brokewheelspoke

So yesterday I went to swap my seatpost. I was quite surprised when the bolt in my Thomson clamp stripped out on me, and rather easy at that. I've got a stripped bolt remover tool set, so I tried that first, but it just shredded the bolt even more. Finally, I cut a slot in the bolt with my dremel and removed it with a large flat head. Unfortunately, I didn't see a way to cut a slot in the bolt without also cutting into the clamp. I considered drilling the bolt out instead, but figured I'd likely ruin the threads, so either way I'd be damaging the collar.

In any case, the clamp being silver, but the bolt being another color, I started to wonder if it was actually a Thomson bolt. I bought the clamp a long time ago, but don't remember from where, so figured it was possible someone sold me something fake. After doing a little visual research online, it seems Thomson collar bolts are in fact that color. I contacted Thomson about it, but they very quickly said it's not their bolt and told me to use a torx bit to remove a stripped bolt. A rather abrupt and unhelpful reply, and I'm quite certain a torx bit would have shredded the bolt just as well. My stripped bolt remover set has worked well for me before, but the metal on this bolt was just soft and cheap. I temporarily put another bolt in the collar to use until I can replace it.

I do like Thomson products overall, but given this negative experience, I went looking for a Salsa lip lock collar instead. Turns out they're harder to find now, so ended up ordering a Wolf Tooth to replace it.

I'm just curious on other people's experiences with Thomson products, especially collars, and if you've had bolts strip like this. Also, can anyone here conclusively say if that's a Thomson bolt?

Thanks.

dedhed

Pounding a torx in is always the first choice for stripped allens

3alarmer 

.
...I suspect that your bolt, "soft and cheap", is made of something other than steel, in order to save weight. Nothing in life is free, it's all a tradeoff.

FBinNY 

Bolts are engineered to break. The logic is that the bolt is cheaper and easier to replace than what it holds together

Thomson, doesn't make that bolt, they buy a stock item plated for them.

Odds are that corrosion bound the bolt taking the removal torque above the design limit. Or it was over torqued on installation.

OTOH there's always the chance that somewhere in production, someone picked up a bolt and tossed it among ones back from heat treating.

BTW call or email Thomson and they'll send you a free replacement.

dsbrantjr

What is the condition of your hex drive bit? If it is worn down/rounded off it is more likely to strip out a bolt head. If so, grind it back to sharp corners or replace it, they are consumables. There are also compounds such as Vibra-Tite Drive Grip https://www.vibra-tite.com/specialty...ite-drivegrip/ which will help avoid stripping.

smd4

Oh, man! You trashed your bolt AND your seat clamp! No good reason for either.

brokewheelspoke

This was a faulty product, and there's nothing I could have done to prevent the bolt from rounding off. Thomson won't replace it, but that's OK; I'm not sure I'd trust another collar from them. I've never had issue with Salsa or any of the $4 collars that came on my bikes over the years. Just wish Salsa still made their lip lock collars. But I think the Wolf Tooth I ordered will do fine.

For my tools, I've got the Bondhus color coded metric allen wrench set as well as some metric allens I got from McMaster-Carr. None are worn out. As best as I can recall, this is only the 2nd or 3rd bolt in 10+ years that I've had strip on a bicycle, and I've gone through a lot of bicycles.

smd4

I doubt the bolt was “faulty.”

well biked

Salsa Lip Locks are still a current item and readily available.