Hi, Im a Newbe, and my first prob

jklash1987

Hi, I live in Essex, work as an Maintainence Engineer and Ive just got into MTB'ing.
I Only recently got into MTB'ing because I cycle to work (Cant realy call it a 'comute because my flat is only 1½ m from work)
I had one of those crappy store brank bikes given to me, you know, Full sus bike bought for £125... Though I dont want to sound ungreatfull...
After Jumping from around 11 stone to 13Stone 7lbs, (I'm only 5'9") I thorght maybe I should take Cycling a bit more serious...
I decided to save up a bit of cash n buy a propper MTB that would last n take a beating
I did my research about mountain bikes for a good while, check out all the forums to see what I should be looking at.
I ended up going into Halfords, As where I live, there isnt much choice in bike shops.
I sighted the GT Aggressor XCR n thought, saw it was £800 n though. THATS MY BIKE!
TBH I would of rather of got an Averlanche or something elese of the net... (I purchase nearly everything from the net... except food... ) But buying a FULL bike maybe a bit iffy...
So I bought the aggressor from halfords, But only paid £650 for it instead of the full price
(20% Discount offer one weekend).
I was realy chuffed with it, started messin' round with it, given it some upgrades already aswell... shorter (60mm) stem, Red El Gallo Jeffe Pedals, Grey Outland Lock-on Grips with White lockrings n White Superstar end caps, red Lizard skin Chainstay protecor, even red MOWA bottle cap bolts with head set bolt (Still waiting for), basicly n things to bling it up n colour co-ordinate it, and to preform abit better...

I'm realy happy with it, n happy Im kind of gettin involved in a hobby.

Though Ive came into my first problem...
I had to undo the bottle cage Capheads to remove a plastic pump bracket to clean the frame and put helicopter tape on the downtube n bb area.

But one of my Bottle cage boss's on the Downtue have came loose!



I managed to remove the 5mm/M5 caphead holding the Boss with some Neadle nose pliers and gently pushin the Allen key to oneside as I unscrewd it.

Now, I've obviously googled the problem got certain results etc
apperently most alloy frames use rivets/ riv-nuts to for Bottle cage bosses with an M5 thread internally. I dont have that many tools at home to sort this prob, but could it be sorted easily? or is it a "Take the bike back" kind of problem...

Now I know you can say "Take it to halfords, let them look" but non of the workers at my local halfords are aged over 12 and realy seem like they dont care about bikes...

There is a Bike shop about 2/3 miles from where I am, should I take it there and let them look??

Sorry for practicaly re-writing the bible on ur forum lol.

Thanks!

piker

Really need a nutsetter tool,pulls the riv-nut up tight without damaging the threads.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Quality-Hand-Sett ... ltDomain_3
If bike shop cant do it try local car body shop.

jklash1987

I think the boss internal thread may be slightly damaged, not only that, tightening the thread down on a loose rivet can be difficult...

Do you know where I would stand on warrenty grounds?

piker

If the threads damaged theres not a lot can be done unless you can grip the rivnut like you did when you removed the bolt and re-chase the threads with a tap,Then you can use a nutsetter to pull the rivnut tight.No harm in local bike shop taking a look i would think they will have seen this problem before
As for how you would stand on warranty speak to halfords.You have nothing to lose.

jklash1987

Its such an ennoying inconvenience... I've got a week off wrk coming up, Il drop it off at an LBS... I don't mind Halfords staff indexing gears and bleeding brake fluid, stuff theyve probably had some basic training in, but I dont feel confident with them to solve this prob.
The only problem with frame replacement is they might not have another stocked.

giantculler

welcome!

Catfish

If the bike is less than a year old it should be a warrenty issue, manufacturing defect. Contact halfords and don't let them fob you off. The reason this has happened is because the nutsert has not been fitted/pulled up properley.

jklash1987

Your right Catfish, I took it to halfords agian Friday Afternoon, I told them about it and what the ther other issues were. At first they said, We can replace the Rivet, I just said, But that involves drilling it out, I wouldnt mind on a 2/3+ year old frame, but its brand new, So i think they are going to replace the frame or possibly give me a new bike, As I said the Brakes are weak and the Gers need re-indexing.

piker

Hope you get a new bike mate,let us know how you get on.

Catfish

All being well you should get a new frame.

jklash1987

Was Awarded an I-Drive XCR Five. Not Bad bike, just getting used to the Full sus.

bigflangesmallsprocket

Okay, that looks like it's a rivetted boss, rather than welded in? A tip I picked up and used successfully:
Do you have access to an old hub with a quick release mech, or just a quick release even? You'll probably need a spacer, so the hub plus a couple of small nuts slotted over the release mechs spindle should do, or something to sleeve the spindle if you don't have a hub. Clean the threads the threads and grease well. Screw the spindle into the boss. If the rivet does not comply, try some long nose pliers to stop the rivet spinning as you thread it. when its on then simply apply the quick release mech. This should pull the rivet up tight and squeeze the soft metal tightly onto the frame tube, just like a proper riveter.

I've only done this once, and it worked. BUT, I would also that you go carefully and only tighten the minimum necessary as you don't want to make things worse!