Originally Posted by
Geepig
Would this be by this by drilling and threading the holes, or drilling and adding threaded pop rivets? It is something I need to consider for my bikes as well.
Ah ha, a rivet nut, or rivnut, I just found a thread on the subject, three threads down
....this is taking it to a frame builder, and having him drill the holes and braze in bottle bosses with a torch.
Generally speaking, it's a bad idea to drill holes in a steel frame. The rivnuts do not provide the same support to the surrounding metal.
But people do it and get away with it. If the frame is made of some straight gauge tubing, with a little more thickness, you stand a better chance of that solution working for a longer time.
I don't know exactly why they seem to be used in some aluminum framed bicycles. Might be something about the positioning of them in areas of compression, rather than tension.