braze-on boss (mid-fork) & bottle cage boss questions...

[echoplex]

Are the touring fork mid/lowrider bosses threaded for screws, or just a straight through tube for a bolt? They're too large for an M5 screw, and seem too small for what I think is an M6 (but I'm not 100% sure).

Also- are the bottle cage bosses some kind of insert pressed into the aluminum frame? One on my seat-tube spins with the screw. If I get it just right it'll tighten down on the cage and I can easily live with it, just curious.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Should be threaded. What year touring frame? I can check a couple of mine but thought they were M5 or #10-32.

Yes, the cage bosses are essentially Riv-nuts. They are squeezed into the frame and expanded with a tool that looks much like a pop rivet tool. If you can thread the tool in without it spinning, you should be able to squeeze it and tighten it up. Shouldn't be too hard to find someone local to you with the tool. Some bike shops will have them.

 

[echoplex]

It's a '97. My very vague memory of the '90 ST600 I had years ago was that the fork bosses were threaded, but none of the random screws I have laying around seem to fit.

& THX for the cage boss info!

 

[black lightning 1987]

None of my touring bikes are newer than 1990, so have the Tange forks with the cast crown. It's possible that Cannondale sourced the tig welded forks from a supplier that didn't thread them. I would think that with a good light you could see whether the bosses are threaded. If not you could easily have them tapped for screws. First step would be to determine the size of the hole.

 

[echoplex]

Those Tange forks sure are a lot classier looking than the, uh, whatever you call the ones that came after. Good light is only half the battle, what I really need are stronger glasses... but on closer inspection it looks like they're either not threaded, or maybe something was bolted through them that wore away the threading. The stays on the front rack I bought aren't long enough and longer ones seem to be 'out of stock' or 'unavailable' pretty much everywhere, so it looks like the question is moot for the moment. But tapping seems like a decent option, if/when.