I’ve rounded one of my chainring bolts, any ideas on how to get it out????

cheers

got a dremmel? If yes, cut a slot in it & use a screwdriver

no i haven’t, have got a hack saw though…

piedi di formaggio, cheers mate, job done!!

Sorry to take this over, but I’ve just come in from rounding 3(!) – and they’re jsut below the surface of the chainring, so I can’t cut a slot in ’em. And I don’t havce a drill. Help! Any ideas?

try and get a bigger allen key in there?

center punch and a hammer, try and knock them around. If not spark erode them out.

Tried the bigger Allen key and an impact driver – it’s just left a huge hole in the middle. Not sure what a spark eroder is, but quite sure I haven’t got one.

Looking like the whole flipping crank’s going to have to come off and away to the (not so) local bs with it…. A$*e!

Get some screw extractors (couple ‘o’ quid from screwfix). drill a hole in bolts, screw in extractors (reverse thread = anticlockwise screwing action 😆 ) …… and keep winding the little bugger.

et viola, bolts out ont cheap

You can just brute them out with a drill too. I had to do that during a very frustrating day a while back. As long as you pick a drill bit that’s about the same diameter as the bolts, and attack it from the the inside (i.e. opposite to the pedal) it works fine.

i’ve got the same issue with a set of bontrager lock on grips, now maybe i fastened them on too tight but it seems the heads on the screws were made of some form of cheese and have rounded completely, i’m now trying to figure out a way of getting some thing small into the hole to cut grooves for a screwdriver to get the feckers out. not easy on such a small area.

Thanks guys. On to screwfix, and I think it’s drill buying time.

I rounded a lock-on bolt last week; eventually it took a new handlebar and lots of hacksawing to get the grip, and the things stuck behind it, off…

Stompy has it – screw extractors. I got mine about 10 years ago I think. There are a couple of different designs, but basically they are a tapered tap with a reverse thread (some look more like a tapered square section with a slight reverse rotation – but effectively the same idea)

Change from a tenner to buy, and I’ve yet to find a bolt, sgrew etc that I couldn’t get out with them. Sometimes you need to drill a pilot hole to get them started (ie rotor bolts) but I somehow doubt that will be a problem will chainring bolts.

So £5-10 and just over a day’s time (of which 24 hours will be waiting for Screwfix to deliver; though good hardware shops will have them two)

Yep, they are the dogs……. I work in a boatyard and have to remove alot of screws/bolts that have been submerged in salty water for years 😕

Mine are similar in shape to a tap (threading tool not a water giver) with a square drive on the non business end. I use a tap wrench to drive the little fella’s as this gives the most control. I’d recommend drilling a pilot hole, slightly smaller than the extractor threads, it makes it alot easier to gain purchase. Clamp your cranks down to, don’t want them spinning away into your man area 😥

Bootfairs are a good place to look for them, old stuff, but generally the older the tool the better it is (better steel, made to last)

Don’t bodge it, you’ll make a mess of your kit and your tools. Do it properly the firsst time and save yourself time/money/injury/stress.
Good luck chap

I tried screwfix but couldn’t find ’em. Do they go under a different name, please?

Try Axminster: Here

Cheers. Ordered.

Some very good advice there. Will remember this for the next time it happens o me. Here’s the ScrewFix link…

Screw Fix screw extractors

Update: Great advice chaps! I’m now a convert to screw extractors and am preaching their worth to everyone I meet.

Put it this way, it took me longer to get the extractors out of their packaging than remove three totally rounded chainring bolts. Pop pop pop. Fantastic!

Cheers