# Plastic inserts for bottle cage bolts



## eric512 (Jan 27, 2006)

I saved 25g by using plastic inserts instead of my bottle cage bolts. The original bolts are M5 x 15 at 4g each, and I have 6 of them on my Epic. I don't use a water bottle, so I went to home depot for some nylon bolts.

I found these: PUSH IN FASTENER 0.315" NYLON.

They weigh - well - almost nothing. I painted theM black and they look great. Cheap too.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

The colour plugs out of bic-pens work for this.


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## raceer2 (Jul 21, 2007)

if you are not using the bolts why not just use a very small (8mm square) piece of electrical tape to cover holes... practically ZERO wt !!


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## EuroMack (Jan 15, 2007)

Electrical tape stinks for this purpose. It's designed to stick to itself very well, but not for adhering to paint. I used to use it to protect my frame, but found it became a gooey mess in a few weeks and the edges trapped dirt, which left fine scratches outlining the taped area.

As D8 wrote, Bic pen caps are light and fit well in most frames. Plus, they're environmentally sound since you can still use the pen


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## tolleyman (Mar 5, 2006)

Is there a reason to use anything in the hole at all?


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## Patriot222 (Dec 16, 2007)

EuroMack said:


> Electrical tape stinks for this purpose. It's designed to stick to itself very well, but not for adhering to paint. I used to use it to protect my frame, but found it became a gooey mess in a few weeks and the edges trapped dirt, which left fine scratches outlining the taped area.


Big Ditto on that Mack. I've tried to protect my paint from rubbing cables with ET and it's just constantly floating around on the surface of the paint.

*tolleyman*


> Is there a reason to use anything in the hole at all?


It's best if water, dirt, etc isn't constantly contaminating the innards of the frame.

I purchased four black plastic bolts from Ace Hardware store. The four of them were 1.2 grams. They look nice, wont fall out and seal well against contaminants.


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## eric512 (Jan 27, 2006)

> It's best if water, dirt, etc isn't constantly contaminating the innards of the frame.
> 
> I purchased four black plastic bolts from Ace Hardware store. The four of them were 1.2 grams. They look nice, wont fall out and seal well against contaminants.


What size bolts did you find at Ace ? Home Depot only had US threads, I need M5 metric for mine. The push in caps fit "fairly" well - but I don't think they really "seal" the holes from water.


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## raceer2 (Jul 21, 2007)

EuroMack said:


> Electrical tape stinks for this purpose. It's designed to stick to itself very well, but not for adhering to paint. I used to use it to protect my frame, but found it became a gooey mess in a few weeks and the edges trapped dirt, which left fine scratches outlining the taped area.


Well good, electrical tape should NOT become a gooey mess. I've got some 3M tape on two of my bikes for over a year and its still looking like new....rain, sun (VERY hot in these parts), travelling on the roof of the car, light spray when bikes are cleaned, etc.

Have also tried 'race' tape, cloth tape, etc but these tend to be more susceptible to above EMack comments...so have settled on electrical tape.

EMack: 
3M have a load of other clear solutions that work much better for protecting your frame, but thats really not the purpose for covering the 2 holes we are talking about here.


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## Manning (Apr 11, 2007)

ericsan256 said:


> What size bolts did you find at Ace ? Home Depot only had US threads, I need M5 metric for mine. The push in caps fit "fairly" well - but I don't think they really "seal" the holes from water.


10-32 plastic machine screws are fairly common at hardware stores and big box stores. Weigh next to nothing. Work fine for plugging the holes.

10-32 will fit the 5mm threaded bottle holes no problem. The plastic won't mess up the threads in the frame.


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## Patriot222 (Dec 16, 2007)

tolleyman said:


> Is there a reason to use anything in the hole at all?


See post #5


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## Patriot222 (Dec 16, 2007)

ericsan256 said:


> What size bolts did you find at Ace ? Home Depot only had US threads, I need M5 metric for mine. The push in caps fit "fairly" well - but I don't think they really "seal" the holes from water.


They were fairly generic with finer pitch threads than what the cage holes call for. That said, they screwed in fairly tightly and sealed flat against the holes with a low profile due to the flat blade head. There were two different lengths, one set was about 12mm long, the others about 18. The length isn't critical since you cant cut them with a beefy scissor or box razor. I cut mine to about 6 or 7mm and carefully screwed them in. I say carefully because they're tight and the plastic screwhead is slippery. I didn't want to slip and gouge my frame with a flat blade screwdriver. You may want to mask it off with a few layers of tape if your concerned at all.


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## Ausable (Jan 7, 2006)

Nobody mentioned the simplest solution - two small shots of clear silicone
fab


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## eric512 (Jan 27, 2006)

Ausable said:


> Nobody mentioned the simplest solution - two small shots of clear silicone
> fab


True - but if you want to use the cage bolts again - how easy is it to get the silicone out of the hole and threads ?


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## Ausable (Jan 7, 2006)

Not tried yet, but I'm sure it will be really easy :thumbsup:


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## cmh (Jan 30, 2004)

FWIW, another option is McMaster-Carr:

http://www.mcmaster.com/param/asp/P...7628781943&ScreenWidth=1280&McMMainWidth=1073

black nylon phillips head screws in the proper M5x0.8 size, maybe 100 is a bit more than you need for one bike, but if you've got a couple bikes and a couple friends, the price is hard to beat.


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## bdc88 (Sep 27, 2005)

That is a great option. I just picked up some 10/32 white nylon bolts from Home Depot. I do think that black would be a lot better and I think that I might buy a box of these. I have a lot of bikes so I am thinking that this might be the way to go.


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## Gauge (Jul 15, 2007)

I was just breezing through this post and noticed that you guys worried about water getting in your frame if nothing was in the cage bolt holes. I don't know about you guys but every bike I have ever had, there are holes at the base of the frame below the bottom bracket. I don't have any bolts in mine (never have in any bike, whether it was a cheapo or a high end) and I have also never had any water/rust issues.


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## Ausable (Jan 7, 2006)

Not all frames have a hole below the bottom bracket
I drilled one on my hartail though
fab


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## pastajet (May 26, 2006)

None of my bikes that I have ever owned has had a hole in the bottom bracket. I use the plastic inserts my self. 

Some specs...

Nylon inserts .2g each
Steel bolts 3.6 g
Ti bolts 2.1 g


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## BlueCheesehead (Jul 17, 2010)

Sorry guys, Thread Dredge Thursday:

I found these at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Nylon-Finish-Slotted-Threads-Metric/dp/B00DD4LBXK/ref=pd_lutyp_simh_1_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00DD4LBXK&pd_rd_r=1856P5S38YV1X02S3P36&pd_rd_w=n2jeb&pd_rd_wg=gk8zv&refRID=1856P5S38YV1X02S3P36

$4 not bad for a lifetime supply.


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## poynt (Jan 15, 2004)

what happened to Tidds, no one does them anymore it seems


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## ladljon (Nov 30, 2011)

Ace Hardware has plastic mm screws...have them on two bikes....


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## phlegm (Jul 13, 2006)

poynt said:


> what happened to Tidds, no one does them anymore it seems


I tried them on a build a few seasons ago:
http://forums.mtbr.com/weight-weenies/new-build-2013-s-works-stumpjumper-ht-935429.html#post11620390

They work OK, and I suppose the black colour is a bit better, but they're massively expensive compared to the hardware store options mentioned. I do like saying "tidds" tho.


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