Alloy Mech hanger bolt

Catfish

Any one used an alloy chainring bolt to hold a mech hanger on?. The original hanger bolt has gone rusty and i have a spare alloy bolt from a pack of five i brought, think it would be o.k as the it is under less stress than a chainring. Any thoughts....

Chunkers1980

If it fits then there's no problem. Once the wheel is done up it's held in place with the axel.

njee20

They often come with alloy bolts. A few years back Spesh supplied a big back of M3 alloy bolts (which were obviously incredibly soft) to replace the steel ones in their mech hangers, the bolt was tougher than the frame, so the small tab on the frame would break.

Their newer ones which use M8 chainring bolts are alloy still. As above, once the wheel's in you could take the bolt out if you fancied!

Catfish

Ta for that, that's what i was thinking, I will give it a try, nowt to loose but a rusty nut!

delcol

i have on my demo...

got to whistler sept 2010 only to find my mech hanger and bee ripped off by the kind baggage handlers (i had sense and removed the mech,, but the hanger bought it..
my mate who is a cycle mechanic used a chainring bolt had to saw it down to fit though....

njee20

That'll depend on how long you bolts are :-)

mattyboy199

If its a chainring bolt can i suggest you use a titanium item. I used aluminium ones on my mk1 chameleon, ally ones tend to loosen & fall off, when mine did it got caught with my rotor & buckled it. The titanium one should not loosen & is half the weight of steel + corrosion resistant.

Chunkers1980

You're missing the point there. The bolt is only of use really when the wheel is not in! If you're going to get a Ti one then you may as well get the real deal...

mattyboy199

why would you bother to remove the bolt after fitting the wheel ?. It still serves a purpose when the wheel is off & if you get a flat whats gonna hold your mech in place (so now you carry the bolt in your pocket).

njee20

There is no need for the additional strength of ti over alu in this application, a ti bolt is no less susceptible to coming loose, ergo a ti chainring bolt to hold your mech hanger on (or your chainrings IMO) is total overkill.

Your alu bolts came loose because you didn't use thread lock and/or they weren't tight enough.

mattyboy199

I agree no need for the additional strenght,try the ally bolts see how you get on. Ally chainring bolts are nore hassle than their worth thread lock or not.

delcol

the chainring bolt holding my demo's mech hanger on has never come loose in 15 months and the demo has done 2 trips to whistler with it so not exactly easy trails.

njee20

I've had alu bolts in numerous mech hangers - they're stock on virtually all Spesh bikes, and (having worked in a top Spesh dealership for a decade) I've never seen one cause issues. If you had threadlock on yours it would not have come loose. A steel or a ti bolt could have just as easily worked loose and caused the same problem. From the fact you said yours fouled the rotor I assume we're talking dropouts, not mech hangers, but the point still stands.

On that, I also use alu bolts in various places on my bike, including rotor bolts, and whilst I'd not want to use them in stems and what not, and wouldn't recommend them to ham-fisted oafs, they're no more likely to come undone than any other material.

JonnyBoy

Actually less likely being that raw alu to alu can corrode together and seize.