handlebars keep coming loose and twisting
 

hi everyone! i recently bought an electra verse 21D and i'm incredibly happy with it - besides the fact that the handlebars have started to loosen and twist! I tried tightening it with an allen wrench today but halfway through my ride home from work they came loose again. anything I can do? I still have my free tune-up at REI but i'd like to save that til I really need it...

Locktite on the bolt or get a new bolt; use a thin shim (piece of an alu can).

You still may not tightening the pinch bolt sufficiently, threads tighten up a little smoother than dry ones.

[that's opposite of thread locking the bolt.. ]

but threads cut in aluminum may strip out.. so there are limits .

The red loc tite on the bar stem contact surface will keep things better , perhaps..

(I should probably mention that I'm a total novice when it comes to servicing my own bike - which i'm hoping to get better at soon)

what I'm reading is saying to never use red loctite on a bike, but blue instead. Would I just loosed the bolt, put some loctite in between, then tighten it back up again?

red is normally used to improve the slip in security of cartridge bearings ,

its purpose is different than the blue thread-lock variety..

perhaps as a novice , the Bike shop may be a better resource ,

if they strip things they will be responsible to replace them..


'How tight' pragmatically, requires torque wrenches , working in standard numbers ,

to be meaningful in an impersonal text writing situation.

I will agree with you on the blue loctite use, but I disagree that there should be any used for this problem.

Is it the bolt has not been torqued sufficiently to hold the bars in place, are they the right fastener, can the stem with tightened bolts firmly hold the handlebar in place? If the "slot" that the bolts compress to hold the bars in place doesnt have at least some space it wont hold the bars. Many times a "dry" fastener in aluminum or steel starts to gall and doesnt torque properly. A little bit of some oil or my favorite never seize wil fix that problem.

BUT.... since this is a safety issue I am sure that REI would be more than happy to make the correct adjustments to make sure your handlebar is secure. Let them do the job that should have been done when the bike was assembled.

-SP

+100. This is a one minute adjustment and REI will not consider it your tune up. Get it fixed right away.

Another vote for taking it back to REI since you haven't had any luck fixing it yourself. This is something that they would have to worry about becoming a lawsuit if it causes injury so I would imagine they would be eager to fix this for no charge and should not count as a tuneup.