Stripped Bolt!! What do I do??
 

Ok, so I have the 06' Ultegra shifters on my new bike, and I am trying to adjust the angle of the brakes with the position bolt on the top of the brake (you know the one that uses a 3 mm hex wrench). Well long story short, the bolt is completely stripped and is already as tight as it will go! So great! I cant even make it budge, and it's rubbing against my rim because I'm not able to adjust the angle. I tried the closest wrench size in US Standard...dosent work....I tried the next size up..the 4mm....dosent work. The little SOB is completely stripped and wont hold. So what do I DO!!!! can the bike shop even fix that?!

you mean, the threads of the bolt are striped, or the head of an Alen type bolt is "round" already?

Are you talking about the centering adjustment for the pads? Just loosen the pivot-bolt nut on the back of the fork/seatstay-bridge, center the brakes and hold steady while you tighten the nut in back.

the head of an Alen type bolt is "round" already.

Um, I dont mean to disagree, I will try that. But why on earth would they have that adjustment if all you had to do was adjust the pivot-bolt nut on the back of the fork bridge?

How in the name of all that's holy did you strip that bolt??? You realize that it's an adjustment bolt, right? Like the limit screws on the derailleurs. You must not tighten it.

But yeah, just loosen the bolt that fixes the caliper onto the frame. Pull the brake lever so the brake centers itself, and retighten the bolt. Adjust if necessary.

Get an E-Z out (it's a tool used to remove bolts when the head has snapped off or rounded) and the proper size drill bit. Should be available at the local hardware store. Be very careful not to do damage to related components, or yourself for that matter, as you work. Best wishes,
T\E

and what, just get the replacement bolt at the bike shop?

I found a really excellent tool set for removing stripped screw and nut heads. Made by Irwin - makers of Vise Grip. I have 2 sets, one is for rounded off bolts and the other is for rounded out/bunged up screws or broken off studs. It's like an Easy-Out extractor, but the reverse thread part is female. Fits over the head (or broken off stud). No drilling required. About $20 a set, but worth it.
I got the first set from O'Reilly autoparts. There were coupons for a free set of the other variety hanging with them.
This purchase was spurred by me stripping out some of the silly-putty like phillips screws on my Suzuki on/off road M.C.
I put the correct size extractor (trial and error) over the head of the bunged up screw, it digs in as you turn it, and SNICK, off it comes.

Just found the website - http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/...rwinProd410002 - The one that should work for you.
And
http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/...rwinProd100314 - The set I got for free.

And get a replacement bolt at the hardware store. Bolts are not bicycle specific :)

1. Why are you telling us what kind of shifters you have?
2. Yes, and please go to the bike shop to remove and replace this adjustment screw.
3. Reason, so there is no post about an incident w an easy out

1. It is a lot easier than getting a (thin) wrench onto the barrel part of the central brake pivot bolt.
2. It is a lot faster and easier to to center the brake shoes w the adjuster screw
3. To make micro adjustments on the road just a 3 mm is required, vice a special wrench

Returning to my earlier point: Here you sound like you want to tighten that bolt down as much as it will go... wrong approach. You just adjust it so that the brake pads are at the right position, and then leave it as it is. Friction should keep it in place.
BTW, the basic process is: You roughly adjust the angle of the caliper with the big bolt that holds the whole caliper, and then fine tune it with the 3mm adjuster bolt.

Before doing anything else, buy yourself a brand new 3mm allen wrench and try using that to unscrew the bolt. You'll be surprised at how often that works. Then throw away your old one before it can round out any more 3mm bolts. Allen wrenches don't last forever.

If that doesn't work, go to a tool store and get a small lefthand drill bit and a replacement bolt. The lefthand drill bit will probably back out your old, rounded screw.

Put the new bolt until it just starts adjusting the brake caliper. Now take a 5mm allen wrench and adjust the caliper by eyeball until it looks pretty even. Make whatever fine adjustment you need with your new 3mm set screw and you'll be good-to-go.

I can move mine by hand. The only time I have to adjust them is when I have to remove the wheel. They will get bumped and I just move them back into position.

Yes well unfortunately, It was tightened down so far that there is no head sticking out, so I cant use the power extractors. But I will try just buying an easy out tool and getting the replacement for the screw at the hardware store while I'm there.

I was tired of having to re-adjust after transporting in the car. So for old time sake, I slipped on one of those oldie problem solver star washers... and the problem was solved, wouldn't you know it :)

re: O.P. question, some adjuster screws have a dab of thread lock on them to keep them from un-adjusting. Others rely on the force from the brake caliper spring to keep the screw loaded which will resist the rotation.

re: hex wrenches, a good quality wrench makes a world of difference. When the screwhead and the wrench make good mating contact, round off is minimized. Also, the ball end wrenchs are NOT for torquing stuff down. using a ball end to tighten or loosen something increases the chance of rounding the heads. When the application requires it, I will cut a hex key down (to make a stubby) instead of trying to tighten something w a ball wrench from an odd angle .

Good Luck !