5 Rotor bolts only - inevitable death??? - Singletrack World Magazine December 11, 2017

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This topic has 34 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by andytherocketeer.

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5 Rotor bolts only – inevitable death???
flashinthepan
Free Member

Sheared a bolt removing a rotor. Drilled out and tried to remove but no success. I’ll spare you the details – but even if the bolt is removed a new one ain’t ever going to fit

Will 5 bolts be sufficient? 160mm rotor, front, gravel bike with TRP Spyres

Posted 6 years ago

joshvegas
Free Member

Dill out completely

Run a bolt through and use a nut?

Posted 6 years ago

bigblackshed
Full Member

Death is inevitable. Whether yours will be contributed to the lack of a rotor bolt is debatable.

#WhatsTheWorstThatCouldHappen? #JustRideIt

* A mate who was a Pro DHer on the World Tour only ever ran 3 bolts on his rotors to save weight. He’s not dead.

Posted 6 years ago

thegreatape
Free Member

GW only ever ran 3 bolts on his rotors to save weight. He’s not dead.

Posted 6 years ago

5thElefant
Free Member

Run a bolt through and use a nut?

I ran one like that for years.

GW only ever ran 3 bolts on his rotors to save weight. He’s not dead.

I wouldn’t lose any sleep doing that either.

Posted 6 years ago

jam-bo
Full Member

Tap & helicoil it. Got a very cheap set of mavic wheels off someone here after they trashed a couple of rotor bolt holes trying to take their rotors off. 10 minutes in the shed and good as new

Posted 6 years ago

flashinthepan
Free Member

Helicoil won’t work as the bolt hole has split through to the edge up to half way down. Nowhere for the split to run through to (except all the way to the back) – but it can’t run to the hub body.

I’ve got the old bolt out – but the top half of the thread is farked – about two/three threads remaining at the back side and a bolt has gone in and tightened.

So I guess I’ve got 5 & 1/2 bolts

Bolt and nut would work

But I think it’ll be fine

Posted 6 years ago

pistonbroke
Free Member

Rohloff disc hubs only have 4 bolts. No problem unless it’s a front brake then of course you’ll die.

Posted 6 years ago

orangeboy
Free Member

Might show my age a bit. But the old gt down hill bikes with the rockshox branded amp disc calipers only had three bolt rotors and hubs.

I’d not worry about one missing especially on a gravel bike

Posted 6 years ago

Andy-R
Full Member

flashinthepan – Member

I’ve got the old bolt out – but the top half of the thread is farked – about two/three threads remaining at the back side and a bolt has gone in and tightened.

If there are three threads remaining then I’d just stick a bolt in there, nip it up and never think about it again.

Posted 6 years ago

MartynS
Full Member

Might show my age a bit. But the old gt down hill bikes with the rockshox branded amp disc calipers only had three bolt rotors and hubs.

Might also be showing my age but i had a GT with an AMP calliper and 3 bolt disk and I think I’m still alive..

Posted 6 years ago

jonnyboi
Full Member

Does anyone here know a single person who has had a disc rotor come loose?

Personally I think you’ll be fine

Posted 6 years ago

CaptainFlashheart
Free Member

29er?

Posted 6 years ago

blader1611
Free Member

Joe cocker only rode with 5 bolts and he is alright………

Posted 6 years ago

flashinthepan
Free Member

Joe cocker only rode with 5 bolts and he is alright………

He ~~was~~ is definitely gravelly.

Posted 6 years ago

oldnpastit
Full Member

That reminds me. There’s a rotor bolt missing from my CX bike which I lent to someone to replace a bolt from their cleats, back when it was still warm and sunny.

Posted 6 years ago

flashinthepan
Free Member

That reminds me. There’s a rotor bolt missing from my CX bike which I lent to someone to replace a bolt from their cleats, back when it was still warm and sunny.

Does the lack of a bolt kill you to death frequently?

Posted 6 years ago

oldnpastit
Full Member

Does the lack of a bolt kill you to death frequently?

I had a near death experience today, if that counts? For several hours, my life felt empty, without purpose, grey, filled with dread and devoid of meaning.

It’s much better now though.

Posted 6 years ago

honourablegeorge
Full Member

oldnpastit – Member
That reminds me. There’s a rotor bolt missing from my CX bike which I lent to someone to replace a bolt from their cleats, back when it was still warm and sunny.

