barrell adjuster removal

bertypreston

Hi , in the process of building my self a road bike from mostly 2nd hand parts , got an old (approx 5 years maybe more) sp. esh allez frame but only one of the original down tube barrrel adjusters remains. I need another but don't know what size thread to buy ?? Also I can't get the remaining barrel adjuster out as it seems to be stuck , tried needle nose pliers and gt 85 but it won't budge , any ideas on what size thread to buy and how the get the old one out?

g00se

I would have thought they were standard sizes:

http://www.dotbike.com/p/5244?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=FGL

I bought a frame to build up a bike and it came with really nice, stainless steel adjusters - but of course, in the process of stripping the frame down, I lost one. Most local bike shops had the cheap plastic Shimano ones like those above so there wasn't an issue getting replacements.

Obviously, after finishing the bike, I found the lost adjuster - I now just need a reason to strip the bike's cbles to put them back...!

Not sure the best way to remove the seized one - it should just unscrew - does it not turn at all in either direction. You can see from the pick above, it may have little wire flanges to help hold it in place. Could these have become caught on the ridges? I suppose that if the frame aluminium and the adjusters steel, then they could have become 'welded' together if a bit of corrosion set in.

According to the Sheldon Brown website, penetrating oil won't dissolve this aluminium oxide but amonia will - so it might be worth trying a bit of drain cleaner on it overnight (I've no idea what it'll do with paint, laquer or decals, so be vary carful where it ends up).

Yossie

Worst case scenario:

Cut the barrel end off leaving just the seized bit in the thread.

Drill it out.

Get local engineer/bicycle frame repairing man to retap the thread - 30 second job.

Or drill out, leave and fit in line adjusters, ferrell in holder where barrell adjuster used to be.

andy_wrx

Do you actually need them ?

Sure it makes life easier when setting up the mechs, but it's not 100% necessary
- I don't have them on my TT bike

There is one on the rear mech anyway
The one on the downtube is there so you can reach it riding along : a pro in a race might need to adjust his gears this way, but us mere mortals can stop and use the mech one

And if using a compact or double, you can just set the front up using the end-stops as it just has 2 positions
- this is where the adjuster is useful, it does make life easier toset-up the mech, but you can do it without

bertypreston

I don't think I really do need one but there's nothing for the cable end caps to slot into otherwise .

markos1963

Be careful if drilling out the old adjuster, there is usually very little clearance to get a drill in there. You have to drill from the top so as to follow the thread and that brings a drill head very close to the frame/head tube. My TT bike was impossible to drill out with a conventional drill and a Dremmel type drill was needed. Once drilled you can chase out what's left of the thread with a tap if you are careful and shouldn't need to have the boss rethreaded.

bertypreston

Thanks for the replies, found another for the LHS. I'm not going to bother drilling out the stuck one , adjustments canbe made on the rear mech if necessary. Rob