Bicycle Mechanics - a little help please

hello

to cut a long story short, i am new to biking etc and my trek 6500 has been very very dirty after the past few rides and today i got a flat so i thought i might as well strip the whole thing down, clean it up and put it back together.

i was a little anxious to do that because i have never done this before (i chose to take off the deraileurs etc etc because i dont have those brush gizmos that go inside and clean the parts and anyway my bike was really CAKED with mud. its been raining here...) but anyway i strip it off, clean the parts and start putting them back together so i can lube them and bike tomorrow. i was a little anxious about the rear derailleur so before i put the chain in what i did was i tried fitting the thing together (the derailler to the frame, no problem and then the hanging pulley like thing, i was a little anxious about that) so i put it together without putting the chain through. then i saw it was simple and was going to open it up again to put the chain in but it was dinner time. after dinner though i guess i got a little careless and while trying to open the screw or whatever it is called, (the one which originally had locktite in it), i turned it the other way around by mistake. that is, i turned to close instead of open. and i yanked pretty hard and i heard this crack noise. then i realised i turned it the wrong way and tried opening it but now i see the thing has become a little loose for the hex wrench.

everytime i try opening it, the wrench just rotates, it wong catch the edges of the thing so it will open. how do i fix this? all i have is a six tool multi tool and a small spanner. i live in thailand and the bike shop is FAR away. i am planning to buy a few tools from supergo though and but i havent yet. and anyway they will take time to be shipped and i want to bike ASAP.

can anyone help me please?

also if somebody can tell me what all stuff i need to buy from supergo or other online places, like cleaning brushes? and other tools i need to fix the bike? i am already thinking of buying the topeak alien 2 (or something like that the name was) multitool. is that anygood? also i am buying a few cleaning brushes for the drive train and another one for the wheel. i also require those bags that you tie to the seatpost under the saddle. i had one which i bought from here but it is very cheap quality and the stitching tore on the trail yesterday. it was a pain to tie that thing to my wrist and pedal back home. i really like biking and i am not too scared of opening my bike up just cuz i wont be able to put it back, so i would like some tools in handy but neither do i want to buy very expensive stuff. parktool has an entire toolkit but it is very expensive! will that topeak multitool be good enough for me? i can already do quite a lot of stuff with the ****ty one that i have now.

anyway, all that is secondary. main thing is to figure out a way to take that nut/screw/whateveritscalled out so i can screw it back in and use my bike!! help! (besides wanting to bike i also dont want to screw up my derailer or the threads on it. me and my wife really got broke after buying this bike - she got a trek 3900-- so i wanna preserve this. the derailleur is a shimano XT)

ps- if i dont use locktite while screwing the things back on to the derailleur-- is that a problem? i dont have locktite and im indian and dont speak the thai language so to go to a store and get the equivalent of locktite is going to be a huge language problem.

When oyu say wrench i ausme oyu mean allen key as you are talking aobut the rear derailler. If its not gripping its because the screw head has been worn. If you have a replaced read derailler hanger then at least worst comes to the worst you can rpelace the lot but basicly your only hope of geeting the screw out is using a chissle or saw or osmthing sutable to cut a groove in to the screw head so that you cna use a standard screw driver ot remove it. This might not be possible it depends on weather or not you have space to do so or the rear derailer body gets in the way, if it does which i suspect it does then you will have ot use somthing much more delicate to create the groove, the first way will take oyu hours to do as for using somthing more delicate it could take you a lot lot longer because oyu need ot scratch a groove about 2mm deep minimum.

even if i do manage to cut a groove into it so i can screw it out, i would need another screw to hold the hanger in place. and i guess i will have to back to the bike shop for that anyways. damn. maybe if i groove it right i could screw it back in too.. damn this means no riding tomorrow. :(

any other ideas?

also could you tell me please about the topeak multitool, if it is a good one, and what other stuff i should have handy in the house for repairs. my bike is used pretty rough so i guess i will need stuff. also stuff to regularly clean and degrease\grease my bike with. all parts of the bike. what all stuff do you fellows use? do i need to buy something to hold my bike upright while im cleaning it? today i had a baaad time just keeping it up.

ps- thanks for the name, allen head wrench. all these english specifics muddle me up.

I'll advice less use of brute force in general in future. Plus get a torque wrench to be sure you're applying the correct force especially for stuff like handlebar/stem - you don't want to crack these things and discover the fact while riding.

i would also not take apart your bike that completely unless necessary :) even a toothbrush will do wonders for those innards

i would also not take apart your bike that completely unless necessary :) even a toothbrush will do wonders for those innards

Absolutely - if it ain't broke, why break it now :) Usually on a perfectly working bike, the part that will give you most trouble is the one you last meddled with.