skyzo

This morning I was putting my bike back together, and when I went to put my seat post back on, i realized that about halfway after screwing the quick release in, it was stripped. Now its stuck in there, and wont back out or advance at all, it just spins without grabbing to anything. Its like the threads themselves are actually stripped. How can I get the release out now? If it would just screw in another inch or so, I wouldnt even worry about getting it back out, and just leave it in there forever, but its only about halfway in, and I cant get the screw back out or in more.

Thanks

FBinNY 

Is it a collar or a QR passing through the seat lug, or brazed on ears with a nut on the other side. If it's a collar, just tap it off and replace it.

If it's through the frame itself find a small punch and see if you can gently tap the QR screw out of the nut. If not, the last option if you can't get it free is to saw it in half between the frames ears. This usually requires a Dremel or cut off disc tool because you won't be able to get clearance up and down for a saw.

skyzo

Well, after a lot of pulling and tugging on it, I finally managed to get it out. The threads are destroyed on the frame though, so I need to come up with a new idea on how to clamp the seat down. Any thoughts?

CACycling

Post a pic and I'm sure someone will come up with an option.

skyzo

I think what I'm going to try first is to see if the threads are stripped on the bolt itself, or if its the frame threads. Looking at the bolt, I can see that the threads are in fact a little messed up, but I dont know if that effected the inside threads on the frame.

Im going to find a different (non-quick release) bolt with the same thread spacing and diameter, and try to rig something up there, ill post pics once (if) I figure something out.

FBinNY 

If the threaded hole in the frame is all the way through, you should be able to find a seatpost QR that uses it's own nut. The skewer of these is usually thin enough to pass through frame ears like yours.

skyzo

Oh boy, now ive really screwed up. I found a bolt at the hardware store that looked like it was going to fit, and it ended up breaking off inside of the frame. The head came off, and now its just a piece of threaded metal that is stuck in there.

I dont know why I just didnt think about getting a smaller bolt with a nut, I just rushed it, should have sat back and thought about it for awhile.

Is there any hope for getting that bolt out of there??

FBinNY 

Step one, walk away from this for a while. You're not the first person make a bad situation worse by letting your desire to fix something NOW, rather than stepping back and thinking first. There's even a name for the process - tunnel vision.

When you're fresh, (tomorrow) you might try removing the broken off stud with long nose pliers, but don't go crazy trying. In all likelihood the solution is to drill through the bolt straight across to make a hole big enough for a QR unit (with nut). Most use 5mm skewers so there's plenty of material there. Measure the width across the outside of the ears and buy the QR unit first, so you know for sure what size hole you want.

When you start drilling, be sure to keep drill square. To keep the drill from deflecting at the irregular break, you're probably best off drilling from the outside toward the middle. Or you can file the broken bolt flush through the slot, then drilling right to left using the unthreaded ear as a guide. When you're done leave the remainder of the bolt in there, but coat it heavily in grease so it doesn't rust.

BTW- sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and there'd be no shame in realizing that you're in deeper than you can manage, and letting a decent pro fix this for you.

skyzo

OK thanks for your help. I'll definitely take a break from working on it today, and tommorow I'll try the drill idea.