Ever get the bottom half of an expander bolt stuck in a fork steerer? Grrr.
 

Yep. Not sure about your fork, but mine was open all the way through and I had loosened the expander slightly before that, so I was able to remove the fork and hammer it out with a rod shoved in the bottom.

ravenmore: Would pushing it down out of the way and leaving it there be an acceptable solution?

^ I've done that with a star nut before.

I thought you were very firm in sending all your mechanical work to the shop instead of doing it yourself? ;)

Is this an expander plug in a carbon steerer, and has a bonding agent been used on it to prevent it from working its way up the tube when the headset bolt is tightened?

Looks to me like it's rooted, especially the threaded bit where the bolt goes in. A bit of careful drilling might be called called for -- it's alloy, isn't it, so should be soft enough to drill out;

Thanks - yeah, I'm trying to do some wrenching myself these days. Removing an expander bolt should be a no brainer. It looks like some kind of carbon paste has been used. I've tried tapping it out with a hammer but it just keeps going down the steerer. I could just leave it, but it will bug me to know end if I know its in there.

Dremel task!

Some darn expanders tight up and lose down. So basically once in place the only way is down because even taking them out will be a pita.

Man - I spent last night drilling the hell outta this thing. It's still not budging.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change"

Expansion bolt and a slide hammer? if there's anything left......

Push it down and pretend it's not there?

The annoying thing is this bike is a weight weenie project. That's the main purpose of the build. Knowing I have an unnecessary chunk of metal hanging out in the frame is gonna tick me off.

LOL....:) Think of it as ballast.....

so the 6mm hex stripped out and you cant undo the expansion plug? correct? does the insert have m5 threads? i would go for the slide hammer. can also try a long m5 screw washer and nut and use it like a puller.

I gave up. I was worried any more effort was going to damage the fork. I shoved it as far down as I could and installed the new one. I figured with all the drilling there was probably no more than 15 or so grams of material left anyway.

Simple weight weenie solution. Eat one less donut!!