red house

Hello, I have come to accept that I am likely screwed, but I would still like to know exactly how screwed I am? ..I recently stripped the 8mm allen bolt that holds the crank arm on my ISIS spindle, and can think of no way now of getting it off. Just how screwed am I?


Oh, and btw, my seat post appears to have seized in the frame...how do I get myself out of that one too?


Thanks

Retro Grouch 

First buy yourself a brand new 8mm allen wrench and see if that will do the job. That'll work more often than you'd ever imagine. If that does the trick, resist the temptation to keep your old, worn wrench as a spare. Throw it away or you'll be doomed to repeating this experience.

If that doesn't work, go to a large hardware store or to a dedicated tool store and buy an EZ-Out and the right size drill bit to go with it. Drill down the center of your worn bolt and screw the EZ-Out in counterclockwise until the crank bolt comes out.

While you're at the hardwere store, buy yourself a can of something like Liquid Wrench. WD40, 3in1 oil, engine oil and bicycle chain lube aren't equivlent. Liquid Wrench will work where any of the above fail. In a pinch you can spend a Saturday cutting off your seatpost and using a hacksaw blade on the inside of the tube to gradually cut it apart and get it out.

Brian

Easy fix. You'll need a Visa card (Mastercard will do in a pinch, but forget Discover - no one accepts it anyway) and a ride to the LBS. Buy a new bike.

Option two: Bolts are usually a bit on the soft side. Go to Sears or Home Depot, and get yourself a decent drill, some good bits, and a set of Ez-outs. Drill out the center of the bolt, stick the Ez-out in there, and if you're lucky, you can twist it back out. You can also use a Dremel type tool to try and slot the bolt, then bang or twist it out with a screwdriver. Maybe even drill two small holes if you can find a small pin spanner.

For the seatpost, please give us some more info. What is the frame made of, and what is the post made of? Is it alu/alu? Do you want to try to keep the post? Vise-grips and a lot of strength will get the post out. Heat is not a good idea.

red house

Thanks expat. The seat post I believe is aluminium, and my frame is cro-mo. Also, instead of buying a new frame from my LBS, could I not simply pay them to remove the allen bolt for me? Is it likely they would be equiped to deal with this? .. If so, any idea how much this would run me? -(in $USD)

Brian

Hey, Retro typed faster than me. Take your frame into the shop, and plead for mercy. They should be able to give you a quote.

Unfortunately, this is a bad time of the year to be asking for favours. We stopped accepting repairs of bikes not bought at our shop over a month ago. We stopped accepting any repairs last week, and won't take any more until January 4. If your LBS is anything like ours, it's a busy place right now. We have 6 stations where all they do is build bikes, all day long. I have no idea what it would cost, but if they're cool, it will be less than buying a few tools to fix it yourself.

Eatadonut

Stick your 8mm allen wrench in the bolt. JB weld it to the bolt. Voila - you need a new bolt and allen wrench, but you needed a new bolt anyway, didn't you?

Brian

Donut boy has a valid suggestion.

af895

Per Retro Grouchs suggestion, to get the effect of a new allen wrench, slice the end of your current 8mm off with a cutting disc. (assuming it's got the same cross-section all the way down to the bend.) JB-Weld is a great idea too if the new/fresh wrench doesn't do it.

Rev.Chuck

If it takes an easy out(try the fresh 8mm first) Pay a guy who knows how to use an easy out, even if you need to go to a machine shop to do it. It is very easy to screw up an easy out removal so bad that the only way to get the crank off would be to cut it off.

mechBgon

Bigger picture: it's not normal to be rounding out 8mm hex-key fittings, either. That would take a lot of force on a decent-quality steel bolt. Are you installing stuff without lubing the threads?

DannoXYZ 

Sometimes, you can hammer a torx bit into the allen hole. The expanding taper of the torx bit makes it grab tighter as it's pounded in. Then attach wratchet wrench and unbolt.

stickydpaul

Hey Expat,
Send some of that work over here! I'm bored out of my mind sitting around all day long (new shop, one of four (other four have been around 10+ years)). At this point I'd even go for building bikes, but we've got too many on the floor, so its a no go?

Whereabouts in New South Wales are you located? I've been around the state quite a few times....

shaq-d

1. the basic fix when the metric hex wrench won't work is use the inch/english one, with 1/4 3/16 etc. there'll be one that's just a bit bigger than the one you screwed up; stick it in and u're good to go. another thing to try is a flat head screwdriver.

2. wd-40 your seatpost and wait a few hours, then try to twist it out. the goal is to twist it first, not pull it out. if it still doesn't work, then put the seatpost in a vice, and twist the bike. that always works.

sd

Brian

Newcastle. And we've got 2,000 bikes in our shop. A bit busy this time of year.

demoncyclist

WD-40 is probably not strong enough to unstick the seatpost. Try a can of PB Blaster from your local hardware store. For the fubared bolt, I would go with the JB Weld technique unless you are experienced with EZ Out use.

San Rensho 

I like Expat's idea of slotting the bolt head, but I would add, then use a 3/8 inch impact wrench/driver to get it out. If you are using the hammer type impact driver, lay the bike down on it side with a piece of wood under the other crank before you seriously wank on it.

Brian

I've had at least 6 old VW's, a few pre-70 Camaro's, a vintage BMX rally car, and 2 Toyota Landcruisers, plus countless bikes. I know all about frozen/stripped/broken hardware. Where there's a will, there's a way that involves tools as they were never meant to be used, and lots of force.

halfbiked

I can speak to that. My Jeep still has an ez-out in a windshield hinge. Its been there for years.

On topic, I'd try the new allen wrench first, the JB-welded one 2nd.

red house

Thanks everybody Thankyou so much for your help! I took my frame & cranks to my LBS today, they are going o "EZ-out" it and said it shouldn't be a problem. I figured I'd let them deal with it, as they are almost as poor as me and could use the money

Brian

Support your LBS - try to fix it yourself first.

spunkyruss

"You tried to fix it yourself, huh?"

Those words send shivers down my spine.

Avalanche325

Did you round out the LEFT handed thread one? If so, a standard Easy Out won't work. I would imagine they make special ones for left hand threads, but I have not seen one. And, good luck finding one.

There is a different type of extractor that is very much like the torx idea mentioned above. So it will work on either side. It is made of much harder steel than a standard torx bit. You also do not have to drill as much since it has a flat tip.

Brian

He's already done the right thing, and turned his bike over to the authorities.

In a true show of respect, he's letting the nosepickers fix it.

mactheknife68

Umm, crank bolts are RH thread on BOTH drive and non-drive sides. CUPS, now thats a different subject.

AndrewP

Ammonia is the release agent for Al in steel.