My friend Robert last week, attempted to remove the 5 Torx bolts that hold on the disk brake to his front hub. He attempted to remove these Torx bolts with an Allen wrench! Years ago I learned not to commit these types of crimes. One of bolts was so mangled that he eventually took a drill to it, mangled the bolt even more and tore up much of the hub too. As a friend, it is now my job to extract the remains of the bolt and reconstuct the hub with JB weld and the artists touch and blah blah blah. It's difficult for me to keep from preaching the evils of bolt mangling and not using the proper tool, because I myself am a reformed bolt mangler. Oh yes I fall of the wagon now and again, but much of the time I hold the line.
One of my first bikes was the Atala that people on this list may remember hearing me speak of. My mother's tool box (my father was a psychologist who knew nothing of tools), contained hammer, punch, screwdrivers, plumbers wrench, adjustable wrench, pliers, saw, file, and I added to it the dogbone wrench that Greg Peterson raves about (what garbage), and the Mafac tool set that comes with every Peugeout. With these tools I did pretty well until I came across a rusty tidbit, or rounded the corners of an odd bolt with a miss-set adjustable. As time went on, and miles added up, these odd bolts would round more and more until they eventually ended up as nothing much more than gouged pins that could only be grabbed on to with a pliers. I didn't at that time know that Sears sold ratchets and open ended wrenches in every size, and also specialty bike tools were available for every job. I did learn my lesson, but would occasionally lapse even back in the eighties with a vise grip or an adjustable. Even five years ago my Superbe Pro headset got a scratch in it because I didn't have two headset wrenches of a given size. Not a large scratch, but I know it's there, and I lay awake sometimes knowing that that scratch is from my sinning hands. I have seen these scratches and much worse on an occasional Campy headset, and I know that bolt manglers are wreaking havoc from one end of this planet to the other.
At times I know that I have learned my lesson, because I am willing to wait a week for a tool, or at least make another trip to the garage for one I already own. At times I slip and grab a bolt with a crude tool, and almost go off the deep edge. What has helped me, is working on old classic bikes. I know that I may never see a hub of a certain kind again, What I mangle today will have to remain for all the world to see. If I ever make it to the Cirque, I may try to pass off a scratch on a headset to a previous owner. Just smile and know it's not the fault of a previous owner but a previous version of a reformed bolt mangler.
Last year, I picked up the phone and called Rivendell's Greg Peterson on the phone and ordered a new 172.5 Superbe Pro Crank NOS. It arrived pristine in a box with the chainrings for only $120. I had to switch the chainrings to others that made more sense for me (ie 52/42 instead of 53/39). The evil bolt mangler reared his ugly head and used a coin,,,, A Coin to hold the back of the chainring bolts. I think I filed the edge flat to do it, and violated the oath of a reformed mangler and the Federal law not to deface public coinage. Nothing got scratched but I know I did wrong. Today I am combing the Internet, for another 172.5 Superbe crank for another Suntour bike, If I ever find one, I hope it hasn't been too mangled by an unrepentant hack.
Garth Libre in Miami Shores Heights Fl.