Commuter bike repair

So this week I had a problem with the rear bike rack. On Thursday the bolt attaching the rack to the lower chain stay snapped off. Now the rack is saying on.one side and the fender is rubbing the tire. An quick zip tie fix didn’t make it through the Friday commute. Time for a more serious repair. 

I pick up a couple of drill bits and a couple of sizes of bolt extractors at Princess Auto.  Step 1, drill out the centre of the bolt. I manage to snap one of two drill bits and I’m a lot more careful with the second bit. Step 2, use the extractor to remove the snapped off bolt. Well, the bolt is stubborn and the extractor snaps off on the drilled out hole. Now this is a real problem. The extractor is hardened steel and the drill bit can’t touch it. Time for Plan B. 

After some thinking I resort to a little MacGuyver move. 

  
A 1/2 pipe clamp with a bolt inserted into the band and we’re back in business. 

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