Originally Posted by
HillRider
The Target guys probably didn't do the damage as every complete bike is shipped to the retailer with the major items, particularly the bottom bracket already installed. The OEM is your culprit.
That said, you should pull the crank and bottom bracket and try to clean up the threads by "chasing" them with a tap. There may be enough left to be usable. If not, clean everything well, relube and treat the bad side with one of the Red (strong) Loctite grades. It should hold the cup adequately but disassembly in the future will be difficult to impossible. That should get you a season or two more out of the bike.
There are ways of salvaging a damaged bottom bracket shell such as retapping it to Italian threads which are larger. However, I really don't think a Target level bike is worth the expense or work.
Thank you this is probably the most helpful post i have read so far. I was planning to take the bb out at the co-op but i was worried that i wouldn't be able to stick it back in, depending on how bad the threads were. I had heard that aluminum frames can not be re-threaded, which was another concern of mine. But you are right i wouldn't want to spend a large amount of money getting a target frame re threaded. Now i'm not sure if that was the service offered to me. But the mechanic said they could overhawl it and do what ever they could to get it working.
But thank you, this weekend when i go home, i will take out the crank and if need be i will loctite the bb. I was hoping that i could put a new crank and bb on the frame becase it still hast he triple crank on it. Especially b/c i was getting use to the feel and had started enjoying riding it. But i guess if its time for it to go then its time
makes me sad cause i can't really afford to spend more money on another frame, or atleast i can't afford to spend another 150 putting together a beater frame with the money i was saving for a track bike. ...
very sad stuff.
Hopefully if okay if not will glue that puppie in there.
Thank you very much for the help.