Author Topic: Extortionate Nuts and Bolts  (Read 18334 times)

Offline Rex

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Re: Extortionate Nuts and Bolts
« Reply #15 on: December 19, 2007, 11:25:41 PM »
You really have to be realistic. If the machine is not intended as a show-piece but as a useable mode of transport/fun, then why not use whatever is best/easily obtainable.
If a metric nut and bolt can be used where a Whitworth, or whatever was, then use it. Not everyone walks around with a micrometer or vernier guage and is about to pounce on your bike with a thread pitch guage.

It's about doing a "good" job. As the Imperial stuff is readily available there's no excuse for fitting metric fasteners.
As someone else has said, if nothing else it means only one set of spanners needed, and that's apart from the rather obvious metric bolt markings (ie no vernier needed).





If, as some would like, you go for purity, then you should have crappy tyres, crappy lights and ride with goggles and a cork helmet/flat cap or none at all.

That's taking the debate to the ridiculous extreme....

Originality has it's place but practicality and common sense must prevail.

Agreed, but there's STILL no reason to fit metric fasteners...... :)

Offline Goldy

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Re: Extortionate Nuts and Bolts
« Reply #16 on: December 20, 2007, 03:25:58 AM »
You have to remember that the purpose of all these bolts is to hold the machine together and as such is responsible for the riders safety. There is alot of engineering materials being imported from countries such as China, and although they may look right, the quality of the steel is poor to put it politely.

Offline twolitre

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Re: Extortionate Nuts and Bolts
« Reply #17 on: December 20, 2007, 09:27:30 PM »
This seems to have wandered a long way from the original posting, but now safety has been mentioned here's another thought.
  Finer threads result in a greater tensional force in the bolt for a given spanner torque. Using normal metric fasteners, which have a coarser thread than BSF (or UNF) instead of the BSF or UNF original fitting results in a weaker fastened joint (and more so if substituting for finer cycle threads).  Is this desireable - or even safe?
 Jim.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2007, 09:29:44 PM by twolitre »
Jim Walker.

Offline Rex

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Re: Extortionate Nuts and Bolts
« Reply #18 on: December 22, 2007, 05:48:09 AM »
No, definitely NOT desirable.
Good point made about sub-standard imported bolts too, and is why I'd always use a cleaned up and replated original bolt over a new "replacement" any day.
There really IS more to choosing and using nuts and bolts than the ease of buying new shiny ones.......