I mounted a friends SRAM shifter to his brake using one of his rotor bolts during the summer, when he lost the original. He didn’t die in the three days of uplifts that followed

Posted 6 years ago

downhillfast
Free Member

I was killed dead after using only 5 rotor bolts.
Still haunts me now.

Posted 6 years ago

spooky_b329
Full Member

Can you araldite in a stud and threadlock a half nut on the end?

Posted 6 years ago

singlespeedstu
Full Member

GW only ever ran 3 bolts on his rotors to save weight. He’s not dead.

With his new considerate almost none trolly persona he may as well be.
I may have been a little drunk and miss read it but I’m almost sure he actually gave some useful advice the other day…

Posted 6 years ago

thegreatape
Free Member

I didn’t realise he was back – who is he now?

Posted 6 years ago

singlespeedstu
Full Member

It’s not that difficult to gwurk out.

Posted 6 years ago

thegreatape
Free Member

Ah I see

Posted 6 years ago

ransos
Free Member

Does anyone here know a single person who has had a disc rotor come loose?

You do now…

Posted 6 years ago

tjagain
Full Member

jonnyboi – Member

Does anyone here know a single person who has had a disc rotor come loose?

Personally I think you’ll be fine

Yes – On a group ride one of the riders had a disc come loose

Posted 6 years ago

hot_fiat
Full Member

My mate machined some beautiful aluminium disc bells for his MX5 track car. Unfortunately he didn’t have the required castleated nuts to secure the bells to the discs, so used regular nylocks instead.

We took a trip to the Nurburgring, where we had a great time, though we did crash into a 911, but that’s not important right now.

When we got home we found that we’d lost every other disc bolt on one wheel and had four or five left, out of about 20, on the other.

We were fine. It was all fine. You’ll be fine.

(For legal reasons I suggest throwing your hub away and getting it sorted properly).

Posted 6 years ago

hols2
Free Member

Does anyone here know a single person who has had a disc rotor come loose?

Yes, a mate had a rear rotor come loose a few years back. We noticed it at the end of a descent, all the bolts were still there, didn’t do any damage to the hub. For about 6 months I obsessively checked rotor bolts with a torque wrench.

Obviously, 3 bolts is enough seeing as how many people remove bolts to save weight. I wouldn’t worry about 5 bolts at all, although obviously make sure they’re torqued correctly and have threadlock.

Posted 6 years ago

Superficial
Free Member

I think 3 is fine, provided your mechanic checks each one before each 4 minute DH run.

6 bolts is about redundancy. People don’t maintain bikes, and there’s a chance bolts could work loose. If you keep an eye it’ll be fine. I wouldn’t worry.

Posted 6 years ago

spooky_b329
Full Member

I’m going to go against the general consensus. The disc is designed to put the its ‘spokes’ under compression under braking. If there is a bolt missing, there is a section of disc unsupported, it could collapse or buckle under heavy braking.

Might be OK on a two piece rotor or one thats got plenty of material in the middle near the bolts, but I’ve got some older Hopes and they are quite spindly with not much material to share the load between bolts.

Posted 6 years ago

alishand
Full Member

Well Mr Cathro only runs 4 in each wheel, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.

Although…he probably doesn’t touch his brakes as much as us mere mortals…so…yeah, I’m sure you’ll be fine.

Posted 6 years ago

tillydog
Free Member

The disc is designed to put the its ‘spokes’ under compression under braking

Only if you fit it backwards.

Posted 6 years ago

hols2
Free Member

If there is a bolt missing, there is a section of disc unsupported, it could collapse or buckle under heavy braking.

That is absolutely not how it works.

Posted 6 years ago

andytherocketeer
Full Member

Does anyone here know a single person who has had a disc rotor come loose?

Spent a whole week in Morzine/Les Gets, with one of the other guys bikes making a strange noise. On day 5 it was getting so annoying that I rode alongside to see if I could work out where the noise was coming from.

Turned out it was 3 bolts missing, 2 bolts loose, and 1 bolt nipped up “enough”, on the rear rotor.

Solved the issue by moving the 3 bolts to be equally spaced, and torquing them up to something sensible.

Posted 6 years ago