Cable Guide Hole Too Small?

[John]

Hello Esteemed Bike Wrenchers,

I am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
any threads in the hole. What are the chances the opening is not
threaded?

The calipers say the screw is about 5mm, the hole is about 3mm . Is
there a smaller screw for Italian Frames? Any suggestions on how to
make this work would be appreciated. I can't believe that Ernesto
would let a frame go out the door unfinished.

Thanks,

John

 

[Alex Rodriguez]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>Hello Esteemed Bike Wrenchers,
>I am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
>fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
>bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
>any threads in the hole. What are the chances the opening is not
>threaded?

Colnago's aren't known for their high quality and attention to detail.
They do have nice paint jobs.

>The calipers say the screw is about 5mm, the hole is about 3mm . Is
>there a smaller screw for Italian Frames? Any suggestions on how to
>make this work would be appreciated. I can't believe that Ernesto
>would let a frame go out the door unfinished.

Use a tap to tap the existing hole. If this was me, I would take it back
to the shop where I paid the big bucks and have them fix the problem.
--------------
Alex

 

[Phil Brown]

> am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
>fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
>bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
>any threads in the hole.

It may be a drain hole. Are there any other ways to run the cable?
Phil Brown

 

[wannagofast]

Perhaps little eyelets brazed to the shell?

"Phil Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
> >fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
> >bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
> >any threads in the hole.
>
> It may be a drain hole. Are there any other ways to run the cable?
> Phil Brown

 

[A Muzi]

John wrote:

> Hello Esteemed Bike Wrenchers,
>
> I am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
> fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
> bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
> any threads in the hole. What are the chances the opening is not
> threaded?
>
> The calipers say the screw is about 5mm, the hole is about 3mm . Is
> there a smaller screw for Italian Frames? Any suggestions on how to
> make this work would be appreciated. I can't believe that Ernesto
> would let a frame go out the door unfinished.


You can't believe that? You don't see many Colnagos.

Bianchi used to ship with a sheet metal screw in a 3mm hole
there. Or you could just tap it m5 x 0.8 before you build
the bike. This is not a crisis, just a detail.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Dan Daniel]

On 3 Jul 2004 18:01:08 -0700, [email protected] (John) wrote:

>Hello Esteemed Bike Wrenchers,
>
>I am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
>fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
>bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
>any threads in the hole. What are the chances the opening is not
>threaded?
>
>The calipers say the screw is about 5mm, the hole is about 3mm . Is
>there a smaller screw for Italian Frames? Any suggestions on how to
>make this work would be appreciated. I can't believe that Ernesto
>would let a frame go out the door unfinished.
>
>Thanks,
>
>John

A sheet metal screw? Or drill and tap. Doesn't have to be metric. A
3mm hole is right around a #8 or #6 screw or bolt.

I had a similar problem, and just put a couple of small tabs of double
sided tape on the guide. The cables pretty well hold the guide in
place, and the tape gave enough hold for proper positioning. This
probably won't be good for the paint under the double stick, but I
figure a cable guide will cover whatever happens.

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

jnerges-<< I am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
any threads in the hole. >><BR><BR>

Colnago uses a screw that looks all the world like a short wood screw, w/o any
threads in the BB shell hole. It'll work if ya gun it in there but taping the
hole is a better idea.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[John Thompson]

On 2004-07-04, John <[email protected]> wrote:

> I am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
> fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
> bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
> any threads in the hole. What are the chances the opening is not
> threaded?

If you don't see any threads, it's probably not threaded.

> The calipers say the screw is about 5mm, the hole is about 3mm . Is
> there a smaller screw for Italian Frames?

There's a wide variety of cable guides out there, and not all of them use
screws to fasten in place. Some simply pop in and use a plastic flange on
the guide to hold it.

Leaving the hole unthreaded gives the customer the widest choice in how to
attach their preferred cable guide. It's only a matter of a couple
minutes to run a tap through the hole to cut some threads.

> Any suggestions on how to make this work would be appreciated.

Use a thread gauge to determine the size of the hardware you intend to
use, select a tap of the proper size and cut some threads in the hole.


> I can't believe that Ernesto would let a frame go out the door
> unfinished.

Traditionally, most European frames were shipped unprepped; the bike shop
was to do the final prep and assembly. Ernesto may simply be continuing
to supply frames in the traditional manner...

--

-John ([email protected])

 

[John]

Tapping the hole worked like a charm. The Master X is up and running,
what a great ride. And you are right, it is a gorgeous paint job.

Thanks for you help on this,

John





John Thompson <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On 2004-07-04, John <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I am building up a Colnago Master X Light. Things were moving along
> > fine until I tried to secure the derailleur cable guide to the bottom
> > bracket shell. The screw wont fit, as a matter of fact, I can't see
> > any threads in the hole. What are the chances the opening is not
> > threaded?
>
> If you don't see any threads, it's probably not threaded.
>
> > The calipers say the screw is about 5mm, the hole is about 3mm . Is
> > there a smaller screw for Italian Frames?
>
> There's a wide variety of cable guides out there, and not all of them use
> screws to fasten in place. Some simply pop in and use a plastic flange on
> the guide to hold it.
>
> Leaving the hole unthreaded gives the customer the widest choice in how to
> attach their preferred cable guide. It's only a matter of a couple
> minutes to run a tap through the hole to cut some threads.
>
> > Any suggestions on how to make this work would be appreciated.
>
> Use a thread gauge to determine the size of the hardware you intend to
> use, select a tap of the proper size and cut some threads in the hole.
>
>
> > I can't believe that Ernesto would let a frame go out the door
> > unfinished.
>
> Traditionally, most European frames were shipped unprepped; the bike shop
> was to do the final prep and assembly. Ernesto may simply be continuing
> to supply frames in the traditional manner...