View Single Post
Old 04-27-06, 05:37 PM
  #1  
FarHorizon
Senior Curmudgeon
 
FarHorizon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Directly above the center of the earth
Posts: 3,856

Bikes: Varies by day

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 1 Post
What size bolts for a Klein Navigator?

So I've got my Klein built now and I want to add a rack. I order & receive a nice Tubus, go to put it on, and SURPRISE - the bolts don't fit!

There are tapped ears at the rear dropouts for a rack and a fender. The holes are threaded, but no bolts came with the bike. 5 mm bolts are too large & won't go into the holes. 4 mm bolts are too small and just rattle around in there. SAE bolts seem to be the right size, but the thread is wrong - I get the bolts in about half a turn and the threads bind.

Same situation with the front fork - the fork is tapped (inside and outside the fork blade). The holes are too large for 5 mm bolts, too small for 6 mm, and threaded wrong for SAE.

WHAT KIND OF GOOFY BOLTS DOES THIS KLEIN NEED?

I doubt that they'd have used English threads, so I suspect that it is some alternate SAE threading. The local bike shop didn't have anything to fit, nor did the local hardware store. I could tap the holes for the next size up in metric, but I worry about creating stress cracking in the aluminum. I'd really like to have bolts that fit the original Klein threads.

Thanks!
FarHorizon is offline