Not quite a rant, more an expression of minor annoyance.

I have recently bought two sets of brakes second-hand, and neither came with the bolts to fix the calipers to the frame/fork. Do the sellers somehow think I have a stockpile of these things? Or are they stockpiling them themselves? Why?

Not a problem, thought I, for I shall procure some from my local cyclery. Who only had Avid Ti ones at £30 a set in. No ta.

Not only that, but to fix said brakes to existing frames and forks, I need adapters. Said local purveyor of bicycley bits having let me down again, I bought them online. Which again, came without the necessary bolts to fix the adapter to the thing you are wanting to adapt.

Why? Surely the manufacturer (Shimano!) includes the bolts with the adapters, so why separate them before posting? Is it to charge more for the same thing? (I’ve answered my own question, haven’t I?)

Also, what are they actually called? “Disc brake bolts” brings up just the bolts, and not the cup and cone washers as well.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/avid-caliper-mounting-bracket-kit-bolts-only-/rp-prod141394
M5 Cap

The cup/cone washers are usually found on Avid setups I think & usually come with the brakes themselves – i’ve always just bought decent qulity stainless M6(edit m5?) bolts for mounting, 16mm or 18mm i think they were last time, any hardware shop will have them & plain stainless washers unless you really want to use the conical ones?

J

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I substitute old V Brake pad spacers for avid stuff when I need them.

If you pop into a local bike shop and ask the mechanic nicely they usually have a few spare.

I have recently bought two sets of brakes second-hand, and neither came with the bolts to fix the calipers to the frame/fork. Do the sellers somehow think I have a stockpile of these things? Or are they stockpiling them themselves? Why?

I’ve sold brakes secondhand so can answer that – I was selling the brakes that came with the the bike, having replaced them with secondhand brakes which didn’t come with bolts. But I did say in my listing that there were no bolts included.

“decent qulity stainless”

This scares me, as it shows a lack of understanding of the rating system.
I wouldn’t run anything lower that an 8.8 grade bolt. Also, stainless will not stretch as well, so will snap rather than bend which is not ideal if its holding your brakes on.

There is a reason why you don’t generally see stainless bolts in safety critical applications, on bikes, or cars.

Some reading:
http://home.jtan.com/~joe/KIAT/kiat_2.htm
http://www.1130cc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31662

Ahem should you be using ‘used’ bolts?
I would only reuse my own not someone elses.

I sold some brakes last week and whacked the bolts in, and the front adapter for that matter.

I did wonder what the buyer would want, but I decided they were better off having it than me.

I do have an excess of bolts, washers and adapters though.

I thought it was odd that shimano came with adapters as they assume you will be fitting 180 front and 160 rear disc. If someone isnt then surely they would be better off just knocing a couple of £ off.

I presume the bike that was having the disc brakes didn’t previously have disc brakes fitted? Otherwise you just re-use the original bolts surely?
Oh and whenever I’ve bought caliper adaptors new they have ALWAYS come with two bolts.