No min order,stainless allen bolts etc

[bikerpiker]

Someone posted a link to this company recently ,i cant remember who ,it doesnt really matter ,but cheers anyway .

Unlike most sellers on ebay , NO minimum order, and most items cost only a few pence each

CLICK--- http://www.stagonset.co.uk/

I've just ordered a few items from them, some stainless allen bolts, nuts and washers ,to replace various parts which were gettin a bit rusty, and bringing down the appearance of the bike.

Amongst others , ive ordered 4 new front brake caliper mounting bolts (27p each or so, 2 for each side),i know stainless has a lower tensile strength than the standard items, but am i correct in saying its safe enough to use these ,i think they only get torqued to 25 or 30 N/M.

Also the torx headed bolts for separating the calipers are getting just a bit rusty looking,...although ive not ordered any, is it safe enough to change them to stainless allen bolts Not sure if i will change these or not, just wondering for now

Cheers

[bikerpiker]

Stainless bolts etc ,arrived today

Good service imo, i ordered on Sun night, items arrived this morning (Tues)

Rightey,...what do you think, from a safety point of view,is it ok to change the front calliper/fork mounting bolts to stainless

Same about the star/torx front brake caliper bolts , the heads of mine are gettin a tad rusty...safe enough to change to stainless

[Hankie]

I would hate to say 'Yes, go ahead' and then your callipers fall off, even if it's for some other reason! It's not that I think they'll fail - I'm confident they won't (they're not highly stressed parts) but they're not the spec parts and we're talking about your front brake... Personally I wouldn't use them for mounting the callipers. If you were ever involved in an accident (God forbid) and the insurance company inspected the bike you'll suddenly find you have no insurance...

[tony.mon]

Hankie, you're right in law, of course, and some insurance companies will try to avoid paying out if they can.

But what if the bike's second-hand, or has ever been into a workshop?
No rider would be expected to be able to say hand on heart what material the bolts currently in their calipers are made from, and I can't imagine a court would uphold witholding of a payment because a bolt was the correct sizes/type but made from the wrong spec steel.
You simply can't tell from looking at it, and testing each bolt to make sure that it's the correct one isn't feasible.

It's the sheer strength of the bolt which would have to fail, and although I haven't looked up the specifications, I would have thought that the sheer strength on stainless bolts would exceed any potential force acting on the bolt.

Any professional enginers out there with the facts?

Having said that, it would certainly be unsafe to use a bolt which did not visually look the same as the bolt it was replacing, such as being threaded all the way up to the head when the original was smooth for the first 25mm, being shorter/longer or waisted, or having a different head diameter.

If this was likely to be a problem, Pro-Bolt and other companies would have had their arses sued off years ago, surely? Any bolt or aftermarket part which fails is likely to be a contributory factor to an accident, and if the insurance company withheld payment on those grounds I'm sure that solicitors acting on behalf of the rider or third parties would have passed liability on if they could have.

But it's down to each one of us to make sure that we make safe choices, so I'm not recommending that anyone does anything that they're not comfortable with.

(I use the same line on women)

[Kitch]

My brain tells me if it looks the same and torques up to the same level, then it'll be fine.

Then again, my favourite tools are my bag of assorted zip ties and a 4lb lump hammer, so my engineering expertise might be questionable.

[Hankie]

The bolt companies are well covered legally by clearly stating stainless bolts should not be used to replace high-tensile fasteners, so no chance of suing them if you ignore the advice. As for s/h vehicles, it's up to the new owner to inspect and inform the insurance company/DVLT of any changes to spec... I know this is highly unlikely, it's just a get-out clause for the benefit of the insurance companies more than anything else.

I don't believe for a minute the bolts would fail, but there are many things that affect tensile strength most people don't think about, it's construction (rolled or cut threads), angle of shoulder, temperature, age.... but even with all that I think the material it screws into is weaker than the bolt. Plus, if you were building a one-off custom bike you might well use some of these bolts anyway.

I just know that in the event of a serious accident insurance firms will look at bolts on critical components and if they are not original items, and also given the bolt companies themselves say do not replace high-tensile fasteners with them (why would they say that?), you might have a problem. I should add that I don't know of a single case where this has happened (stainless bolts in brake callipers) but then I know f-all ... but I do know insurance companies are absolute tw@ts...

[tony.mon]

but I do know insurance companies are absolute tw@ts...

Second that

I think maybe I should buy bikes off insurance companies, as they clearly can buy them at around 33% less than everyone else, based on what they offer you for your stolen one.......

[sirch345]

My 2p worth

IMHO I would stick with the original ones Stevie. I agree there has been some good points raised here, for and against, but as already been said too, we're talking about your main stoppers here

The choice has to be yours Stevie,

Chris.

[bikerpiker]

Hmmm...i was in to minds whether to replace the front caliper mounting bolts with stainless items anyway ,after all, thats why i asked for opinions ,but i ordered them when i was ordering other stuff for less critical parts of the bike .

I ,same as you guys, dont for one minute think they would shear,but the insurance point of view is interesting

If the bolt companys state stainless bolts should not be used to replace high-tensile fasteners , which bolts on the bike are high tensile and what are not

I'd imagine every bolt is high tensile

The thing is...when you buy bar-risers (yoke mounting type)its usually stainless bolts that are supplied with them,and those are just as important as the ones connecting the brake calipers to the bike

As yet im undecided.....but will probably try and clean up the rusty ones if i can


Cheers

[Jonesey]

Piker, i replaced all my caliper body and mounting bolts 2 years ago, and have not had a single problem.
Also, the beauty of it is that if they start to look a bit manky, for what they cost, you can just replace them.
I say go for it, you will be pleased with the results.
Just torque them the same as the originals.
All the best, Chris.