fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Needs to come out. Pop the bolt back on and tighten up a good few times (so thee is plenty of thread engaged), then tap the bolt with a hammer.
Front brake removal - road bike
- Thread starter SatNavSaysStraightOn
- Start date
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OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
My OH came home to see my bike strung up (easier to keep the WD40 which is all I have) and came up with the line "I see you are having another bondage session with your best friend!"
Will keep on at the gentle persuasion and try another round ofwhipping WD40 later on tonight... then try again in the morning. Bike is strung up because the alternative is WD40 finding its way into the headset overnight which is not something I really want to have to deal with currently! And despite what it looks like the hooks are on the rack, not the frame or wheels - promise! 
thanks all....
Will keep on at the gentle persuasion and try another round of
thanks all....
PatrickPending
Legendary Member
- Location
- Leicester
good luck!
themosquitoking
Guru
- Location
- Spain
Those stairs look like a death threat after 5 or 6 beers.
With the wheel out, gently rest the bottom of the forks on a block of wood. Then straddle the bike, grab the brake blocks and try to wiggle the caliper from side to side. From this position you should be able to use a bit more weight and you might just break the corrosion that is binding the bolt to the fork. (and don't let hubby catch you trying this - he might get the wrong idea 
)
)
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
after last night, if he wants hitting with a hammer I will more than happily do so! (he snores and last night was a very bad night!)With the wheel out, gently rest the bottom of the forks on a block of wood. Then straddle the bike, grab the brake blocks and try to wiggle the caliper from side to side. From this position you should be able to use a bit more weight and you might just break the corrosion that is binding the bolt to the fork. (and don't let hubby catch you trying this - he might get the wrong idea
And tried that repeatedly. Still stuck fast, won't even rotate slightly even after leaving all night and all morning with repeated sprays of WD40 (all I have available currently).
My OH is now on the case and not getting anywhere either - at least if he breaks something and I end up needing a new bike, it will be his fault now!
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
Ok - I think he has broken it... there is now a line of paint chips around the top of one of the struts (?) and all of the chips join together. All of them have come off 'of their own accord' rather than him missing with the hammer. It is not filling me with confidence!
I think I might be needing a new bike - probably cheaper than new carbon forks & brake calipers!
I think I might be needing a new bike - probably cheaper than new carbon forks & brake calipers!
jay clock
Massive member
- Location
- Hampshire UK
your photos you posted look like the underside of your forks, looking upwards. Is that what you are bashing?
Globalti
Legendary Member
This is getting silly.
Penetrating oil won't make any difference; you've got to break the bond that has formed where the aluminium oxide from the fork has expanded and filled the already tight gap around that long pivot bolt. A good way to do it would be to find something like a steel rod that fits snugly down the hole from behind, press it up against the end of the stuck bolt and give it a very hefty whack with a big hammer. However that could slip sideways and peen over the end of the bolt (i.e. flatten it) so it would probably be easier to refit the cylindrical nut then unscrew it by two or three turns, than whack that. That will protect the screw threads on the brake pivot bolt. Once that has broken the bond, remove the nut and carry on with option 1 but using gentler force or a softer-faced mallet on the pushing tool. This operation would be easier if you removed the entire fork from the bike and laid it flat, face down on two solid blocks on a hard surface with the brake caliper free.
Applying lots of force to the cylindrical nut might damage it by also peening over the edges of the hole where the hex key fits. This is no disaster as every bike bodger and bike shop will have a spare one floating around in their box of bits. These bolts are usually hard steel but Btwin parts do tend to be made from Brie or Camembert.
Stop wasting time with oil and give it a hefty whack. It will come out. Before replacing it, clean everything up and as somebody else wrote above, coat everything in grease because the pivot bolt is terribly exposed to water from the front wheel.
Why do people persist in believing that penetrating oil can free rusted or siezed fittings? It can't. It only works once the bond is broken and parts are moving.
Penetrating oil won't make any difference; you've got to break the bond that has formed where the aluminium oxide from the fork has expanded and filled the already tight gap around that long pivot bolt. A good way to do it would be to find something like a steel rod that fits snugly down the hole from behind, press it up against the end of the stuck bolt and give it a very hefty whack with a big hammer. However that could slip sideways and peen over the end of the bolt (i.e. flatten it) so it would probably be easier to refit the cylindrical nut then unscrew it by two or three turns, than whack that. That will protect the screw threads on the brake pivot bolt. Once that has broken the bond, remove the nut and carry on with option 1 but using gentler force or a softer-faced mallet on the pushing tool. This operation would be easier if you removed the entire fork from the bike and laid it flat, face down on two solid blocks on a hard surface with the brake caliper free.
Applying lots of force to the cylindrical nut might damage it by also peening over the edges of the hole where the hex key fits. This is no disaster as every bike bodger and bike shop will have a spare one floating around in their box of bits. These bolts are usually hard steel but Btwin parts do tend to be made from Brie or Camembert.
Stop wasting time with oil and give it a hefty whack. It will come out. Before replacing it, clean everything up and as somebody else wrote above, coat everything in grease because the pivot bolt is terribly exposed to water from the front wheel.
Why do people persist in believing that penetrating oil can free rusted or siezed fittings? It can't. It only works once the bond is broken and parts are moving.
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Check out the ribble website, they're pretty reasonable for carbon forks, think got mine for a winter build for about seventy quid. Brake caliper shouldn't be too much.
It does seem like the perfect opportunity to guilt the OH into getting you that n+1 you have always fancied tho
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
It is madness I agree. I am totally stumped. Even my OH who used to be a cotton mill mechanic is at a loss at the moment and that usually says something. I feel like I am missing something, but everything I have checked, time and time again, says it should just come loose! I really wish it would/did. Regretfully hitting it in the manner described has resulted in a considerable amount of paint coming off the carbon forks - paint that has not been hit directly, and has come off by shockwaves travelling through the forks themselves. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot and they are all in a line, joining up. My OH has hit it so hard that I can no longer get the bolt with the internal thread off the allen key itself! I have no idea what is holding that calliper in place, but it is stronger than superglue (and there is evidence of blue locktite going all the way into the fork itself).
It may come out if we break the forks... but tbh I now think the forks are probably suspect from damage as it is and the bike will probably need a new front calliper (he has tried hitting that as well to break the corrosion). They won't rotate at all either. Leverage between them and the forks as been tried carefully but to no avail and there is no sign of the corrosion breaking!
The bike will need a new chain, new cassette, new rear derailleur and before long a new chainset as well. I was expecting this by the end of the summer. In addition I now have a brake boss that is not screwing in which make the pannier rack interesting for the time being and I dread to think what state the headset is going to be in. The pedals are on the way out (yet again - but this is due to my uneven cycling pattern because of my paralysis, so something we simply have to take into account and accept). On the bright side, the BB seems OK, wheels are being serviced as we speak and have just had new tyres. But when you list the cost of replacement parts, they are now more than the bike was originally (£299) and it would probably make more sense to bring the replacement forward... not what I wanted, I wanted to be out cycling, but I am not certain I trust the forks now and need transport for the week ahead. my 44 mile commute 3 times next week on a mountain bike will exhaust me! I have tried it once before and it is not fun.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
That's a bit of a begger gel, been there, wished I'd never started etc etc 
(bloody T shirt didn't fit either)
(bloody T shirt didn't fit either)
