Sorcerer

More and more torx socket head bolts appear on bikes and it is too easy to make the mistake of putting in an Allen key and stripping it.

I've made that mistake at least a couple of times.

The other night I started to work on a bike that I stopped riding last winter.

Something happened to it on a ride where the rear shifting went to crap and in the field in poor lighting I had tried to adjust the cable tension at the derialleur cable clamp.

Last night I rediscovered that I had overtightened the cable clamp and rounded/stripped the socket.

Turns out that I had put an Allen key in a bolt that was torx and snugged it over-tight and rounded off the socket.

I forgot that it was Torx bolt. I guess I just put the bike away in disgust last winter (it's a fender rain weather bike).

So when I went to replace the shifter cable and some housing that had failed, I couldn't unscrew the cable clamp because it was stripped. I sprayed on some penetrating lube and put it away.

I went to bed.

Tonight I went to work on it. The Torx bolt head was a sort of conical type I haven't seen on a bike part. A big vise-grip wouldn't get a purchase on the bolt head.

Using a file I made two flats and broke the bolt free with vise-grips.

That was a relief. I didn't want to have to break out a drill, a vise, left handed bits and other tools.

I replaced the Torx bolt with a greased allen bolt.

How my spirit lifted when the bolt broke free. Like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

I repaired the bike and will ride it tommorow and put the fenders back on soon for the winter rains which we hope will come.

veganbikes

I typically look at the bolt head before going in with my tool. Though I haven't yet seen a cable anchor bolt that is Torx, I am curious what derailleur that is that uses that?

I do know a lot of stuff is moving to Torx or has been Torx a while (my Zipp Stem for instance is T25) but all in all I have never really had an issue. I did have a Boss that would use his Torx keys for Allen bolts but he is not a mechanic and was told to not do that and stopped.

dedhed

A dremel with cutoff wheel make a slot and use a big screwdriver.

bikemike73 

Plus 1^ dedhed

I , as well, never heard of , or seen a torx bolt on a bike.

Of course.......all my bikes are 30 plus years old ....except one

sweeks

This ^^.

HillRider

The first, and so far only, Torx bolts I have come across on my road bikes are the chainring bolts on Shimano HTII cranks which use a T30 bit. My only disc brake bike has centerlock rotors so I've avoided the T25 needed for 6-bolt rotors.

freeranger

Gotta be sure to use the correct tool for the job. My '98 Ranger has some torx bolts on it! I once owned an English made BSA motorcycle that I had to buy some English metric wrenches for. Had Japanese metric, but English metric is different. My "newest" bicycle is '06', haven't come across any torx on it.

Sorcerer

Yeah, I thought of that method as well, but I don't have a decent cut-off wheel for my wimpy wanna-be Harbor Freight Dremel tool.

I saw the nice big file with a handle on my peg board and went to town with it.

🙂

bikemike73 

File....EXCELLENT !!!!!!

caloso

I have a 3T stem with Torx. It’s annoying, but not annoying enough for me to replace them. *shrug*

HillRider

Just in case this isn't a joke, those "English metric" wrenches are really Whitworth wrenches and use a sizing system more bizarre than Imperial/SAE or metric bolts.

freeranger

Nope, wasn't a joke. But the brand name could have been--King Dick

Koyote

What a clever idea!

veganbikes

Sometimes I have a gem or two ; )

sweeks

You missed the opportunity for a good double entendre:
"I always look before going in with my tool."

Sorcerer

Yes, it was a mistake not to look before torqueing the wrench.

It's a Microshift 11 speed rear derailleur. It's not anywhere near as good as the major brand stuff. It works. I don't want to do a review on it here. Maybe I'll do one on a separate post.

I vaguely remember saying to myself that I needed to remember the type of tool needed I'm the future when I installed it. I haven't seen a torx on a cable clamp before.

On the trail, cold, and getting dark, and running out of time , I forgot.forgot. I couldn't have seen it then, but there was a big "T" inside the socket.

I replaced it with an old Magura rotor fixing bolt.

veganbikes

Weird that is uses Torx. I cannot find any indication in their manuals or online about it. Maybe the bolt was stripped and that is why it seemed like Torx or if you bought it used maybe they replaced it or it is an older model they don't make.

Microshift isn't that terrible, I gotta hand it to them, they make some decent Shimano compatible parts at low prices, The low end is low end no matter who makes it but their 10-11 speed stuff and the Advent stuff isn't so bad.

Measure twice, cut once.