Bicycle Mechanics - Should I make a fuss?

In 1996 I boughth a tandem frame set from one of the biggest recumbent builders. No one other then myself has ever wrenched on the bike so I know the history of the bike.

On our last tour a bolt striped out the threads in a boss for the seat strut. Not really a big deal, I'll just drill it out and tap it for a 6mm bolt... So I drill out the damaged threads and find that I can't remove the drill. They had installed a heli-coil to repair damaged threads at the factory before the frame was shipped to me. The heli-coil is stuck on the drill bit. So I get the drill out but now I cant tap it for a 6mm bolt and I cant drill the boss to install a heli-coil for a 6mm bolt, if I did their would be nothing left of the boss. So to repair the damage I have to install a new boss... They did offer to do the repair.. at $50 an hour.

Should I be pissed off that they shipped me a repaired frame in the first place? Or should I just fix it myself, and say the hell with it. I'm still very happy with the bike, but it cant be riden untill the frame is repaired.

I had a similar experience with a Toyota P/U I owned back in the 80's I got a job as a contract driver for a local company here and had to paint my truck the company colors. When prepping the truck I discovered some body work and been done of the front diver side fender. I had been the only owner of the vehicle and had never had anyone do body work on it, I do all my own body work (lousy mechanic, great body work) I contacted the dealer but they said they were not liable and it was common that they would get damaged during shipping. It was also 6 year since I bought it so it wasn't covered buy any warranty.

I have a feeling what has happened to you is not that unusual. I would still try to contact the manufacture and at least try to get something out of them for it (I did get free tune up on the truck since I was such a good customer) you never know unless you try.

It is also possible that, if this is an alloy frame and this is point where you would take the bolt on and off very often, they put a helicoil there because it is more durable to have steel threads than alloy ones. I have seen this done on alloy parts before.

Ah, the joys of owning a custom-made recumbent!

Sorry to say, from all the horror stories that 'bent riders in my local club have, your experience seems to be fairly ordinary. I'm not sure why, but it seems that 90% of the companies that make 'bents are incompetant, and they usually go out of business in 5 or 6 years, leaving many irate owners.

The bike is not custom, other then my build up. The builder has been building recumbents for for almost thirty years. I think some one screwed up at the factory and they installed the Heli-coil to repair the frame.

The repair will not take me long, drill out both bosses and weld in a tube taped to fit a 5mm bolt. The real pain in the ass is I will have to repair the paint around the repair. (Hmmm... maybe a fire ball) Maybe two hours including paint.

I'm not looking to get anything for free, but I not willing to pay them to repair the frame.

Lets see the bike is six years old now, with about 30,000 miles on it. And it's been used for loaded touring, this is the only thing that has gone wrong. So I'm not unhappy with the bike at all.

you can use a nut and bolt like the ones that come on chaep bikes. The bolt has a little 'nub' under the head to keep it from spinning. If you get a nice chrome one it wont look to bad.....

As the Rev. pointed out the heli coil was probably part of the design...

I'm not sure I understand where the problem bolt is... Is it the seatpost binder bolt? "boss for seat strut"

If so why not just buy a quick release seat-binder bolt/nut combo.

I use this on my upright tandem's stoker stem which is one of those adjustable types. By using the quick release I can quickly remove the stoker stem when packing and it also allows her to adjust the distance of the bars from time to time for comfort.

I got them from Nashbar I think, or perhaps performance bike for around $5-6 ea.

The heli coil is not part of the design, the frame builder admitted that they may have installed it to repair the frame. And there is no heli coil on the other side.

As for nuts and bolts, no way to to get the nut inside the frame. If I used a long bolt, or seat post quick release it will crush the frame. Both good ideas, but they won't work here.

I've already machined the tube to replace both bosses, I'll post photos of the repair, as soon as I get around to it.