Campagnono

They are going to eat you alive now, son.

Its a good experience to go with a Kilo TT. If nothing else, now you have some knowledge and some tools. We all had to start somewhere.

Except Scrod. It's a fact that Scrod could take apart, grease, and reassemble a freewheel at five months old in utero. At birth he could use an acetylene torch. And at two years of age he fabricated his own NJS frame using technical drawings in the original Japanese.

Nagrom_

How the **** do you strip brake pad bolts.

What the hell, dude. Put the wrench down.

Scrodzilla

You know you're not really supposed to touch the ground while seated on a bike that fits you, right?

Don't do anything yourself. Ever.

Leukybear 

Campagnono

I'm thinking it's gotta be a troll now.

Hamfists are hamfists, but the force is special with this one.

Scrodzilla

The sad part is that I doubt it.

Huffandstuff

BeatChemist

Keep the rear brake. Stop tightening things until they break. That's usually too tight!

europa

What's wrong with doing up a bolt until it strips and then backing off half a turn?

howeeee

Well I feel sorry for the OP. But this is not the first time I heard of many problems with the TT. I guess people like them cause of the frame. But I have heard of a lot of trouble with the components. Fixed gear bikes are so basic, i dont know how there can be so many problems even with cheap ones. I am an amateur bike mechanic, my expertice being vintage Schwinns.

One rule I have is never use a ratchet. Most of the bolts on these fixed gear bikes use allen wrench head bolts. So I dont how you get enough torque to strip them (-:.

Even if you are an old fart like myself, you only need a front brake.

I think the guys are right, take the bike to a mechanic with a good reputation and have him straighten it all out. Dont just drop the bike off at a shop that has green young kids working on bikes.

I am cheap and somewhat poor lol so I never sink a lot of money into a bike. I have one Pure Fix I bought slightly used for 160 and have had no problem with it. I have another SE Lager I got new, I traded a vintage Schwinn Tandem for that was given to me.

Still feeling sorry for the OP

heymatthew

A couple of years ago, I bought a Windsor Hour. It was too big for me so I ordered a Kilo Frame from BikeIsland.com and used most of the parts from the Windsor on that frame, replacing a few pieces here and there with other brands, mostly low-end as it was my first time building. A few things I learned from that whole experience:

1. Get good tools. Seriously. Don't use some gas station fix-a-flat kit because you're just going to eff everything up. Buy the right tool for the job. So what if you're only going to use it once or twice? Wouldn't you rather use it once, get it right and have a great bike than to have to keep buying the same crap over and over again until you get it right with a bunch of crap tools you got free with purchase of a slushie at the 7/11?

2. Show some restraint and have a little patience. Tighten things down, check them. If they're a little loose, tighten them again. Get it all together, ride it around the block, see if anything is out of place or causing issues. If so, tighten it or adjust it or whatever and do it again. It's like shampoo: wash, rinse, repeat. Bikes are not passenger jets. You don't have to put 700lbs of torque on the bolts to get everything to stay put. If you're worried about things backing out or whatever, get a little bit of blue thread locker or something. I mean... I wouldn't personally use it on my stuff, but if you're terrified that things are going to come apart (which it sounds like you are since you've stripped every bolt on the bike at this point), put some of that on your bolts and tighten them down. DON'T USE RED or you'll need a torch to get it apart, and God only knows how much damage you'd do with a torch.

3. Get professional help. This works with bikes, marriages and personal issues. Today, we'll talk about bikes. If there's something you can't do, or can't figure out how to do, or if there's something you're doing that keeps going wrong, take your bike to a shop and let them do it. Throw the guys there $20 and they'll get you fixed up. They see it all the time. When I built my Kilo TT frame up with the Windsor parts, I took it to a bike shop when I was done and had them just give it a once over. It cost me less than a lunch for two and my bike was solid.

I learned an awful lot during the "building" process, but those three up there were valuable lessons. I've still got a box full of Park Tools around here somewhere and it's nice knowing that if I ever buy a new crankset or bottom bracket or track cog that I can install it properly. Without ***ing up my bike and, in turn, buying replacement parts because I decided to try and strong-arm it with a pipe wrench.

Also... Craigslist. Sell the TT and go to a bike shop and buy something off the rack. Or, sell your TT, order a NEW TT and take it to a bike shop and have them put it together. Better yet, have it shipped directly to the bike shop so you don't even have a chance to mess with it.

IAmSam

This thread, like quite a few others recently, only proves that every Bikesdirect saleman here, who at any time recommends #kilott (or other BD model) to a new bicyclist, should be required to include some kind of disclaimer like:

"Any Kilo buyer must have at least an iota or two of bike knowledge and/or the abilty to turn a wrench without stripping something, or accept the fact that he needs to spend more money with a bike shop to get the damn thing set-up properly, which means that it may not have been such a great deal after all."

MidnightMaraud

stryper

ftfy

wstudio

My post was my 1st experience with a bikesdirect bike. this Bike forum must be in business with bikes direct. I asked for help and not all but most only made comments and offered smart remarks but no help. I wrote stripped but most of the bolts broke. I got it sorted after buying multiple parts and had no problems with the replacment parts. Everyone is pumping bikesdirect bikes. My opinion and experience is they are cheap and buying a department store bike is about the same quality for less then $400 bucks. It does however have a nice copy of a popular frame. I happy and riding now but for new buyers you are better off puting out the money on a quality bike or if you go kilo just get the frame cause the rest is crap.

TejanoTrackie 

^^^So much fail in this post.

Plutoker

I must be a wizard then because I’ve assembled two kilo tt strippers in the past month with very limited mechanical experience and had zero problems. Some people just don't have the patience for do-it-yourself work. Cut your losses on current/future upgrades and seek professional help (with the bike).

Jared.

OP doesn't want to admit not knowing what he/she is doing which is understandable. Stripped/sheared bolts are typically user error, in a lot of applications, not just bicycles.

heymatthew

Dude... You ever heard of a comma? Spell check? A Torque Wrench?

If you're shearing off bolts on a bike, then you're doing it completely wrong. Disregard all of my previous advice and just sell the bike. Go buy a bike from a department store (for less money than [not then] the Kilo) and take the savings and buy the guys at your LBS some beer because they're going to be working on your junk a lot. And a grammar book. Buy one of those, too.

And as Scrod said, don't ever do anything yourself. Ever.

Nobody here is in business with BD, except for BD themselves. I've bought a bike from there and it was fine right out of the box. No sheared bolts. No busted cogs or lock rings. No stripped BB or headsets. Nothing. I had never built a bike in my life and I had it on the road in less than an hour. In fact, I actually disliked the frame size so I bought a whole new frame and swapped it out. No experience necessary, homie. Just a little common sense.

Germany_chris

I've never bought a BD bike, never will, and will not recommend them.

Scrodzilla

You're also in Germany, where BD bikes are not sold.

Germany_chris

But I'm an American with an American address where the are sold.

1000MPH

I can see someone with little experience stripping the stem bolts trying to get the gaps even, but shearing a steel bolt in aluminum threads has gotta take a bit of talent. Can the OP come over and help me adjust my cones?

europa

Hmm, sheering off the axle while doing up the lock nut. I'd like a video of that if he ever manages it.

Hyperbole

This is my favorite thread in this forum so far.