drill them out and try and fish the old ones out with a snake or magnet…or just leave them float around in there. You can then get a set of rivnuts and a tool to install them…and fixed! Just google “rivnut bicycle” for better instructions
Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes, it’s an old cannondale CAAD frame - 2005 or 6 vintage. I did think about getting a new frame, but it’s my first race bike so has sentimental value. Not sentimental enough not to expose it to the winter elements though.
If you are very careful, you could drill off the bolt heads to remove the cages but losing the on frame water bottle cage functionality afterwards. It’s possible that the stripped head bolt can then be hand removed.
Same problem here. I read about a fix/trick that I am in the middle of trying is to use: “jb weld” the allen wrench to the bolt. I did the “weld” last night and it’s drying today. I’ll report back tonight if it was successful.
update: the weld did not hold. going to buy a screw extractor.
Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes, it’s an old cannondale CAAD frame - 2005 or 6 vintage. I did think about getting a new frame, but it’s my first race bike so has sentimental value. Not sentimental enough not to expose it to the winter elements though.
You can get a cheapo bolt extractor kit for less than $10 or a few bucks for the 1 size you need (at Home Depot or an auto parts store) and just make sure you have the correct sized drill bit to match (some kits come with the matching bits). Otherwise, you can find a machine shop and pay a guy on the side to remove the bolts. Ask them to install “Keen Serts” (threaded insert, competes with Heli-Coil but is a slightly different design…in your case would probably be a better option).
If you can get a dremel in to the top of the bolt head you can create a slot in the bolt and use a straight blade screw driver and as others have mentioned, use penetrating oil which will help. I have easy-outs which work very well. If they are aluminium bolts you can sometimes wedge a torx head in there and get it to work.
I had the same problem on an aluminum frame recently.
I took a dremel and ground the bolt heads off to remove the cage. I then carefully continued to grind the bolt and the top rivnut off unt the remainder of the rivnut and bolt could be pushed inside the frame. Once I had the rivnut almost ground down, I used a file to finish the job so that I didn’t damage the frame tube.
Next, I removed the form and headset bearings from the frame and shook out the bottom part of the loose rivnuts.
I then took the bike into a local bike shop and had them install two new rivnut - it was very quick and they charged me $5.00 to install the new rivnuts.
Thanks again all. I’ll have a look at it tonight. I’m erring towards grinding down, but I’ll remove the BB to get the remainder out as it’ll be a good excuse to give the bracket some TLC.
Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes, it’s an old cannondale CAAD frame - 2005 or 6 vintage. I did think about getting a new frame, but it’s my first race bike so has sentimental value. Not sentimental enough not to expose it to the winter elements though.
You can get a cheapo bolt extractor kit for less than $10 or a few bucks for the 1 size you need (at Home Depot or an auto parts store) and just make sure you have the correct sized drill bit to match (some kits come with the matching bits). Otherwise, you can find a machine shop and pay a guy on the side to remove the bolts. Ask them to install “Keen Serts” (threaded insert, competes with Heli-Coil but is a slightly different design…in your case would probably be a better option).
I tried this an now I’m afraid I have a bigger problem: I don’t know the technical term, but the part that bolt screws into just came loose from the frame so the whole thing just spins. Now what?
What number 12 said except I used a drill to drill out the water bottle screws and bought rivnuts from Ebay and bought a rivet tool from Granger and put them in myself. Its pretty easy.
What number 12 said except I used a drill to drill out the water bottle screws and bought rivnuts from Ebay and bought a rivet tool from Granger and put them in myself. Its pretty easy.
One problem in this situation is that if the rivnut is very loose, it and the bottle bolt will both spin when you attempt to drill out the bolt. In a case like this, I’ve used a set of needle nosed vice grips to grip the perimeter of the rivnut to keep it from spinning while either drilling the bottle cage bolt out or unscrewing it with another set of vice grips.
Despite a huge aversion to their general use, a set of these can come in very handy at times. The jaws are narrow enough to get in and grip where other tools won’t.
Yeah, done now. Just got to get the remainder out of the tube. I took the BB off, couldn’t get the bits out, but hey, I’ve got nice clean, regreased BB now. Took the forks out, but the hole looked a little too small and fiddly and since I was running out of time, put it back together to have another attempt at a later date. Rode it to work and I’ve got a delightful tinkling sound in the frame - very f’king annoying but at least it’ll motivate me to sort it out.
Oh, and put some tape over the old hole to keep it clean whilst I wait to put the rivnut in.