Stripped axle bolt on Tune hub

[LUW]

Guys, my LBS did me a favor and stripped my Lefty axle bolt (Tune hub) . The bolt wasn't 100% but the dim wit was on a hurry to remove the front wheel (to tighten the spokes) and wasted the bolt. I live in a small city and that bike shop, where I bought the bike, is (was!) the only LBS I have (had!) that I could take my 2011 Flash Carbon 29er. The state capital is about 25 km from here, with quite a few bike shops, but that means taking the car every time I want something done on the bike. So this means that from now on I have to do whatever I need by myself .

I'm trying to order a new bolt and in the meantime I'll use my stock Cannondale front hub. But how do I remove the bolt?

My first instinct would be just to try a larger hex bit there, but I'm worried I'll make things worse. Any pointers ?

[Dirty $anchez]

Your friendly local machine shop should be able to extract the bolt with minimum fuss. An SAE hex wrench could be the ticket if you feel adventurous.

[Thatshowiroll]

Why isn't someone at the offending bike shop doing this for you? Seems odd that they'd just send you on your way.

[LUW]

Taking the job to a shop would mean taking the whole bike (), since I can't get the wheel off, and I was after something that I could do myself. I'm quite a bit pissed with the idea of taking it to someone else and them screwing up again - like ruining the Lefty axle this time.

[LUW]

Why isn't someone at the offending bike shop doing this for you? Seems odd that they'd just send you on your way.

I've kind of lost confidence in them, since it looks like they will accept a half#ss job as a solution.

[Thatshowiroll]

You could Dremel a slot and unscrew it with a large flat-head screwdriver. Because of the high torque of that bolt, you may need a wrench or vice-grips along the shaft of the screwdriver. Apply a lot of pressure on the screwdriver while turning.
This has worked very well for me, and I even learned it on this forum. : )

[LUW]

I did that once to extract a brake rotor bolt and it worked out perfectly. The problem is that here the bolt is flush with the casing around it and not exposed.

[MendonCycleSmith]

EZ Out's rule.

You need one....

[LUW]

What's an EZ Out?

[Thatshowiroll]

Google is your friend:
Screw extractor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can buy these everywhere.

[LUW]

Oh, ok - I didn't know that brand, but knew it as 'bolt extractor". I also found out that there is a cap around the axle bolt, that should be removable. I'll see if I can pop it off and if it allows better access to the bolt from there.

[LUW]

My dad to the rescue !
He had an old Craftsman extractor kit (from the time you bought them through Sears and the brand was really top notch), so he stopped by last night with the kit and this morning I drilled the sucker out. A true piece of cake, but the cap around the axle bolt was an entirely different animal . The thing seized there and I basically had to rip it apart to remove the screw with the extractor bit attached.

This is how the stock Cannondale screw and cap look like in comparison:

So now I also have to order the darn screw cap .

[LUW]

And one thing I have a doubt about. Is that cap that I ruined some sort of extractor to the axle screw? I ask because I'm thinking of just using the Cannondale stock screw until the new parts arrive. But if I use only the screw without that cap, would I have trouble to, let's say, in an emergency pop the wheel out on the side of the road ?

If it's not recommended I'll have to rebuild my wheel with my old Cannondale hub if I want to use the bike.

[DRSpalding]

It's been a while since I looked inside my lefty's hub, but I do know that it runs fine in general w/o the hub cover. It is there to keep debris out, but mainly to be able to back the hub off the axle when you loosen the bolt and it pushes against it to slide the bearings off the axle races. If you grease up the axle properly before sliding on the lefty hub and check them every now and again, you'll probably never have to actually need that hub cover for the extraction, but it's a good idea to have it. I ran mine for a few days w/o it until I noticed it had either fallen out due to not being snugged or the LBS forgot to put it back in after a service. Just clean the axle and hub up and regrease it before putting the cover on.

I think that most Cannondale shops probably have one lying about that you can use, unless it is a different hub than they normally see. Mine did. Or the cover they found was mine that they put back on it!

[LUW]

Thanks man !

In my eyes I also see only it as a "dust cap", but I can't be certain. I live in a small town and Leftys aren't common here, so it's been a learning trip even for the LBS with my bike . I scored the net for pictures of my 2011 Cannonball hub, but couldn't find any . I did find pics of the current model, at least here that only looks like a dust cap.

Or not ?

[ohpossum]

Any chance you didn't realize that cap is reverse threaded?

[LUW]

That's exactly what I'm thinking . Specially because on the stock Cannondale hub it is a reversed thread.

[DRSpalding]

Yep. You need to remember that they are left-handed threads with those hub covers.

[BoostN7]

Sometimes, you just need your dad

[LUW]

Lesson learned.
But it's a shame I couldn't learn without the SNAFU.

[BoostN7]

I have the same problem now, with my brake lever and my XX shifter.... Taking them to my Dad tonight who will fix it for me